Gabby Fulkerson’s journey to the driver’s seat of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile feels like a full-circle moment. It started back in her home state of Michigan, where she frequently visited the Henry Ford Museum, home to a 1952 Wienermobile.
Everything clicked into place in the spring of 2025 when Fulkerson, then a senior in the College of Communication and Information Sciences (C&IS), attended an informational meeting about becoming an Oscar Mayer Hotdogger. The meeting felt perfectly timed. One year later, she returned to campus not as a student in the audience, but as a Hotdogger herself, bringing the Wienermobile back with her.
For five years in a row, a University of Alabama (UA) alum has been picked to join the team of brand ambassadors. For Fulkerson, the role offered more than just the chance to travel the United States. It became a meaningful step toward her career goals, first shaped during her time in C&IS. She graduated from UA with a B.A. in public relations last summer and quickly stepped into this new role.
“I get to use a lot of my background in public relations,” said Fulkerson. “We pitch media in every place that we go to. So, we get to talk to local news stations, newspapers, and things like that. Then we also run our own corporate social media accounts.”
The vehicle is like a driving PR firm for the iconic brand. Hotdoggers travel across the country to help connect the Oscar Mayer name to the everyday consumer. But the job involves far more than simply visiting towns and college campuses.
Before they ever hit the road, each new class of Hotdoggers attends “Hotdog High,” a training program designed to fully immerse them in the brand. During this experience, recruits learn everything from the history of Oscar Mayer to how to operate the 27-foot Wienermobile.
By the time they graduate from Hotdog High, Hotdoggers are not just drivers. They are brand ambassadors prepared to represent Oscar Mayer in communities across the country.
The communication skills Fulkerson developed in C&IS helped her earn that ambassador title, but she said the most important factor was staying true to herself.
“I would say the biggest piece of advice that I got when going through the interview process was to be my genuine self. I’m a firm believer in loving what you do,” said Fulkerson. “I would just say, in any job hunt, just go in and be completely yourself. And if there’s a place that’s meant to fit you, you will find it.”
Returning to campus in the driver’s seat of the Wienermobile, Fulkerson represents the latest in a growing legacy of UA alumni going on to do big things. Her path reflects not only personal ambition, but also the strength of communication training that prepared her to represent a household name across the country.