Hot Dog Vendor Relishes Japanese Market

Celebrity status has eluded Bill Murphy

most of his life. He is the sort of unsung working stiff who finishes his days with mustard stains on his apron, the homeboy who not only does not own a passport, but who never even cared to send away for one.

This will all change sometime soon when Murphy becomes the Col. Sanders of Japanese hot dogs.

“Who would think? Me, a hot dog celebrity guy,” said Murphy, ducking to avoid yet another stain as he trimmed a “red hot” behind the counter of the cramped hot dog stand he owns near Wrigley Field on Chicago’s North Side.

Out of all the hot dog joints in America, Murphy’s was chosen by a group of visiting Japanese executives as the place to copy in their campaign to make the “hohadog” a household word.