
Volkswagen Originalteil Sausages - sohkamyung
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/volkswagen-originalteil-sausages
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est31
They do this to protect their brand. If you register for a brand, you must
specify for which types of goods or services your brand should be valid. These
types are categorized into so called nice classes [1], where each class has a
number and covers a group of products. E.g. class 12 is for cars and class 29
is for meat products, including sausages. Your brand registration can include
one or multiple nice classes, and different owners can own different nice
classes for the same brand.

Volkswagen posesses a multitude of brands. First, one registered in 1956 [2]
that's specific to cars, and another one registered in 1998 [3] that includes
every single nice class not covered by the first brand registration.

Having a brand registered is not enough. You must actually place a product
into the market, otherwise your government granted monopoly on the brand
becomes invalid. They just don't want people to make Volkswagen sausages so
they have to do their own.

[1]:
[https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/en/](https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/en/)

[2]:
[https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/621252/...](https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/621252/DE)

[3]:
[https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/3980018...](https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/398001855/DE)

~~~
SlowRobotAhead
I’m not sure they are selling almost 7 million sausages a year just to protect
their brand and their ability to make other food products if they so choose.
If it was Porchse novelty turkey jerky I would agree, this seems like a real
business and tradition for VW.

~~~
Gibbon1
I think if an oddball division makes money and doesn't require much oversight
by the parent company they just toodle along. Especially if the hassle of
selling off the division isn't worth managements time.

~~~
llampx
Someone please tell Tim Cook this so we can have decent Macs again.

~~~
llagowivel
Big Macs?

~~~
sohkamyung
Good one! :-)

Apple Big Macs vs McDonalds Big Macs should be an interesting contest.

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drewwwwww
You can also get the sausages inside VW's too-weird-to-adequately-describe
theme park/museum, the Autostadt[1], in Wolfsburg.

[1]: [https://www.autostadt.de/start](https://www.autostadt.de/start)

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purplezooey
No emissions cheat device is going to help the other passengers in the car
after you eat a few of those...

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baxtr
Also little known: VW sells beer in Argentina

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8vwXcB3-Cs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8vwXcB3-Cs)

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brianberns
> The finished product is shipped in packs of five to VW dealerships all over
> the country, who then gift it to customers after a successful sale.

> In 2017, Volkswagen sold nearly 7 million sausages

Wait, so are they sold or gifted?

~~~
SlowRobotAhead
Also in the article... company cafeteria and grocery stores.

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rkagerer
What's the reliability rating on that part? Have there been any recalls? Is it
RoHS compliant? Will the US charge me a 25% tariff on import? Can I lubricate
with part 199-398-500-B?

~~~
trhway
I wonder how they manage to detect when sausage is being eaten by a
professional food taster/reviewer.

~~~
rdl
What, to optimize emissions?

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acqq
And, related, Volkswagen also had its own insignificant but apparently funny
for the readers "Ketchupgate":

[https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/companies/ketchupgate-
vw-...](https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/companies/ketchupgate-vw-employees-
reject-new-currywurst-ketchup/23583042.html)

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RickJWagner
Good for them. I bet it's fun to work at Volkswagen, any place that makes
their own sausage and ketchup must have a great variety of jobs

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jrjarrett
Does the check engine light come on often with these?

