The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile's recent O'ahu visit did not cut the mustard with the Outdoor Circle.

The nonprofit Outdoor Circle, best known for helping push Hawai'i's strict billboard ban through the 1927 Territorial Legislature, said the Wienermobile violates a recently enacted state law that bars vehicles used primarily to advertise or promote a service or product.

It wants Oscar Mayer to stop bringing the Wienermobile to the Islands.

A representative for the Illinois-based sausage company said in a voice recording that the mobile hot-dog-on-a-bun obtained all necessary permits and did nothing wrong during its June 28 to July 19 visit.

Syd Lindner, of Oscar Mayer parent company Kraft Foods, said "to our knowledge, we did not violate any laws."

The company "worked with local authorities to secure permits when they were necessary and we really did have a 'franktastic' time in Hawai'i," Lindner said, although she did not specify what permits Oscar Mayer obtained.

She also did not say if Oscar Mayer will consider the Outdoor Circle's request to stop coming.

There are actually six Wienermobiles that make their way around the U.S. None has gotten into any beefs with sign laws elsewhere, Lindner said.

Bob Loy, an Outdoor Circle spokesman, said the organization received six to 12 complaints from O'ahu residents who said they did not relish the visit.

Loy cited a 2006 law that prohibits driving or parking a vehicle for the sole purpose of advertising.

There may be larger or more prominent examples of display advertising found on delivery trucks or tour buses in Hawai'i but, as onerous as they might be, the main purpose of those vehicles is either delivery of goods or transporting people, he said.

"Unfortunately, those things aren't against the law, and this is," Loy said.

The Wienermobile serves no purpose other than to advertise and promote Oscar Mayer products, Loy said, pointing out that the Wienermobile's own Web site says it was "created and exists to market Oscar Mayer products."

Loy said the company probably didn't even realize the law exists, since it was passed after the last Wienermobile trip to Hawai'i.

The Outdoor Circle sent a letter to Oscar Mayer "asking them if they can market their product in some alternative manner," he said.

CUTE BUT 'INSIDIOUS'

Moving billboard signs first inflamed the Outdoor Circle and its supporters several years ago when at least two companies began driving mobile billboards around O'ahu.

Both companies sold their billboard trucks soon after the law was adopted, Loy said.

The law carries a penalty of between $200 and $1,000 for a first offense and up to $5,000 for subsequent offenses.

"The mobile advertising law is extremely narrow," Loy said. "It only applies to specific vehicles that are only here for the purpose of advertising."

It's the same underlying philosophy as in the billboard prohibition — that advertising should not be done off-site, Loy said.

"Yeah, the Wienermobile is cute. It's got an attractive quality to it. I think anyone would agree with that, and that is part of the insidious nature of advertising," Loy said. "It appears to be one thing, when in fact it's another."

HOT DOG HAS ITS DAY

Mayor Mufi Hannemann welcomed the Wienermobile to Honolulu Hale on July 2 and honored it with an official Oscar Mayer Wiener Day.

Yesterday, when asked about the Outdoor Circle complaint, Hannemann said city attorneys are looking into possible violations.

While the law is a state one, enforcement would likely be done through the city Department of Planning and Permitting.

Hannemann said the city had received no complaints about the vehicle before being notified by the Outdoor Circle this week.

It's not the only time this summer an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile has gotten itself into a pickle. Last week, a Wienermobile crashed into a private residence in Racine, Wis.

The Wienermobile took a wrong turn and ended up on a dead-end street. While trying to get turned around, the driver accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and got the vehicle lodged under a house.

No one was injured but the damaged sausage vehicle was taken from the scene by a tow truck.