Classical Values :: Turning cardboard into dough?

Turning cardboard into dough?

In today's Detroit Free Press, I read about an interesting promotional idea -- free pizzas in exchange for McCain campaign signs:

A Warren pizzeria owner received threatening phone calls Wednesday after a political pizza deal went awry.

"They've been actually calling here and threatening my life," said Salvatore's Pizzeria owner Diana Franzoni, who previously offered free, small pizzas to anyone who turned in a McCain-Palin yard sign after the Republican senator closed his Michigan offices. "It's just ridiculous. People have blown something completely innocent completely out of proportion."

That's what she says happened after the business "offer" received national attention. People noticed their McCain signs being stolen (and at least one instance of vandalism), and complained to the police:

Approximately 300 signs were turned in by young and old customers, but the promotion ended Tuesday when police visited the business after receiving complaints that some of the submitted signs were stolen.

"I'm really hopping mad about this," McCain campaign volunteer Ruthann Dawley of Rochester Hills said. "To me, it's like rewarding vandalism."

Dawley said political sign thieves have hit her home. Her McCain-Palin sign was snatched from her front yard and her car, which has a similar bumper sticker and window sign, was pummeled with mud balls in the last week.

But Franzoni said she didn't fathom that any of the signs brought into the pizzeria were obtained illegally.

"We would never advocate theft nor would we ever put a promotion up for such a thing," she said.

Warren police say no charges will be filed against Salvatore's Pizzeria for the incident.

"There was no criminal intent on their part," Dwyer said.

But a different sign inside the business at Ryan and 13 Mile is riling up McCain supporters for poking fun at his running mate.

It reads: "Want to hear a joke? Sarah Palin."

Well, I'm glad they didn't advocate theft. But when I read the story, I wondered just how many McCain supporters would actually be willing to trade in their yard signs for a pizza. It just doesn't make sense. I also had a feeling that if a McCain-supporting pizzeria offered free pizzas in exchange for Obama signs, there'd be even more of an uproar. Either way, it's not the sort of thing I would do if I were in the pizza business, because once the word got out, you'd be alienating about half of your potential customer base, without any corresponding guarantee that the other side would become loyal patrons.

Worse yet, the signs for pizza offer could backfire in a fascinating manner I hadn't considered, and which I doubt very much the business owner in this case ever anticipated.

The owner intended that Republicans bring in the signs, right? OK, let's take her word for it, and assume they did. According to blogger "Republican Ranting," that could very well bankrupt the business:

Alright, so you have Salvatore's Pizzeria (Warren, Michigan) who's offering free pizza to people who bring in yard signs. Diana Franzoni, the owner claims that she just wants people to turn in their signs since McCain left the state. OK, people aren't going to do that. Honestly though, if I worked for the Republican party, I'd be doing that as a means to get food for my campaign headquarters. The state party would save so much money doing that that they could've cut down rent for the McCain stuff that's still in Michigan. If I were in the McCain campaign - I'd give my volunteers a set of 1,000 signs, which would be $1,000-$2,000, but it'd absolutely kill Salvatore's.

Yes, it might, because an offer like that is a contract. And if the signs cost the campaign only a dollar or two, exchanging them for pizzas is actually a sweet deal.

Seen this way, the offer might constitute feeding the opposition!

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of feeding the McCain campaign this way.

I mean, who'd have ever thought Republicans could print more food?

Not merely ingenious, it borders on the miraculous!

Via Republican Ranting, here's the video:

And if the signs cost the campaign only a dollar or two, exchanging them for pizzas is actually a sweet deal.

That's the first thing I thought. Don't whine about the guy encouraging theft and vandalism, trade your cheap signs for pizza and teach him a lesson in unintended consequences.

Veeshir · October 23, 2008 11:17 AM