Unethical Pizza Commercials

It's really quite amazing how many articles you can find on ethical issues dealing with pizza. Try it, type in pizza-ethics in a google search engine and you will find many articles that claim it is unethical for a government official to host a "pizza lunch-in", or people blogging about their "pizza-ethics" in deciding what is proper to top a pizza. My favorite article I have found thus far in dealing with pizza ethics involves the top selling pizza store in America, Pizza Hut. 

Dated in 2005, "Pizza Hut Ethics" describes the concern one has on the commercials that Pizza Hut  was airing at the time. I can't seem to find out who specifically wrote the article, but it is from a website called Ethics Scoreboard. They seem to do articles that relate, obviously, with ethics and every type of industry out there. Facebook ethics, cartoon ethics, ethics of "The Dark Knight", basketball ethics, and the list goes on and on. It's kind of cool actually, but my goodness, everything is ethical! 

Anyhow, in the commercial the deliveryman drops off two pizzas to a home. Once he is gone, one man says to the other something to the effect of "wow he gave us more pizza than we paid for". The ad is promoting Pizza Hut's low costing pizza; two pizzas for the price of one (at a competing pizza place). That's all. A plain and simple commercial to get their point across that they saved money by ordering Pizza Hut.

In this article from Scoreboard however, that is not all. The author was perturbed with the ethical issue around benefiting from someone else's "mistake". I guess an example would be if Starbucks charged you for a small coffee when you really got a large. By benefiting from this, and not showing Starbucks their mistake, you are performing an ethical wrongdoing. 

Under no circumstances, says the author from Scoreboard, should anyone walk away from this situation without paying the proper amount of money for what they bought. And likewise, Pizza Hut should not advertise how "cool" it is to get free things of which you did not pay for. 

Apparently the author's son (who was 12 at the time), knew the commercial by heart. This was very bothersome to the author of the article because it represents how impressionable our society is, and commercials such as this one, could have a negative impact on the youth of today. 

The author ends the article with this: 

"The issue isn't what our culture is today, but what we want it to be tomorrow. Pizza Hut's sordid little commercial may not play a big part in pushing us one way or the other, but it contributes to the million's of little incidents and messages absorbed by our youth that are relentlessly warping their sense of right and wrong." 

I applaud the author for writing about an ethical situation of which many wouldn't think about. Ethics and pizza. Who would have thought? However, I think the author should be aware that there are worse advertisements out there on TV, in print and on the radio. Sadly there is no way around this. Whether the author likes it or not, this is the culture we live in. 

I've always said I feel sorry for my unborn children, because when they enter this world I am going to be such a stickler on what they watch on TV and listen to on the radio. Smut is everywhere. Bad morals are everywhere. I think the only way to "beat the system" is by educating the youth as much as you can. Talk to your children, have discussions on what you think is "good" and "bad", "right" and "wrong". Than at least you can say you made an effort to help tomorrow's culture. 

What do you think? E-mail any questions or comments to sally.k.dwyer@gmail.com. Ciao! 

Collision of Flavors-the Versatile Pizza

My boyfriend and I are currently enthralled with making our own pizza’s at home. I cut up the veggies and put them in bowls while he gets the cheese, sauce, two pans and the already made Boboli crusts (wheat!). I remember doing this on occasion when I was younger and forgot how much fun it is! We each get to make our perfect pizza, and usually devour the whole thing within two days. It has become a pastime of ours and I highly suggest it.

This led me to thinking about all of the different ways one can “decorate” a pizza and how this sport has become increasingly popular in our culture. An article entitled “The Versatile Pie: Pizza Fits Varying Taste Trends”, examples of this are given. Before reading this article I assumed that most were branching away from the traditional sauce and mozzarella to maybe spinach and ground beef…this article really opened up my eyes to the new pizza world.

Beginning with the most extravagant pizza decorating is Nino’s Bellissima located in New York City. This elegant restaurant offers a pizza that costs…are you ready for this…$1,000 ! The reason? It is topped with caviar, lobster, imported cheeses, and 14K gold leaves. Yeah, I said it was extravagant. Although this is outrageous, it proves the point that pizza is definitely versatile and also, sells!

Because of this rise in pizza decorating, chefs are looking outside the box at different ways to improve and impress their customers. Some newer combinations include red pepper, shrimp, avocado, orange marmalade and brie and believe it or not, even peanut butter and jelly!-mmmmmm.

Pizza as an art: how can you best position the flavors of the ingredients to satisfy the feeling of a sophisticated dinner. Gourmet chefs are beginning to use meats to accomplish this, such as lamb, meatballs, Mediterranean flavors, Moroccan flavors all topped off with feta cheese, or goat cheese. Now I personally would never order pizza with any of these toppings, because to me traditional pizza will always be the best and most satisfying.

Even though these new ideas are becoming more popular and there is a rise of creativity in the pizza industry, I still think the traditional-style of pizza is more popular and will always be more popular. It is simplistic, yes, however it is familiar, and still very tasty. I do like to decorate my homemade pizzas with banana peppers, and mushrooms not only because it is yummy, but it is also very fun and rewarding.

A quote from the article says it best, “choice is what people want and pizza can be whatever consumers want it to be.” I think this is the exact reason people are drawn to pizza. How would you decorate your pizza? E-mail me your thoughts/comments at sally.k.dwyer@gmail.com. Chaio!