Costco Hot Dog
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About
The Costco Hot Dog refers to the hot dog served at the food courts in Costco Wholesale stores in the United States, costing $1.50 with a drink combo. The Costco hot dog gained meme attention throughout the 2010s and 2020s, mostly related to its reliable price and reliable taste, portrayed in memes that humorously idolized it for both reasons. Discourse has surfaced multiple times about whether the price of the Costco hot dog will rise. Most notably, Costoc's co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal was once quoted saying, "If you raise [the price of] the effing hot dog, I will kill you."
History
The Costco hot dog combo was released in 1984.[1] According to Reader's Digest, "Hebrew National, the store’s hot dog supplier at the time, set up a cart outside a San Diego warehouse. Its initial success spurred Costco’s entire food court business, but the combo price hasn’t changed in over 30 years."[1] In 2009, Cosco replaced the hot dogs with their own Kirkland brand.[1]
In 2022, Costco's Chief Financial Officer Richard Galant stated that the price of the hot dog and soda combo would remain the same "forever."[2]
Online Presence
Starting in 2014, viral posts about the Costco hot dog and its price surfaced on social media. For instance, on January 22nd, 2014, the X[3] account @UberFacts tweeted about how the "hot dog/drink combo" had never changed its price since its start, gaining roughly 3,400 likes in a year.
One of the first known memetic references to the Costco hot dog was a meme following the Because Your Mother Loves Roses template (shown below, left). Currently, its first known upload was on the Facebook[8] page AllHitsB93 on July 16th, 2018, gaining over 150 reactions in six years.
On February 27th, 2019, Twitter / X[4] user @SarahBaska shared a tweet reading, "i could deep throat a costco hot dog right now," gaining over 7,000 likes in five years (shown below, right).
On September 20th, 2020, X[5] user @weirdcities tweeted screenshots from a 2018 Mental Floss[6] article, including a quote from Costco's co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal, "If you raise [the price of] the effing hot dog, I will kill you… Figure it out." @weirdcities added a caption, "absolutely losing my mind over this," gaining over 9,500 likes in a day (shown below, left).
@weirdcities' tweet gained several reposts on social media platforms like iFunny.[7] Going into the 2020s, the quote from Sinegal was referenced by creators, such as in a meme shared by Redditor muhdzofmadness02 to /r/memes [9] on April 23rd, 2022, gaining over 15,000 upvotes in two years (shown below, right).
![hu @weirdcities absolutely losing my mind over this COSTCO WHOLESALE mentalfloss.com The Enduring Enigma of Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo The price hasn't changed in nearly 35 years. What kind of sorcery is this? 3:38 PM - 20 Sep 2020 Follow president W. Craig Jelinek once com inder and former CEO Jim Sinegal th arehouse business was losing money ap $1.50 hot dog and soda package, Si then did his best to make his take on r. the price of] the effing hot dog, I will it out."](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/752/549/9ec.png "Costco Hot Dog meme")
Memes about the Costco hot dog continued into the 2020s, evident in a tweet shared by X[10] user @biggersocks on February 1st, 2024, reading, "imagine eating a Costco hotdog here," earning over 114,000 likes in one week (shown below).
Various Examples
![seth @SethxDecker Hardest merch ever pepsi KIRKLAND POUND PLUS ALL BEEF HOT DOG AND 20 oz. SODA (with Reti 1.50 12:20 AM May 29, 2023 5.7M Views "If you raise the [price of the] f***ing hot dog, I will kill you." COSTCO CO-FOUNDER TO THE CEO :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/752/570/10e.png "costco hot dog merch")
Search Interest
External References
[1] Reader's Digest – The Real Reason Costco’s Hot Dogs Cost $1.50
[2] GoBankingRates – Are These 8 Costco Items Worth the Hype?
[3] X – @UberFacts
[4] X – @SarahBaska
[5] X (via Internet Archive) – @weirdcities
[6] Mental Floss – The Enduring Enigma of Costco’s $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo
[7] iFunny – @ApoIIoJustice
[8] Facebook – AllHitsB93
[10] X – @biggersocks
Recent Videos
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![pepsi KIRKLAND POUND PLUS ALL BEEF HOT DOG AND 20 oz. SODA (with Reti 1.50 "If you raise the [price of the] f***ing hot dog, I will kill you. COSTCO CO-FOUNDER TO THE CEO Q C 12](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/752/571/70c "Costco Hot Dog T-shirt")
![seth @SethxDecker Hardest merch ever pepsi KIRKLAND POUND PLUS ALL BEEF HOT DOG AND 20 oz. SODA (with Reti 1.50 12:20 AM May 29, 2023 5.7M Views "If you raise the [price of the] f***ing hot dog, I will kill you." COSTCO CO-FOUNDER TO THE CEO :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/752/570/10e.png "costco hot dog merch")
![lauren 4 1.5k @Very_Regular weekly costco subreddit update they are stuffing the hot dog inside the chicken bake for clout r/Costco Posted by u/SatsuiNoHadou_ 3 days ago Finally tried the forbidden Glizzy [Food Court] 303 Comments + Award 9:28 AM Jan 15, 2023 · 473.6K Views Share : ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/752/567/f0a.png "/r/Costco Madness")
![Cat @CatOrman1 a stablecoin backed by the costco hot dog "I came to [Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal] once and I said, 'Jim, we can't sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends,"" Jelinek was quoted as saying. He then shared Sinegal's response: “He said, 'If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out. 11:00 PM - May 12, 2022 9.99 :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/752/565/4f6.png "a stablecoin backed by the costco hot dog")
Top Comment
Monster Kid
Feb 07, 2024 at 02:40AM EST