With comedy, timing is everything.
A pizza place in Ohio came under fire for posting a sign with a joke about the kidnapping on it. Unfortunately, the owner apparently didn’t realize that January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Jeremy Clemetson has owned his East of Chicago Pizza restaurant for 14 years after having been affiliated with the chain since 1995.
Over the last year, he has started weaving humor into his outdoor advertising.
Some of the slogans he has used included:
“Now Hiring, Must Show Up”, “If it’s not there in 30 minutes, move closer”, “Free Box with Every Pizza”, “Our Deep Dish Pizza is as big as a pothole”, and “Tammy, you need to show up to work” after one of his dedicated employees with a sense of humor took extended medical leave.
“I scour the internet for different signs that people had. Sometimes I use them and sometimes I re-invent my own,” said Clemetson.
He said the response has been tremendously positive.
Among his newest signs, “Fat people are harder to kidnap,” which is a slogan that has been used for years on popular t-shirts sold on the internet, used as the name of a Facebook page, and used by a large motel chain to advertise its buffet.
Although he found it to be funny, people in the community found it rude and offensive. But some people don’t think they’re really that bad.
Most of the time, people find his slogans to be fun. He has said that customers have mentioned them as the primary reason they’re willing to try his pizza shop. If the advertising is funny, the customer thinks, the pizza must be okay.
Some viewers weighed in to share their issues with the “body-shaming” ad.
“Definitely not funny! Body shaming is a real thing! How abt saying skinny ppl are easy to kidnap? With all the human trafficking now how is it funny?” one user commented on the video.
Many social media users seemed to agree with Clemetson’s initial stance as well, saying that the sign was an obvious joke and that others were being overly sensitive.
“It’s hilarious honestly. Stop acting like being fat isn’t common yet preventable. Some people like being fat,” one person wrote on Cleveland.com’s Facebook video.
“I think a lot of people are going to be offended by it, but I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Emma Bair, a local resident, told WITI-TV. “It’s advertising.”
Watch the video below for more details: