|
|
|||
|
|||
Certain food matches are made in sports heaven; hot dogs, brats, burgers, BBQ, chili and best of all: pizza. When it comes to sports food, pizza rocks—it has attained national status as an essential part of the sports diet. Ever popular at sports concessions, it is also widely enjoyed at pre-game tailgating parties and after-game celebrations. Pizza dominates the field when it comes to home sporting event viewing parties, where it has attained semi-ritual status. Some fans are so fanatical about their teams and pizza that they will continue to order the exact same pizza during every game in hope of continuing a wining streak. It is no wonder that the biggest day of the year for pizza sales is Super Bowl Sunday.
Pies For Guys
Since women influence most food purchase decisions, operators have responded by offering healthier, lighter pizzas that appeal to the female market. But when it comes to sporting events, the target market is male: teenagers, college students, young adults and middle aged men. These pies are the antithesis of gal pies, they are over-the-top and calorie crammed; they are guy pies. This type of pizza makes no concessions to health and nutrition—it is all about extreme eating and partying—and watching the game.
The Triple “H” Factor
What are the hallmarks of a real guy pie? They must have at least two out of three of what I call the triple “H” Factors: Hefty, Hearty and Hot. Guy pies characteristically feature big bold flavors, a penchant for hot and spicy, and plenty of big, chunky toppings.
These pies are meant to be chomped on by the mouthful and with gusto. There’s nothing subtle about them. Trendy topping buzzwords like ribbon, confetti and julienne have no place in this arena. These are primal pizzas that center on meat and cheese, and more cheese and more meat. Fat is exalted and adjectives such as “non”, “low” and “light” are banned from the vocabulary (At least until the game party is over!)
Guys Don’t Go For Weird or Fussy
This is extreme pizza for extreme pizza eaters whose anthem is: more is better, excess is swell and outrageous is where it’s at. The best guy pies are inventive and humorous, but not weird. Guys don’t go for weird or fussy pizzas. This crowd tends to inhale slices and demolish thick pan pizza in a flash. When it comes to creating guy pies, go for the most no holds barred—over the top combinations you can think of and you’ll have a winner.
Getting In Touch With Your Inner Kid
Sporting events bring out the inner kid in everyone. For a few short hours, the world centers on a game. Gone are politics, war, terrorism and work. Rooting for your favorite team, surrounded by your family and friends with plenty of your favorite food and drink is pleasurable and comforting. Guy pies are above all, fun as well as great to eat.
THE SECRETS OF HOW TO CREATE GREAT GUY PIES
The Basics
Creating great guy pies is not rocket science, but there are a few principles to keep in mind. There are essentially 3 basic topping categories to these pies: cheese, meat and spice.
Got Cheese?
Never skimp on the cheese! In this case, cheesier is better; double cheese, triple cheese, quadruple cheese, spiced cheese, cheese blends and cheese sauce—it’s all good. Great choices for cheese run along the traditional: Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Ricotta, Jack, Pepper Jack, Queso Bianco, Cheddar, Blue Cheese, Gorgonzola, Swiss cheese and American cheese. Brie is probably the least popular guy pie cheese.
Cheese blends and combos are also hot. Combos like Provolone and Mozzarella, Mozzarella, Provolone and Cheddar, and Mozzarella, Blue Cheese and Asiago are popular. Cheese flavor blends are also gaining popularity. Operators are creating their own signature blends like Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, basil, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, or a Southwestern blend combining Jack, Mozzarella, Cojita, jalapeno and cilantro. The blends are made up ahead of time and used on the special pies.
Meet The Meats
Pepperoni and sausage remain the perennial favorites, but other choices have come on the topping scene in a major way. The versatility of beef offers the operator a
wide array of choices: chopped beef, sliced steak, carne asada, grilled marinated steak, braised beef, pulled slow-cooked beef, beef chili, roast beef and beef sausages, both smoked and non-smoked. Equally as popular and more traditional, are pork based toppings, especially in the form of Italian style sausage, ham, Canadian Bacon, classic bacon, BBQ pork, carnitas, and cured pork products such as salami, dried sausage, pepperoni and specialty sausages like andouille. The third category is chicken, which is also quite popular, especially BBQ chicken, grilled chicken and fried chicken.
Technically, not meat, but only a couple of seafood items would qualify on a guy pie, and they are clams and shrimp. Traditionalists and old-timers still like plenty of anchovies on theirs.
Hitting The Sauces
Traditional red sauces are always popular, but hearty chunky style meat sauces or mushroom sauces peak interest, as do some spiced up versions containing green chiles.
The real news comes from fusion sauces that are unconventional, but are the bomb on pizza. Creamy sauces that combine salad dressings like Ranch with Romano and Blue Cheese, or a Ranchera sauce consisting of Ranch dressing, jalapenos and cilantro. Mayonnaise is another excellent binder, mixed with bacon, Parmesan and garlic. Commercial BBQ sauces are a great sauce alternative, as are Alfredo based sauces.
Side sauces for dipping and spreading are another feature of guy pies. Cool creamy combos like Cucumber-Ranch, or Honey-Barbecue, or Sweet and Sour, or any kind of spicy salsa make a great accompaniment.
The Minimum Daily Requirement
Vegetables play a small supporting role to meat and cheese in guy pies. The usual suspects such as onions, peppers, mushrooms, olives and garlic are key players, allowing for the occasional zucchini, eggplant, spinach or potato. However, hot, flavorful chiles are always a popular topping component.
The Crust Gimmick
Some guy pies speak for themselves, while others rely on special treatments and accompaniments. Pizza Hut has been creating top notch guy pies for years through their various crust upgrades. It all started with the cheese stuffed rim, and then the 3 cheese stuffed crust pizza and most recently with the cheesy bites pizza. I’m waiting to see what they will come up with next to stuff cheese into!
THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
Hook, Line and Sinker
The best examples of guy pies and the marketing promotions behind them, happens nearly every year on Super Bowl Sunday when Pizza Hut rolls out their piece de resistance pizza. This year, Jessica Simpson clad in a tight red dress and cowboy boots, pranced across the tube holding the new Cheesy Bites Pizza aloft. Even with Miss Piggy as her costar, the ad was clearly aimed at the guy pie market.
Papa John’s had King Kong selling pizza in their March promotion which coincided with the DVD release of the movie, King Kong and, not accidentally, with March Madness basketball tournaments. The Kong Pizza which consists of pepperoni and sausage, is 30 percent larger than their large pie and was created especially for “Kong sized” appetites. With a marketing blurb like “Go Gorilla”, The Kong Pizza will most certainly appeal to the guy pie segment.
So, does it take the blood, sweat and tears of a high-powered marketing department to come up with some great guy pies and some great promotional tie-ins? Nope, and you can have a lot of fun coming up with your own.
The Name Game
Developing the pizza is only half of the fun, thinking up a catchy name is essential to creating the hook, and the hook is what it takes to capture the guy pie market. Here’s where the fun comes in. Whether you build the pie to fit the name, or come up with a great moniker for your pie and build a pie that is worthy of the name—it doesn’t matter because there are no set rules. However, there are plenty of sources for inspiration—both in the pizza department and in the name of the product.