It’s safe to assume that everyone loves a well-made pizza. Okay, maybe not everyone, but we won’t hold it against that tragic minority. If you asked a crowd of people to name their favorite, you’d get several answers. Some stick with plain cheese, others crave barbeque chicken, and the cool kids swear on pineapple and ham. Still, the most common answer will likely be pepperoni.
According to a survey by YouGov America, pepperoni pizza is by far the most ordered pizza in the United States. The thing about pepperoni is that it’s really hard to mess up. All you need is the dough, sauce, cheese, and of course, the pepperoni. Imagine, however, the response a restaurant would elicit if they had a line of customers that ordered pepperoni, but instead were handed a supreme pizza.
Perhaps the first complaint would go something like this:
The Pizza Parable
A young father walks to the counter with his wife and their two smiling toddlers.
Customer: Excuse me ma’am, I think there’s been a mistake – we ordered pepperoni.
Cashier: Yes, the supreme has pepperoni on it as well as an assortment of other ingredients. It’s healthier and more diverse than what you ordered.
Customer: Respectfully, if we wanted something healthy, we wouldn’t be ordering pizza. We would just like to get what we paid for.
Cashier: Unfortunately, we have specific requirements for how many toppings must be included on every pizza to ensure a diverse culinary experience for all.
Customer: Let me get this straight – you HAVE to include every topping on any order made?
Cashier: That is correct, but you get any size of your choice.
Customer: So, essentially you only serve one type of pizza now. Can you explain how that’s offering a “diverse” experience if you’re excluding every other type of pizza?
Cashier: Sir, we don’t cater to toxic customers. If you want a bigoted pizza, you’ll have to dine elsewhere.
Is there any guess as to what this once loyal customer will do? They will leave, as will many others. What about management? Will they course-correct and realize their error? Likely not, because this has become more than just business – it’s ideological.
Declining sales will be explained away as lingering effects of the pandemic on the economy. They may even suggest that modern consumers don’t enjoy pizza as much as previous generations. While such scapegoating, corporate rationalizations may quell investor fears for a time, they will never bring back customers. That’s because the real issue is with management.
conclusion
The pizza parable is a glimpse of what’s happening in the entertainment industry – not just gaming. However, recent trends in the gaming industry suggest that gamers are abandoning studios selling D.E.I pizza. It turns out that forcing certain narratives or attempting to shame customers is just not a good marketing practice.
Over a decade of this mentality has culminated in lackluster sales, lukewarm receptions, and a jaded community. It has cost journalists and gaming studios their rapport with their fan base. Once, it was considered bad manners to talk about religion or politics at the dinner table, and now we know why. If there is to be a brighter future for the gaming industry, we will need to revisit these old guidelines and focus on serving what the customer ordered – even if it’s a plain ol pepperoni pizza.