Et Tu, Little Caesar?
I adore Mike Ilitch. I'm simply amazed at the commitment he's made to the city of Detroit, and the work and money he's put in to his sports teams.
While I haven't agreed with him on everything--the freezing out of Sparky Anderson and his cold attitude toward Tiger Stadium, to name two--I nonetheless shudder to think where so many of us would be had he not come to the rescue of not only the Red Wings, but the city itself.
But Mike--you gotta clue me in on a secret.
I think I'll end up in my grave before I understand how Mike Ilitch made so much money and built such a food empire, selling such an inferior product.
Little Caesar's Pizza.
Ugh.
Now, I must admit, some of my distaste for Mike's pizza pies has to do with repetition.
Back in my TV production days, in local cable, we would have to feed our crew on all remote shoots, and do it for about $40. The cheapest and easiest way was with pizza.
Still is, as a matter of fact, when you need to feed large numbers of people in a hurry.
Little Caesar's tended to be conveniently (!) located near just about any venue we found ourselves at on that particular day. So, with $40 and not much time to spare, we'd dispatch a couple folks over to the parlor for some pies.
So I had more than my share of Mike's pies. Believe me.
But it's not just repetition. If anything, because of that repetition, I've tried mightily to like Little Caesar's Pizza. And tried. And tried.
Not gonna happen.
From the sour sauce to the cardboard-like crust to the cheap cheese, Mikey's pies just don't do it for me.
I kinda like the Crazy Bread, but that's about it.
This photo doesn't do justice to how bad Little Caesar's Pizza is -- to me
Yet Ilitch, who last year celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first location in Garden City, has made a mint off the pizza, which has in turn paid for the Red Wings, the Tigers, Fox Theatre, and a bunch of other stuff.
So who am I to say, right?
But I'm still puzzled.
Think about all of the pizza joints that have come and gone in the past half century.
Some have been good, some have been bad. Some have been victims of the economy. Some have been victims of location.
Yet Little Caesar's, with its awful product, has survived, and more.
How?
Oh, how I wish I knew.
Could be, of course, that I'm wrong and everyone else is right.
So, I put it to you: no doubt you've had Mike Ilitch's pizza. It's all they serve at Red Wings and Tigers games, of course.
What do YOU think of it?
Be honest now.
You don't even have to say you dislike it with the fervor that I do. But do you...LIKE it?
Is it the first pizza of choice when you decide to grab a pie?
Clearly, the marketing types have done a marvelous job. I admit that some of the TV commercials of yesteryear were humorous and endearing.
The Hot and Ready campaign--$5 large pepperoni pizzas at the ready for your convenience--has been successful.
But don't you, sooner or later, have to have a good product?
Apparently not.
Little Caesar's Pizza--51 years and still going strong.
Somehow.
While I haven't agreed with him on everything--the freezing out of Sparky Anderson and his cold attitude toward Tiger Stadium, to name two--I nonetheless shudder to think where so many of us would be had he not come to the rescue of not only the Red Wings, but the city itself.
But Mike--you gotta clue me in on a secret.
I think I'll end up in my grave before I understand how Mike Ilitch made so much money and built such a food empire, selling such an inferior product.
Little Caesar's Pizza.
Ugh.
Now, I must admit, some of my distaste for Mike's pizza pies has to do with repetition.
Back in my TV production days, in local cable, we would have to feed our crew on all remote shoots, and do it for about $40. The cheapest and easiest way was with pizza.
Still is, as a matter of fact, when you need to feed large numbers of people in a hurry.
Little Caesar's tended to be conveniently (!) located near just about any venue we found ourselves at on that particular day. So, with $40 and not much time to spare, we'd dispatch a couple folks over to the parlor for some pies.
So I had more than my share of Mike's pies. Believe me.
But it's not just repetition. If anything, because of that repetition, I've tried mightily to like Little Caesar's Pizza. And tried. And tried.
Not gonna happen.
From the sour sauce to the cardboard-like crust to the cheap cheese, Mikey's pies just don't do it for me.
I kinda like the Crazy Bread, but that's about it.
This photo doesn't do justice to how bad Little Caesar's Pizza is -- to me
Yet Ilitch, who last year celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first location in Garden City, has made a mint off the pizza, which has in turn paid for the Red Wings, the Tigers, Fox Theatre, and a bunch of other stuff.
So who am I to say, right?
But I'm still puzzled.
Think about all of the pizza joints that have come and gone in the past half century.
Some have been good, some have been bad. Some have been victims of the economy. Some have been victims of location.
Yet Little Caesar's, with its awful product, has survived, and more.
How?
Oh, how I wish I knew.
Could be, of course, that I'm wrong and everyone else is right.
So, I put it to you: no doubt you've had Mike Ilitch's pizza. It's all they serve at Red Wings and Tigers games, of course.
What do YOU think of it?
Be honest now.
You don't even have to say you dislike it with the fervor that I do. But do you...LIKE it?
Is it the first pizza of choice when you decide to grab a pie?
Clearly, the marketing types have done a marvelous job. I admit that some of the TV commercials of yesteryear were humorous and endearing.
The Hot and Ready campaign--$5 large pepperoni pizzas at the ready for your convenience--has been successful.
But don't you, sooner or later, have to have a good product?
Apparently not.
Little Caesar's Pizza--51 years and still going strong.
Somehow.
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