Sam’s Club starts wiener war by selling its hot dog combo for less than Costco’s

You may have lived through the chicken sandwich wars of yesteryear, where fast-food chains tried to outdo each other with poultry placed betwixt two buns. Though that cluck-based conflict has now mostly died down, a new food fight has emerged: and this time, it’s over hotdogs.

On Nov. 15, Sam’s Club announced it has lowered the price of its hot dog-and-soda combo from $1.50 to $1.38. Walmart — the owner of Sam’s Club — revealed the change during a third-quarter earnings call.

“​​The members’ dollars are going further at Sam’s Club, too … we’re also making the everyday shopping trip better by lowering the price of the cafe hotdog combo by nearly 10% to $1.38,” said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to investors during the call. “Around the world, our teams have this type of mindset.”

The new hot (dog) deal now appears on Sam’s Club website as well, with language that could be interpreted as fightin’ words.

“Frankly, it can’t be beat,” reads the ad that appears on Sam's Club website. “New lower price. Same great hot dog and drink combo,  And the free refills are still flowin’.”

Sam’s Club’s hot dog has perpetually been in competition with Costco's, which has been offering a similar deal to its customers for $1.50 since the mid-1980s.

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek has already confirmed that there are no plans to increase the price, likely ever. In fact, co-founder of Costco Jim Sinegal apparently once threatened to kill Jelinek if he ever raised the price of the deal.

Costco may have some slashing to do if they want to catch up to Sam’s Club, which already offers lower prices for its membership than Costco does. Sam’s Club also announced, like a few other major grocers, that it's keeping inflation away from the prices on Thanksgiving staples, as well as 40% lower prices year over year on lobster tails and racks of lamb.

If you’re one of the many who are wondering, "Why did they lower it by 12 cents?” Sam’s Club explains its reasoning, in a way, in a recent post on its blog.

“A dime and two pennies might not seem like much and we tend to agree — when it comes to one transaction on one hotdog combo,” reads a post titled, “It’s 12 cents. So what?!” on the Sam’s Club website. “But there’s a bigger story at play here. This is a signal. It’s indicative of the journey we’re on — to make the Sam’s Club membership the most valuable subscription you have. And in this case, that means working it twelve cents at a time.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com