Swarmageddon, the invasion of billions of cicadas that takes place every 17 years on the East Coast, may be underway, but it's not bugging Caroline Fincke of Red Hook, New York. She uses the noisy, buzzing insects to make her own specialty pizza. According to the New York Daily News, Fincke fries the cicadas in butter with garlic, salt and red pepper, adds some steamed wild leeks and nettles and bakes the pie for eight to 10 minutes. Don't worry, they're perfectly edible-they're said to have a mild, nutty taste, plus they're low-fat, low-carb and gluten-free.

Read more and watch video at PMQ.com.

Losing Customers to Win an Argument
How important is winning an argument with a customer? If you have ever found yourself arguing with a customer, how much is winning the argument worth to you? Consider that you will likely lose the customer along with several of their friends when they spread the word about their experience. In situations like these, it's often best to remember the old adage, "The customer is always right."

– Liz Barrett, PMQ editor at large

Topping Thief Caught In the Act

A hungry delivery driver with a penchant for pilfering pizza toppings got busted when surveillance cameras caught him in the act and the video went viral. The footage shows the delivery man, an employee of a St. Petersburg, Russia chain called 2 Coasts, snatching his favorite toppings off a pizza during an elevator ride to the customer's floor. In a statement announcing the employee's firing, 2 Coasts boasted that its pizza was "so tasty even couriers cannot resist!"
Read more and watch video at PMQ.com.

This Week In Pizza

Today on This Week In Pizza: cicada pizza surprise; a solar-powered pizzeria; and pepperoni thief gets busted.

Click here to view video.
 

Chicken Forever

A three-minute video from McDonald's France – a pop-music celebration of the chain's chicken sandwich – exemplifies today's marketing trend, which seeks to engage consumers through social media and viral sharing rather than traditional passive advertising. According to Erika Silva, director of MarketingGastronomico.com, restaurateurs today must create a social media presence and start innovating their marketing so that consumers seek out information on the restaurant rather than vice-versa.

– Missy Green, PMQ's International Correspondent

Read more and watch video at Pizza Without Borders.

Helping Tornado Victims Via Pizza, Art

In the aftermath of a tornado that devastated the small town of Moore, Oklahoma, last month, Gusano's Chicago-Style Pizza in Joplin, Missouri, recently hosted a fundraiser to ease the suffering of the community's children. Gusano's, which traditionally offers a 50% discount on all of its pizzas on Tuesday nights, gave half of a recent Tuesday's proceeds to a local fundraising organization, Art Feeds, which provides art supplies to Moore kids for self-expression and healing.

Read more at PMQ.com.