You wouldn't think that referencing an infamously acquitted murder suspect would be the best way to get customers to buy pizza. But it seems to be working for a cheeky local business in Seattle. City Market is using the name and likeness of Amanda Knox in a sidewalk advertisement that reads:
"Amanda Knox sez, I may not like Italy, but I love City Market's take and bake pizza. I take it home and slice it myself."
Get it? SLICE.
As you can expect, all the "I'm mad because I was born without a sense of humor and am going to spend the rest of my life taking it out on other people" people are up in arms, saying that it's incredibly crass and tacky to use an exonerated non-killer like poor Amanda here to sell pizza. For example, this guy (who commented on the link above) totally needs to chill out:
"... [It's] not just insensitive [but] sickeningly exploitative to an issue that should lead to the termination of the prosecution staff in its entirety, and police as well. Italy would be on the unrecommended list [and] Perugia a danger to your freedom to say the least. This eatery is disreput[able]."
Hey, dude. It's just pizza. And besides, it's not entirely exploitative. After all, everybody already knows that Amanda loves pizza: Several news organizations reported just last week that she enjoyed a PIZZA party with her friends and family to celebrate her return home. In fact, she probably likes being associated with the tasty Italian dish.
And for the record, the City Market people routinely come up with trashy tie-ins for many public figures -- they're not just picking on Amanda. In fact, you could say it's their shtick! As you can see on this thread, folks like Casey Anthony, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and even Muammar Gaddafi have all "sold pizza," too.
Image via Pink Sherbet Photography/Flickr
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Comments 99
I think it's tacky, but there are lots of restaurants that use questionable sales tactics, this one is no different.
Definitely tacky, but I am not going to make a big deal out of something that has no effect on me.
Well I'm pretty sure she could sue them for using her name.
Super tacky. And isn't it, like, illegal to use someone's image without their permission? She could sue the pants off of them. A big company like City Market should know better.
I think it's in poor taste and I wouls laugh if Amanda Knox sued them.
Interesting. I think id stay far away from a pizza joint if they chose to be sleazy.
Tacky, for sure but if it turns out that she is okay with it, then whatever.
I guess you can put me on the "born without a sense of humor" list. Not only is it disrespectful to Amanda Knox, but even more so to the DEAD victim, Merideth Kurtcher. Can you imagine if you were Merideth's mother, and read about this? Ugh...that's awful. And what is it, by the way, with The Stir bloggers constantly taking such a one sided stance on these issues? "This is right," or "that is wrong." I get that the people writing it aren't actual reporters...just every day people with opinions. But it would hold a lot more credibility in my mind if they weren't so quick to shut down anyone who may disagree with them. A lot of the stories and they way they are written tend to be down right insulting. Debate 101 might be good for the writers to learn how to express their views respectfully.