On Nov. 2, Johnsonville gave out 1,000 $20 promotional codes that will cover the ingredients for a sausage dinner. The brand also set up shop in Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the epicenter of a hotly contested Senate race, to dole out free food and product vouchers.
The reason for the sausage fest was simple: Johnsonville’s research shows that consumers are sometimes so consumed by politics — like on the eve of a contentious election day — that they forget to make plans for dinner.
In an environment where Americans rank politics and government as the most important problems facing the country, according to Gallup research, most brand marketers have steered clear of politics, to say nothing of brands that have been dragged into the political muck against their will.
That’s not the case for Johnsonville, the Wisconsin-based sausage brand that launched a campaign in September parodying the tropes of political advertising, suggesting that Americans choose “Sausage for Dinner” in 2026. The effort includes a TV spot, events, an Amazon Ads collaboration and the kind of yard signs and merchandise used by political candidates, with local billboard ads calling for “Affordable Protein for the People” and “A Sausage in Every Air Fryer.”
“This idea is really about parodying the genre and making something fun that stands out amongst all of the dark negative stuff that's just bombarding all of us,” said Jamie Schmelzer, vice president of marketing at Johnsonville.
No matter how politically polarized the country has become, a distaste for politics unites Americans. More than eight in 10 agree that society has become too political, about three-quarters say they hate political advertising and 84% think their community could make better use of the billions spent on political ads this year, per Harris Poll data commissioned by Johnsonville.
“This campaign is talking about politics, but it's not saying anything partisan,” said Schmelzer. “We're all going through this together, regardless of whether you're left, right or independent.”
Or, as Rob Riggle says in a PSA-style campaign video in which the comedian portrays a sausage envoy: “Sausage will unite the mild Italians with the Cajuns, the Mexicans and the Polishes in a glorious crockpot of freedom that will make your tongue burn red, white and blue."
Feeding families
Along with feelings on politics, Johnsonville’s Harris Poll data revealed an insight around how people are constantly struggling to think of what to eat for dinner. The stress caused by politics and current events is only exacerbating that struggle, with more than one-third of Americans saying they were so consumed by current events at least once in the last year that they forgot to figure out what to have for dinner.
“It [was] going to get even noisier, right on top of back to school time, when everybody's getting back in the routine of figuring out what to put on the table for dinner every night, amidst activities and all the other things that come with that time of year,” Schmelzer said about the campaign’s launch timing. “It felt like the right way for our brand to help out by just providing ideas for dinner.”
To help make dinner planning easier, Johnsonville teamed up with Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab as part of the campaign. The brand and platform rolled out a custom experience that let consumers browse 30-minute recipes and add ingredients directly to their Amazon Grocery carts. The Nov. 2 promotional code push was also part of the Amazon tie-up.
“For us, [Amazon’s] ability to get everything you need to make dinner on your doorstep quickly was great, and for them, making sure that Americans know that if they need an idea in a pinch, Amazon has the capability,” Schmelzer said.
The “Sausage for Dinner” campaign also includes a purpose-driven partnership with Hunger Free America, with Johnsonville pledging $100,000 to fight food insecurity and the first 100 customers to join the cause receiving a campaign swag bag. The Amazon collaboration saw the e-commerce giant donate $1 to the organization for every hour of eligible viewing of a curated collection of comedies — including “Black Sheep,” “Head of State” and “A League of Their Own” — available through Fire TV.
“We thought a charitable component was really important to this. Groceries are expensive, and that is not a partisan perspective, either. It's affecting everybody,” Schmelzer said. “Sometimes it's about not having the idea [for dinner], but for some people, it's also a financial challenge, and so we wanted to do what we could to help.”
