‘Who do I need to contact?’: Shopper looks for $1.50 hot dog on Costco food court menu. Then she notices something suspicious

A Costco customer loyal to the $1.50 hot dog that's been a longtime staple came upon a horrible revelation on a recent visit to her location.

The video, showing the hot dog off the menu display, comes from creator T (@inotynap). It went up on TikTok on Wednesday and got more than 771,900 views as of Friday.

She begins by showing the view of a Costco food court with a large walk-up counter with two lines formed behind the open stations. Above it is the display you know if you've been to the big box store, showing staples like pizza and the Chicken Bake. However, the hot dog sign typically there is not.

That leads her to conclude, "You guys, Costco no longer has hot dogs for $1.50 ... or at all."

Once the video started going viral, she posted follow-up videos to answer queries of the "this can't be" variety.

One wondered, "Is it on the side wall?"

T responded in a video noting, "There's literally no hot dog sign anymore. And it used to be big. Huge."

Another theorized, "Looks like the sign maybe just fell down."

She then posted a video showing a still of the same poster array above the counter she claimed was a two-year-old shot she found via Google. In that one, the hot dog, next to a tall Pepsi-branded cup, is clearly displayed.

The creator was clearly ready to take action, writing, "Who do i need to contact?" in her caption.

She also created a video in which she purports to call Costco to complain, but no one answers.

What might actually be happening

Media would take notice of such an earth-shaking development, and while no outlets have reported the Costco hot dog is no more, two outlets did report a significant change afoot.

Costco is switching back from Pepsi to Coke, according to both Inc. and USA Today, reversing a decision to go from the cola market leader to the perennial No. 2 (or, more recently, No. 3) in 2013.

"At its shareholder meeting earlier this month, CEO Ron Vachris was asked whether the company would switch back," Inc. reported. "Vachris confirmed that Costco is bringing back Coca-Cola products at its food court. Separately, the company’s CFO previously had said that the hot dog combo price is safe."

The Inc. writer then opined, "I think the real lesson here is that your ultimate job is to understand your customers and what matters most. For Costco, the top priority is to provide value to those customers through quality products at an affordable price. The Coke versus Pepsi thing is actually a great example of how hard it can be to balance those two things."

A Yahoo! article from October 2024 did reveal one hot dog that was removed from the Costco menu: The spicier Polish dog, which was removed back in 2018, according to its website, "to simplify our menu and make room for healthier options, we have decided to offer only the all-beef Hot Dog."

The story did note that if you're willing to travel to Canada, Costco locations there still carry the Polish dog.

Viewers offered possible answers

Some commenters were aware of the Pepsi-to-Coke news and let the creator know.

"It’s because they’re switching from Pepsi to Coke and it’s branded in the old photos with Pepsi," one said. "Important to note that this was a decision made prior to Coke being canceled."

T, clinging to her theory, said, "I thought so too but if you look at the far left the soda sign is still up with the Pepsi brand."

"Ex Costco 10 year employee here," another wrote. "We would remove the poster for the hot dog and soda if there was a new menu item introduced but the hot dog and soda is a STAPLE."

But at least one commenter shared her alarm.

"This is my first time seeing a Costco food court without the hot dog," that person said. "This should be a crime."

"Criminal behavior for sure," T agreed.

@inotynap who do i need to contact? #costco #nohotdogs #sadday ♬ original sound - T ♡

The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Costco via online form.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘Who do I need to contact?’: Shopper looks for $1.50 hot dog on Costco food court menu. Then she notices something suspicious appeared first on The Daily Dot.