BANGKOK — First things first, this is not an April Fool’s story.
Popular “pizza” franchise Pizza Company took a slice of netizens’ attention on Thursday with its new menu: a non-pizza pizza – the whole thing consists of a ring of mini cheese burgers, fused together into a circular crust. It’ll be available for orders until Feb. 23.
The burger crusts is as large as a M sized pizza, has 12 mini-cheeseburgers, comes with ketchup and tomato mustard sauce, and costs 189 baht. In justification of its latest innovation, the company cited popular demand.
“We’re here to please the crust lovers who really like our double cheeseburger crusts!” the announcement said.
Many comments were positive, though some expressed their bewilderment.
“Such culinary evolution. Five hundred years later, historians will debate about why this item was called a pizza at all,” Facebook user Taksapol Sriwachirawat predicted. “And why Italy invaded Thailand.”
“I don’t think this is pizza anymore. Farangs will probably be confused,” user Khun Nai AiAi added with concern.
The Pizza Company franchise is part of Minor Group, which also runs other food franchises like Swensens, Sizzler, Dairy Queen, Burger King, The Coffee Club, and so on. It previously teased about an upcoming “new innovation” in a statement released to the media on Jan. 14.
“The Pizza Company will focus on bringing out new innovation (Product & Service Innovation) by creating modern and creative menus, services and activities to create a phenomenon and light up the year,” the company said.
The same statement from Pizza Company also said celebrity Paris “Ice” Intrarakomalyasut was chosen as the presenter for its New York-style pizza because of his “half-caste look who represents the new generation that favours a modern and fun lifestyle and is friendly.”
“Half-caste” is an outdated, offensive term from the British colonial era used to describe people of mixed ethnicities. Paris is an actor and singer of British descent.
Update: Italian ambassador to Thailand Lorenzo Galanti has issued a tongue-in-cheek response to the story:
A non-pizza deserves a non -war ☺️. But food lovers might still want to try the real thing 🍕🇮🇹
— Lorenzo Galanti (@lorenzo_galanti) January 28, 2021
