Things you'd do for a 23 cent pizza

[stevew]

Wait in line 3 hours?

From last week

CLEVELAND -- Papa John's Pizza issued an apology to Cleveland and the Cavaliers for making T-shirts with LeBron James' number and the word "crybaby" under it.


To apologize, Papa John's will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday. The 23 is an homage to James' jersey number. The company also will donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.


The pizza chain's T-shirts were featured during the Cavs' games against the Wizards on Friday in Washington. Wizards fans taunted the Cavs, who won the payoff series that night in Game 6.


The shirts started after James complained about hard fouls, and Wizards center Brendan Haywood called him a crybaby.

From a local news station..

Below is a list of list of information at some of the locations from Channel 3 News crews and tip calls coming into the Channel 3 Newsroom. (Time are approximate).



2:20 p.m. Papa John's in Euclid is asking that people not call. Orders are not being taken over the phone. Presumably this is the case at other locations where callers have been unable to get through. Papa John's however did say from the start that the promotion was for carry out orders only--no deliveries.


2:00 p.m. Channel 3 director Matt Babb called in to report he finally had his 23 cent pizza at the Parma location--after waiting in line 3 hours and 20 minutes!


1:55 p.m. Police have thrown three "line-jumpers" out from the location in Shaker Heights. People are starting to lose their patience, some walking away without pizza.


1:10 p.m. WKYC.com's Kim Wendel reports that the line has grown to nearly 2,000 in Shaker Heights. Some people in line since before 10 are just now getting their pizza. Police concerned about what happens when students released from school. Read the rest of Kim's blog using the link below.

1:05 p.m. Akron police report that traffic was brought to a standstill on Route 8 south as drivers clogged the freeway earlier trying to get to the East Market location. The line of traffic stretched from the Buchtel/Carroll exit back to the Tallmadge Avenue Exit. Read more about the traffic jam and the Akron situation from Ohio.com


12:30 p.m. Channel 3's Mike O'Mara and videographer are on site at the Euclid location at East 222 and Lakeshore. They report several hundred people in line with the crowd extending down past the corner. The location is NOT taking phone orders. The wait for pizza is more than 2 hours! The mood in the line is decribed as good. There have been a few people who tried to cut in line but they were shouted down by the crowd. The manager at the location says he's confident there will be enough pizza to meet the demand.


12:15 p.m. WKYC.com's Kim Wendel reports that an estimate 1,700 people are in line at the Shaker Heights store. People are parking from as far away as 3 blocks because there is not parking at the restaurant. Read the rest of Kim's blog/story


12:00 p.m. Channel 3's Eric Mansfield reports there about 200 people in line at the West Market location in Akron. People tell Eric that the line started forming as early as 8:00 a.m. They have sent workers down the line to take orders in advance. But we're the wait at many of the locations is easily more than a hour.


11:45 a.m. Line at the Shaker Heights store close to 1,000 as of around 11:30 a.m.


11:30 a.m. Photo sent by Channel 3's Matt Babb shows a line snaking its way out of the Parma store.


11:12 a.m. Tip caller in Mentor claims that Papa John's is telling customers it is not taking phone orders. (We are efforting information from Papa John's corporate on whether phone orders are being accepted for this promotion. Company already suspended on line orders for it.)

Second caller in Mentor says they are receiving a message that the phone line has been disconnected. Another caller says that phones not ringing at all at Papa John's locations at 184th and Detroit and at 171st and Lorain.


10:45 a.m Line grows to 300 at Shaker Heights location. Per wkyc.com's Kim Wendel, the line keeps growing at a rate of about 15 people ever 5 minutes.


10:40 a.m. Traffic jam reported at the Shaker Heights location as the line reaches more than 220 people. But per wkyc.com reporter, Kim Wendel on scene, the mood of the crowd is good and even festive with the crowd chanting "Go Cavs!"


10:40 a.m. Channel 3 news crew reports long line at the Lakewood loation on Detroit


10:35 a.m. Channel 3's Carole Sullivan reports the line at the Berea restaurant location wraps around the building


10:30 a.m. Tip caller says the line at the East 222 and Lakeshore location stretches down the block with more than 300 people in line.


10:20 a.m. Papa John's suspends its on-line ordering and WKYC receives calls about not being able to get through when calling restaurants.


10:00 a.m. Shaker Heights location chooses to open early and start selling pizzas after the line reaches more than 120 people.

[MikeVic]

That guy in blue could use some more pizzas.

[stevew]

some pics

http://cantonrep.com/more_photos.php...nDate2=May2008

[Ksyrup]

I witnessed people standing in line for 3 hours to get an autograph from the Naked Brothers Band, so a pizza for 23 cents is worth at least 8 hours in line, I'd guess.

[stevew]

I had to delete the one photo from the original post cause it was way too wide.

[stevew]

http://cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=41...ubCategoryID=0

They rolled up in wheelchairs. They pushed baby strollers. They stepped off the SARTA bus in Uniontown.

Hungry — or cheap — pizza connoisseurs found several methods of getting to the long lines that often snaked for blocks.

All for a 23-cent pizza.

As reports spread of fights breaking out in lines at some pizza shops across Northeastern Ohio, traffic grew heavy. Motorists were trying to get into pizza shop parking lots, many of which were blocked by the long lines.

Police department dispatchers said about 2 p.m. that traffic has been heavy around the pizza shops but no major incidents were reported.

More than 100 people stood at the Cleveland Avenue NW Papa John's about 11:30 a.m. Those in line said the wait was much longer when they first arrived.

Papa John's promotion was an apology to Cleveland Cavaliers fans for a Washington, D.C., store's T-shirt that mocked Cavs star LeBron James as a "crybaby." It made for a busy day today in Stark County, where at least eight of the shops sold pies for 23 cents apiece.

The original plan called for a single-pizza order with a single topping.

But early orders at the Papa John's on Cleveland Avenue NW at 30th Street left some early customers toting away six or seven pizzas on a single order. That made some people mad.

"It isn't worth it," Cynthia Simmons shouted from the backseat of a passing SUV to the long line of people there.

Jenny Rizzo and her sister, Margaret Haidet, of Canton were happy to see some people in line ahead of them leave.

"People are leaving. Move on up. Come on," Rizzo whispered to Haidet, pointing as she tapped on her sister's arm. The women were after pepperoni pizzas, which seemed to be the favorite.

Myra Presutti of Canton waited in line an hour and, she said, "It was pouring down rain when I got here." She arrived at 9:45 a.m., but the shop didn't open until 11. When it did, she was told she would have to wait an hour for her pizza.

Is it worth it?

"For my grandkids, it is," she said, smiling. She planned to supply the pizza as a homework snack this afternoon.

The wait was far too long for John Brownsberger of Louisville. Brownsberger had witnessed arguments among people waiting in line.

"It's an interesting phenomena on how greedy we are, how we all try to get something for almost nothing. It's interesting to observe people and the way they react," he said.

In North Canton, a man behind Tony Kendle complained that high school students were skipping school.

Kendle wasn't one of them.

A Hoover High School student in an Aultman Hospital program, Kendle was between classes — and hungry — "so I brought three of my illegitimate friends along," he joked.

They each wanted a pepperoni pizza.

Keith Stevens wasn't as choosy on what he wanted for his topping. The pizza he wanted was "the earliest one," he said, causing those in line around him to giggle.

"They always said, 'The early bird get the worm.' It ain't happening here — and I'm a season ticket-holder," he said, grinning as he showed his Cavaliers card.

In Lake Township, Erick Machamer stepped off a SARTA bus in the Uniontown area to get his pizza.

But he didn't know what kind of pizza he wanted.

"I have no idea. I figured I got nothing else to do."

To read more about the pizza promotion and to share your stories about it, visit our Extra! Extra! blog.

Reach Repository writer Lori Monsewicz at (330) 580-8309 or e-mail: [email protected]

[korme]

So do you think the guy that gave the "go" for the LBJ 23 Crybaby tees still has a job?

[Lathum]

PAthetic is the first word that comes to mind

[Karlifornia]

In Lake Township, Erick Machamer stepped off a SARTA bus in the Uniontown area to get his pizza.

But he didn't know what kind of pizza he wanted.

"I have no idea. I figured I got nothing else to do."

I love this quote.

[Lathum]

dola- Papa Johns is going to get so much negative publicity for this.

why didn't they just hand out coupons for a .23 pizza to everyone who attends the next Cavs game?

[Rich1033]

Just drove past a Papa Johns on my way home from work. The line wasnt as bad as some of those pics, but it was still a decent length. Im actually a bit suprised they are doing this in the Toledo area as this city tends to go more towards detroit teams than cleveland.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Lathum

PAthetic is the first word that comes to mind

Yep. I mean, what, they are lining up for hours to save about $10?

[Karlifornia]

If I was working there I'd probably just quit as soon as I pulled up to the store.

[Huckleberry]

Let's see, in order to wait in line for 3 hours and 20 minutes to buy 23 cent pizzas...

Let's say someone has a take home pay of $36/hr after taxes, insurance, etc. Straight up they profit $36 for every hour worked. We'll use that as the value of their time. That means that 3 hours and 20 minutes in line is worth $132 dollars. Where I live a large one-topping Papa John's pizza is $10.99. So the $0.23 deal is saving $10.76 per pizza.

So they would have to buy at least 13 pizzas for it to be worth their time. But, more importantly, they would have to have had a preexisting reason to buy 13 pizzas or else be willing to eat frozen and reheated pizza. Unfortunately the deal was limited to one per person, right?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yep. I mean, what, they are lining up for hours to save about $10?

yup, and the thing is 99% of the people they are giving those pizzas to will never be customers.

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

If I was working there I'd probably just quit as soon as I pulled up to the store.

I guarentee they lose members of their staff, not to mention their drivers lose a days pay.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

If I was working there I'd probably just quit as soon as I pulled up to the store.

Definitely.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

Unfortunately the deal was limited to one per person, right?

Doesn't seem 100% true

The original plan called for a single-pizza order with a single topping.

But early orders at the Papa John's on Cleveland Avenue NW at 30th Street left some early customers toting away six or seven pizzas on a single order. That made some people mad., judging by this part of the article

To let people get multiple pizzas like that is pretty much a suicide mission.

[st.cronin]

I don't understand why they feel like they need to apologize.

[Fidatelo]

I think we need a graph of this huckleberry, I'm already confused.

Oh, and how big is the pizza?

[Lathum]

I predict almost every location will close early, which will cause riots because I am sure a decent percentage of people in line are passing the time with bottles in brown paper bags.

[Ksyrup]

Maybe they can get a court order to keep the stores open an extra hour or two because of the lines. You know, like for voting.

[DanGarion]

What idiots to wait in lines that long for a $10 pizza. Morons...

[Mustang]

Never underestimate what people will do for free/cheap shit.

At max, I'd probably hang in a line for maybe 30 minutes tops.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Maybe they can get a court order to keep the stores open an extra hour or two because of the lines. You know, like for voting.

If a Papa Johns goes out of business because of this would they be disenfranchised?

[Izulde]

Papa John's is the most overrated pizza on the planet, anyway.

It's not much better than Domino's and Domino's is the nastiest, most ghetto ass pizza ever.

I'd eat one of those awful smelling fruits from the Phillipines before I'd eat a Papa John's pizza.

[Passacaglia]

I love how the first two stores mentioned were in Euclid and Shaker Heights, too. From what I recall, those are pretty affluent suburbs.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

Let's see, in order to wait in line for 3 hours and 20 minutes to buy 23 cent pizzas...

Let's say someone has a take home pay of $36/hr after taxes, insurance, etc. Straight up they profit $36 for every hour worked. We'll use that as the value of their time. That means that 3 hours and 20 minutes in line is worth $132 dollars. Where I live a large one-topping Papa John's pizza is $10.99. So the $0.23 deal is saving $10.76 per pizza.

So they would have to buy at least 13 pizzas for it to be worth their time. But, more importantly, they would have to have had a preexisting reason to buy 13 pizzas or else be willing to eat frozen and reheated pizza. Unfortunately the deal was limited to one per person, right?

$36/hr seems really high to me.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

$36/hr seems really high to me.

Probably so but you do the math on how much 3 hours is worth to save $7.99.

[DaddyTorgo]

heard from my lady that it was a madhouse - she said there was a 6-city-block backup to get into the papa john's by her place

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

So do you think the guy that gave the "go" for the LBJ 23 Crybaby tees still has a job?

I hope not. But I'd say it's an iffy call, depends upon how far up the food chain the decision was made.

[Cringer]

If I took my laptop and Sprint AirCard I could technically work on making money while standing in line waiting for dinner.

Still not worth it though.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Cringer

If I took my laptop and Sprint AirCard I could technically work on making money while standing in line waiting for dinner.

Still not worth it though.

I'll go out on limb and say most of the people willing to wait in that line don't have a laptop. Or a sprint card. Or a job.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I'll go out on limb and say most of the people willing to wait in that line don't have a laptop. Or a sprint card. Or a job.

And in the end, if I did that I would end up losing more money then the pizza is worth when my laptop gets stolen.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

Let's see, in order to wait in line for 3 hours and 20 minutes to buy 23 cent pizzas...

Let's say someone has a take home pay of $36/hr after taxes, insurance, etc. Straight up they profit $36 for every hour worked. We'll use that as the value of their time. That means that 3 hours and 20 minutes in line is worth $132 dollars. Where I live a large one-topping Papa John's pizza is $10.99. So the $0.23 deal is saving $10.76 per pizza.

So they would have to buy at least 13 pizzas for it to be worth their time. But, more importantly, they would have to have had a preexisting reason to buy 13 pizzas or else be willing to eat frozen and reheated pizza. Unfortunately the deal was limited to one per person, right?

FYI, I think we might be starting from a bit high of a number at $36 an hour since the median US income in 2006 was $26,036 which equates out to 12.52 per hour.

Then again, hell, in college I wouldn't have done it unless really bored since the late night special from Papa John's is a large one topping pizza for 5.99 (was 4.99 when I was in the dorms but times are tough, inflation and all )

SI

[SportsDino]

This is why the economy is crap, idiot herds. Enjoy your total lack of perspective with that quarter pizza.

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by SportsDino

This is why the economy is crap, idiot herds. Enjoy your total lack of perspective with that quarter pizza.

Ah...so that's the reason.

[ISiddiqui]

LOL!

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by SportsDino

This is why the economy is crap, idiot herds. Enjoy your total lack of perspective with that quarter pizza.

I was trying to search for a joke for this, but the only thing my mind kept going back to was - What the HELL are you talking about?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Mustang

I was trying to search for a joke for this, but the only thing my mind kept going back to was - What the HELL are you talking about?

well with .03 posts per day its more about quality then quantity

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Papa John's is the most overrated pizza on the planet, anyway.

It's not much better than Domino's and Domino's is the nastiest, most ghetto ass pizza ever.

I'd eat one of those awful smelling fruits from the Phillipines before I'd eat a Papa John's pizza.

"... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia."