Pizza Meter / Pentagon Pizza Orders

Submission 28,690

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About

Pizza Meter or Pentagon Pizza Orders refers to a theory proposing that international conflicts and times of crisis can be predicted based on the number of orders received by pizza restaurants near the Pentagon. The concept theorizes that at times of high tension, the number of pizzas ordered by staff at the Pentagon increases since people are working late and eating at the office. Spikes in the relative busyness of different fast food chains can, according to some, serve as a powerful geopolitical indicator. At various times, internet users have made World War III memes about pizza sales around the Pentagon in response to major international events involving the U.S. military.

Origin

The concept of the "pizza meter" emerged from a Domino's Pizza franchise owner in Northern Virginia near the Pentagon named Frank Meeks, who told newspapers that before major national security events, he saw a noticeable uptick in business (seen below).^[1] The Pizza Meter concept was used throughout the 1990s, with Meeks receiving quotes in major newspapers.^[2]

Spread

Posts about the Pizza Meter online have occurred with frequency over the years. For example, on September 21st, 2022, Redditor /u/nonamesleftadmin posted a screenshot (seen below) to /r/NonCredibleDefense, earning over 13,000 upvotes in two years.^[3]

On April 13th, 2024, X / Twitter user @lbjfancamcoop posted about the Pizza Meter to X, receiving over 116,000 likes in just over two weeks (seen below, top). Following confirmation of the conflict between Iran and Israel, @lbjfancamcoop made a follow-up post (seen below, bottom) on April 18th, which received over 42,000 likes in two weeks.^[4]

On April 14th, 2024, TikTok user @MadDog made a TikTok post riffing on @lbjfancamcoop's posts on X, which received over 66,000 likes and 400,000 views in two weeks (seen below, left).^[5] The same post also inspired an explainer video by user @the.law.says.what on April 13th (seen below, right), which received over 68,000 likes and 600,000 views in two weeks.^[6]