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Swing State Pizza
My new favorite website is Brandwatch, which I know is a business and trying to get companies to pay for their research, but a lot of the fun stuff is free. Essentially, they monitor social media so you don’t have to. And they find out stuff.
Stuff about pizza.
Which states prefer to load their bases with bacon? Which prefer peppers? And which like to pile their pizzas with pepperoni?
By only analyzing conversation that contained intent – e.g. ‘I want’ or ‘I need’ – the data more accurately reflects pizza preferences rather than general interest.
Pepperoni led conversation in the majority of states, while Hawaii are deserving of their pizza name sake (the Hawaiian) with pineapple being the state’s topping of choice.
Here’s the map. Notice, for instance, that a simple preference for pepperoni covers the major swing states:
Note, too, that Florida seems insanely — though that’s no surprise — alone in its preference for mushrooms. This is something for non-Rubio and non-Bush candidates to keep in mind. (I’m assuming that Rubio and Bush know this already.) Delaware also likes mushrooms but Delaware doesn’t count. It’s going to go for Biden/Warren ’16 and we all know that already.
Hawaii and pineapple I understand. Wisconsin and Tennessee have no excuse. Pineapple does not belong on a pizza under any circumstances possible on the lower 48. (This is not up for debate, by the way. Please do not attempt to debate this in the comments. It is not a matter of preference. Pineapple on pizza is wrong.)
Gender gap issues exist in pizza as in politics:
Again, to reiterate: Pineapple is wrong.
But notice the safe cluster in the mid-range. Look for candidates to embrace the steak and pepperoni options. Look for Hillary Clinton to ostentatiously dig into a peppers and bacon pizza (she needs men) and for one of the Republican hopefuls to go for olives and chicken.
And look for Trump to say the hell with it and order a calzone.
Published in Culture
Mr. Long,
Your monitor must be off in its colors. Florida prefers peppers. Delaware, home of Joe Biden, unsurprisingly prefers mushrooms. Make of that what you will.
Also, Pineapple on pizza is great.
Also, who puts chicken on pizza unless it’s a BBQ pizza?
If I wanted to eat chicken, I’d buy chicken.
Suddenly, Yeti’s conversations on an ad buy with Dole have collapsed.
If they know where the good pizza is .. who wouldn’t pay up for the kind of research?
What can I say? Pineapple on pizza (which must be paired with ham [or Canadian Bacon]) is as close most of us will ever get to Hawaii.
Chicken on pizza — now that’s wrong. Unless it accompanies artichoke hearts, spinach, and a white sauce.
Preach!
Me, for one. Grilled chicken with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes is excellent on pizza. Also pizza with buffalo chicken and jalapenos is really good, too.
It’s because I love pineapple that I hate to see it served warm, limp, and soaked in hot cheese grease.
Then judging by the first graphic – again, we should call you if anything else turns blue.
Good. We don’t need another establishment pizza running just because it’s His turn. We’d end up with democrat veggie pizza.
Well, I’m known to get Donatos Chicken Mariachi, but I don’t see that as ordering chicken on a pizza, it’s just the protein that happens to come with the great favor.
When? When will this irrational fear of ananas comosus end?
I like plain. I guess that explains why I don’t get too upset by all this political stuff.
I see a glaring issue here. Where’s the sausage? And don’t say “beef”, because as any sausage-lover knows, it ain’t just or even beef, my friend.
If Rob’s looking for something to be become enraged about, rage, rage against the dying of the sausage!
The problem with this is that it is a skewed sample set – it only covers people who order from Domino’s. I can’t speak to other parts of the nation, but here in the Western New York area there are hundreds of mom & pop pizza joints. There are paltry few national chain pizza places because they can’t survive. If you’re only collecting data from Domino’s, you’re looking at a tiny sliver of oddballs, not at all representative of the the general population.
O brave new world that has such people in it
“social listening technologies”
As Jay Leno once pointed out, the only good thing about Domino’s is that they can fax you your pizza and it tastes exactly the same.
I will combine Casey and Peter Gothgen. If you are ordering from a good pizza shop (as opposed to Domino’s), I like cheese pizza. Pineapple with ham is not bad (though I think I prefer ham by itself. If I am going to order from Domino’s (or the like), pile them all on (except the chicken). I have had a buffalo chicken pizza that I thought was alright, but at that point it really is not a pizza anymore.
This is obviously seriously flawed data. They refer to what Domino’s sells as “pizza.”
Two other quick observations: If Dad says we can’t debate pineapple on pizza, we will debate pineapple on pizza and that the fact this is Dad’s favorite website is pegging the meter at the nerdy pathetic end.
EJ, when the man’s right, he’s right. Pineapple on pizza is an abomination.
Steak? Steak? Those people probably put ketchup on their hot dogs too.
I agree. As I read the comments, I was wondering who over the age of 6 would willingly request Dominoes?
Isn’t Dominoes the torture food for anyone supervising children on a parent’s date night?
Dominoes Pizza has a half-life of 4.5 minutes out of the oven.
This means by the time it’s delivered, it has already completed 6/7 of the time it takes to return to plastic form.
Therefore, I must question a citizen’s capacity to vote if they believe Dominoes Pizza is still pizza by the time it gets delivered to your house.
DiGiorno’s on the other hand…right. Just kidding.
And anchovies! Sausage and anchovies!
I have often cited in support of the wonders of the free market the vast array of local pizza shops with their vocal supporters, and the failure of the national chains to command more than a small percentage of the pizza market in almost all regions. Buyers have particular wants, and sellers figure out how to meet them.
Our local market is so large that we can support the small places and the national chains.
Within a mile of my house there’s Nikki P’s, High Bridge, Daurizzio’s, Marotta’s, 4 Corners, Cusato’s, Johnny C’s, plus a Pizza Hut.
(It’s a buyer’s market). Go out to three or four miles, and it’s well over a dozen places.
Costco. Pepperoni. Pizza. All I need.
You are correct, re: my monitor’s colors.
You are simply ignorant re: pineapple.
Discussion over.
So. So. So. True.
Exactly. I love pineapple.
On pizza, though, it’s a crime.
Please, can we stop talking about it like it’s a real thing?
This is an excellent point. The absence of sausage here concerns me.
Hear, hear! It’s always heartening to me to find others who have not given in to the pineapple-on-pizza madness. Reminds me of one of my favorite bits from Inside Out (skip to the 46 second mark):