Formerly televised event nixed as part of "strategy shift"
By Eric Litke Sheboygan Press staff
A year after drawing thousands of spectators and national television coverage to Sheboygan's Kiwanis Park, the Johnsonville Brat-Eating World Championship has been stricken from Sheboygan's Brat Days schedule.
Two years after introducing the sausage showdown, Johnsonville is dropping the event as part of a public relations "strategy shift," Johnsonville Marketing Manager Cory Bouck said Friday.
The competition last year was televised nationally on ESPN2 as Japanese sensation Takeru Kobayashi tore through 58 brats in 10 minutes, winning $8,000 and shattering the record of 35 brats set by Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas in 2005.
President Richard Shea of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, which sanctioned the contest, said he was disappointed by Johnsonville's decision to stop the world championship brat-eating contest.
"We were surprised and we were saddened," he said. "We would have loved to have been there."
Bouck said Johnsonville will continue to sponsor an amateur brat-eating contest at Brat Days, which has been a part of the Sheboygan Jaycees-run festival since 1953.
"The age-old tradition … the brat-eating contest, is still intact locally," Bouck said. "The idea of bringing in the competitive eaters, I just don't see it."
Kim Swisher, Sheboygan's tourism manager, said the national media exposure for the world championship brat-eating contest was a big plus for the city.
"We could never afford to do that type of marketing on our own," Swisher said. "We're the brat capital of the world, and we're proud of our heritage."
But others have decried the feeding frenzy as gluttonous and a poor reflection on Sheboygan.
Last year, former City Attorney Clarence Mertz called for the city to abolish both the professional and amateur brat-eating contests. On Friday, Mertz cheered the end of what he called a "disgusting event."
"This is the greatest news I've heard in ages," said Mertz, 85, reviving his call to end both contests. "We are telling our young children, who are already obese, that you can eat as much as you want."
Bouck said the event was a marketing success for Johnsonville last year, generating eight times more in exposure — tabulated as the cost of buying advertising with each media outlet that covered the event — than they paid to sponsor the contest.
"That was great, but that wasn't the exact message we want to get out," he said. "It's all about tying the great taste of a Johnsonville brat to the ability to raise money the way we do in Sheboygan County with (charity) brat frys."
Johnsonville's future marketing efforts will focus on charitable projects such as working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to bring brat frys to 25 to 30 cities next year, Bouck said. The company will also continue to sponsor Brat Days by funding various musical acts and the amateur brat-eating contest.
Jennifer Mills, Brat Days chairwoman, said the Jaycees will not pursue another sponsor for the professional brat-eating contest.
"It would be cool to have it, but since we don't, we brought other really neat things onboard and people will have a really good time and an experience they haven't had at Brat Days before," Mills said. New this year will be a third music stage, a total of 25 bands and first-time attractions such as a custom motorcycle contest run by Harley-Davidson, Mills said.
Brat Days, which runs Aug. 2-4 this year, is the Jaycees largest annual fundraiser.
Last year's event was broadcast tape-delayed on ESPN2 after the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony ran long and pre-empted a planned live feed on ESPN.
Shea said the cancellation is especially unfortunate because this year it would have been a rematch between Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut, who toppled Kobayashi in a Fourth of July contest by downing 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes at Coney Island in New York.
"Just weeks after the Fourth — it would have been big," Shea said.
Last year in Sheboygan, Chestnut finished second to Kobayashi with 45 brats. Kobayashi also won the previous five hot dog-eating contests stretching back to 2001.
Reach Eric Litke at elitke@sheboygan-press.com and (920) 453-5119.
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