# Pizza Crimes > Pizza Crimes is a 2013 Twitter catchphrase for sharing images of pizza orders, cooking disasters, and unconventional toppings, evolving into a Reddit community of over 222,000 members dedicated to cataloging pizza offenses. Pizza Crimes is an internet catchphrase and community concept referring to images of pizza orders, cooking disasters, and unorthodox toppings that users consider disgraceful to the dish. The term took shape around 2013 on Twitter, where people began documenting their drunk pizza mishaps, and later grew into a thriving Reddit community with over 222,000 members dedicated to cataloging the worst offenses against pizza worldwide[2]. ## Origin The earliest recorded use of "pizza crimes" as a concept dates to October 17, 2013, when Twitter user @MaggieMcGilly posted about a pizza she'd accidentally burned beyond recognition[4]. The tweet itself was unremarkable at the time, picking up only six likes. But it caught the attention of BuzzFeed writer Katie Notopoulos, who included it in a listicle titled "30 Crimes Against Pizza Committed By Drunk People"[1]. That article compiled tweets from people documenting their drunk pizza disasters: cooking a pizza at 20 degrees for 350 minutes, placing one in the oven upside down, eating the paper plate instead of the pizza, and one person who folded a slice of shrimp pizza and stuffed it in her purse[1]. The BuzzFeed piece gave the @MaggieMcGilly tweet wider exposure and established "pizza crime" as a recognizable category of internet content[4]. Before this, people posted photos of pizza gone wrong without a unifying label. The article provided that label. - **Platform:** Twitter (earliest usage), BuzzFeed (popularization), Reddit (community hub) - **Creator:** @MaggieMcGilly (earliest recorded pizza crime post), Katie Notopoulos (BuzzFeed article compiler) - **Date:** 2013 ## Overview Pizza Crimes refers to photos and stories of pizza that has been mistreated, mutilated, or topped with ingredients widely considered unacceptable. The concept treats pizza as something sacred and any deviation from broadly accepted norms as a punishable offense. Common categories include burnt disasters, bizarre toppings (kiwi, banana, curry), malformed shapes, improper cutting patterns, and general disrespect toward what many consider the world's most perfect food[2]. The community around pizza crimes uses courtroom language for comedic effect. Subscribers on Reddit's r/PizzaCrimes call themselves "jury members," and posts frame offending pizzas as evidence in an ongoing trial against bad taste[2]. The meme works because pizza is one of the few foods with near-universal popularity, consumed at a rate of roughly 5 billion pies per year globally, making crimes against it feel personally offensive to a huge audience[2]. ## How It Spread After the BuzzFeed article established the terminology, pizza crime content spread steadily across Twitter and Reddit through the mid-to-late 2010s. Users began tagging their own pizza disasters and discoveries with variations of "pizza crime" and "crimes against pizza." The dedicated subreddit r/PizzaCrimes launched on December 29, 2019[4]. By June 2021, it had attracted over 65,000 subscribers[4]. Growth accelerated from there. The subreddit's most upvoted post of a genuine pizza crime during that early period was titled "R(post)eddit," uploaded by u/SpyCGL, showing a Twitter image of a pizza with an absurd amount of extra crust. It pulled in over 6,700 upvotes and 68 comments within three months[4]. The community grew to over 222,000 "jury members" as documented by Bored Panda, which ran a feature highlighting 50 of the subreddit's worst offenses[2]. The article noted common crime categories that had emerged on the subreddit: Malformed, Cursed, Fruit, Dropped, Mistreated, Meme, Identity Theft, and Satire[2]. One post that picked up traction was u/LouisPei's submission of a "midwest sushi" pizza created by LoPiez Pizza, a roll-style creation that blurred the line between pizza and something else entirely[4]. Pizza crimes also spread through broader food-shaming communities on Reddit. In 2022, a post on r/shittyfoodporn went viral when u/ImMelissaning shared a photo of Altoona-style pizza from a restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania[3]. The image showed six slices featuring thick dough, marinara, salami, bell peppers, and American cheese cut into squares. It racked up 17,000 upvotes and 1,300 comments, with one Pennsylvania resident writing: "As a representative of the PA gang, [I'd] like to apologize for whatever the f*ck this is and assure you that Altoona does not represent the rest of the state"[3]. Another commenter noted that the Altoona Hotel, where the style originated, had burned down years earlier, prompting the reply: "Yet, somehow, the fire failed to kill this monstrosity"[3]. ## How to Use Pizza crimes follow a simple format. Users typically: 1. Encounter or create a pizza that violates common pizza conventions 2. Photograph the evidence 3. Post it to r/PizzaCrimes, Twitter, or another platform with language framing the pizza as a criminal offense ## Cultural Impact Pizza crimes tapped into a broader internet fascination with food shaming and the debate over acceptable pizza toppings. The Hawaiian pizza debate, which predates the pizza crimes community by decades, gave the concept built-in cultural energy. Sam Panopoulos, a Greek immigrant in Ontario, first combined ham and pineapple on pizza in the 1960s, inspired by American-Chinese sweet-and-salty flavor pairings[2]. The controversy around that single topping choice has fueled decades of food discourse, with the president of Iceland even declaring in 2017 that he'd ban it if he could[2]. The pizza crimes community positioned itself as going beyond the pineapple debate. As Bored Panda put it: "If you think pineapple on pizza is controversial, you haven't seen anything yet"[2]. Swedish pizza restaurants serving banana and curry pizza, pizzas topped with whole chickens, and creations featuring french fries and kiwi all made the list of offenses[2]. Media outlets including Newsweek picked up individual pizza crime stories, with the Altoona-style pizza post generating its own article exploring the history of the regional style[3]. The newspaper traced Altoona-style pizza back to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette clipping from October 13, 1996, which identified the Altoona Hotel as the first location to serve the dish[3]. ## Fun Facts - The r/PizzaCrimes subreddit categorizes offenses into formal charge types including "Malformed," "Cursed," "Fruit," "Dropped," "Mistreated," and "Identity Theft"[2]. - One of the earliest documented pizza crimes involved someone so drunk they tried to warm their pizza in the fridge and stood waiting for it to beep[1]. - A drunk duo denied service at a Eugene, Oregon pizza place reportedly used moonshine to light it on fire[1]. - Tom Hanks was once photographed photobombing a drunk person at a pizza restaurant, and the image circulated as a wholesome pizza crime adjacent moment[1]. - Experimental psychologist Charles Spence at the University of Oxford has studied why sweet toppings on pizza work for some people, noting that "sweet is the most-liked taste, so it is an easy win"[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Pizza Crimes? Pizza Crimes is a term for images and stories of pizza that has been mistreated through bizarre toppings, cooking disasters, or unorthodox preparation. The concept treats these offenses as punishable crimes against the food[4]. ### Where did Pizza Crimes come from? The term traces back to October 2013, when Twitter user @MaggieMcGilly posted a burnt pizza photo that was later featured in a BuzzFeed article titled "30 Crimes Against Pizza Committed By Drunk People"[4][1]. ### What does Pizza Crimes mean? It refers to any pizza that violates widely accepted norms of how pizza should look, taste, or be prepared. The "crime" framing is comedic, treating pizza as something sacred that must be protected[2]. ### How do you use Pizza Crimes? Post a photo of a bad or weird pizza to r/PizzaCrimes or social media, framing it as evidence of a criminal offense against pizza. The community votes on severity[2]. ### Is Pizza Crimes still popular? Yes. The r/PizzaCrimes subreddit has grown to over 222,000 members, and pizza crime content regularly surfaces across Reddit and social media[2]. ### What counts as a pizza crime? Common offenses include unconventional toppings (kiwi, banana, whole chicken), incorrect cooking (burnt, raw, upside down), non-standard cutting, and pizzas that barely qualify as pizza[2]. ### What is Altoona-style pizza? A Pennsylvania regional pizza featuring thick dough, marinara, salami, bell peppers, and American cheese cut into squares. It went viral in 2022 after a Reddit post on r/shittyfoodporn generated 17,000 upvotes[3]. ### Is pineapple on pizza a pizza crime? The pizza crimes community generally considers it entry-level controversy. The subreddit's tagline suggests that if you think pineapple is controversial, the real crimes are far worse[2]. ### When was r/PizzaCrimes created? The subreddit was created on December 29, 2019, and its members are called "jury members"[4]. ### What is the most upvoted pizza crime on Reddit? As of mid-2021, the most upvoted genuine pizza crime was "R(post)eddit" by u/SpyCGL, showing a pizza with excessive crust, which received over 6,700 upvotes[4]. ## References 1. [30 Crimes Against Pizza Committed By Drunk People]() 2. [50 Pizza Crimes That Are Way Worse Than Pineapple On Pizza | Bored Panda]() 3. [Restaurant’s ‘Specialty’ Pizza Horrifies Internet: ‘This Is Criminal’ - Newsweek]() 4. [Pizza Crimes - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Pizzagate conspiracy theory]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/pizza-crimes Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library