Goodman’s American Pie and Transparency

If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know all about Domino’s radical marketing strategy called the “Oh Yes We Did” campaign. The strategy was groundbreaking for the industry. Imagine: a multi-national company being honest and transparent in their food products and marketing; it’s unheard of!

Way before Domino’s began to practice the novel concept [hint: sarcasm] of  “transparency”, odds are, your local independently owned pizza shop was doing it first. Take Goodman’s American Pie in my hometown of Ludlow, Vermont for example. Goodman’s American Pie is located less than a mile away from the well known ski resort, Okemo Mountain. On a typical Friday night in the winter “the wait” for a pizza can be up to two and a half hours as mountain-goers process into town from NY, NJ, MA, CONN, etc. This video was shot in the winter of 2011, on a Friday night, before the mayhem, and shows the everybody the pizza making process– from start to finish. How’s that for transparency?

This video is part two of a series called Behind The Bus, which you can take literally, because what separates the kitchen area from the dining area is a extended VW Bus. See the first video here.

Other things GAP does well: The small business has a fairly static website with basic information anyone would need to know to order and pick up a pizza. However, they have a very active Facebook  with new posts almost every day and over 800 “Likes”. They also have a Twitter (@woodfiredza), with fewer posts and fewer followers (about 130).

The best part about Goodman’s American Pie’s marketing strategy: it’s unpretentious. The Facebook page is handled by the owners who post whatever they want: pizza promotions and events–yes, but also family photos, memes, Clint Eastwood pictures, mustaches, car photos–anything of interest. And customers eat it up! Unlike Domino’s “transparency” campaign, Goodman’s American Pie doesn’t have to pay through the roof (over 185.5 million dollars annually) trying to convince customers they run an honest business. Transparency is automatic for GAP, and that’s evident for anyone who follows their Facebook account.

NP 04/16

Almost Pizza

This Saturday Night Live skit is almost as funny as it is scary. I found it while browsing the “Occupy Monsanto” website. Occupy Monsanto describes itself as a movement “of taking back our food system from these parasitic corporate behemoths who have been poisoning both us and our environment”.  Tell us how you really feel.

The skit may have been written for comedy, but it’s built off a lot of what we’ve been hearing in the news lately on transparency in whats in our food and where it comes from. My Facebook newsfeed has been blowing up lately with stories about a controversy between Monsanto and the state of Vermont. Here’s the scoop.

According to Nation of Change, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is afraid to back the Vermont legislature in requiring mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food. His reasons? He is afraid of a lawsuit against
Monsanto Company, a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in Missouri and a leading producer of genetically engineered seed and herbicides. In addition, he also “expresses fear that specialty food producers will suffer economic loss because they will be forced to change their genetically modified ingredients, or label them.”

These are valid reasons considering most people would agree that a lawsuit from Monsanto is inevitable. Is it more important to protect our residents from likely damaging ingredients in our food or to protect Vermont’s finances?

Over 61 countries recognize “that there are serious health and safety concerns with GMO foods and animal feed, and so the question remains, will Vermont stand up and set a precedent for the rest of the country?

image from frontview.files.wordpress.com

If Vermont mandates the “Right to Know GMO,” we’ll never again wonder if what we’re eating is Almost Pizza or not.

NP 4/2