Herman Cain Puts Godfather’s Pizza in the Spotlight

Is Herman Cain doing more for Godfather’s Pizza than he ever did when he was CEO? His former company, which he ran from 1986 to 1995, is being showered with free publicity thanks to his new role as a Republican presidential hopeful.

But is all press good press for Godfather’s? GOP consultant Patrick Hynes thinks so. “I definitely think it helps the brand. It associates their product with a very hot ticket candidate in the news cycle,” he says in this article.

Others aren’t so sure. Forget about hot tickets. Cain had better hope that Godfather’s is more concerned with hot pizzas. After all, a bad customer service experience at Godfather’s could sour some voters on the Cain candidacy, say observers.

The pizza chain itself insists it is remaining neutral on the race. “Godfather’s Pizza takes no position on political candidates, but we do make great pizza,” it said in a prepared statement.

But does it really make great pizza? Political news site Politico recently ran a blind taste test to find out. It lined up Godfather’s against four other brands -- Papa John's, Pizza Hut, zpizza, and Ledo Pizza. Sadly for Cain, every participant in the taste test, which included both Democrats and Republicans, rated Godfather’s dead last.

"It's the most unappetizing. The cheese is really sour! The crust is like a sponge,” said one judge after a single bite.  "That is so bad," noted another judge.  “Was it always this crappy?” asked a third.

Sounds like both Cain and his former company have a lot more work to do.

Papa doesn’t know best. In other pizza news, a deliver driver for Papa John’s in Colorado called the cops on a customer after he smelled marijuana in his home.

This is weird on many levels. For starters, if it weren’t for pot, pizza delivery franchises wouldn’t be in business in the first place. What’s more, delivery drivers are notorious stoners themselves. Why rat out one of their own?

The delivery guy said he was concerned because the customer’s 9-year-old daughter was also in the home. When the cops arrived, the customer was able to prove that he was a registered medical marijuana user, and thus was perfectly within his rights to toke up.

All’s well that ends well, however. A rival chain called Sexy Pizza has promised the victim one free pizza a month until Colorado legalizes marijuana for recreational use.

Now that’s a company that understands its customer base.

Get smart. We have pizza on the brain today. Ok, we have pizza on the brain every day. And no, it has nothing to do with the previous item.

It’s probably because of the pervasive marketing campaigns of pizza companies – both online and offline.

Take this piece of news, for example. Fully 30 percent of Domino’s sales are now coming through the company’s website and smartphone applications. And, in a digital first, Domino’s said its iPhone and iPod Touch apps are now bringing in sales of $1 million per week.

Put that in you pipe and smoke it!