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Pizza Topping Conflict

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Pizza Topping Conflict (trope)
Four pizzas in one box. There's something for everyone to hate.

"In the history of mankind, no two people have ever been able to agree on pizza toppings."
Garfield, Garfield and Friends, "Binky Gets Cancelled Again"

Pizza is a popular food item worldwide. It's relatively inexpensive, can be ordered in advance and for delivery, requires no special utensils (unless Chicago Deep Dish is involved), and the ingredients are customizable.

The customization of pizza toppings, however, can quickly turn into Serious Business. Bloody wars have begun over the question "What do you want on your pizza?", and empires have fallen to that conflict. And if pineapple gets involved, it can lead to an Extinction Level Event. At least, in fiction.

The reality is that no two people have the same exact tastes. Some ingredients might strike someone as unpleasant or gross, some may have religious reasons note  for not wanting some varieties, and some people just like being contrary. And some people just don't care for the usual, like flies and stinkbugs.note 

In media aimed at younger audiences, there is often an Aesop about not being a Picky Eater and/or learning to compromise.

Sub-Trope to Apple of Discord. Compare Fight for the Last Bite for another perspective on food arguments. Compare and contrast Trademark Favorite Food, and Every Pizza Is Pepperoni. This will often overlap with Anchovies Are Abhorrent. See also Unconventional Food Order for instances where restaurants cater to very bizarre tastes. Naturally Truth in Television at some point, but good luck finding an example which doesn't involve you and your friends.

Generally not related to Pizza Boy Special Delivery.


What Examples You Want On Your Trope?:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising (in 60 seconds or less) 
  • In 2004, The Muppets advertised Pizza Hut's 4-For-All pizza, four personal pan pizzas customized the way the customers want. In one commercial, Kermit tries to order a pizza from Pizza Hut in private, but his friends overhear and tell him what they want on it; Animal wants sausage, Gonzo wants pepperoni, Fozzie wants extra cheese, and Miss Piggy wants the Veggie Lovers special.

    Anime & Manga, Extra Spicy 
  • Steins;Gate: In the anime adaptation, Daru has ordered several pizzas for the lab party to celebrate the completion of their time machine, but all of them have the same toppings, pepperoni, bell peppers, and olives. Okabe calls him out on this.
    Okabe: Thanks for the variety, too, I might add.
    Daru: There's, like, a plethora of good stuff here, Dude.
    Okabe: Moron! All these are smothered in olives which you damn well know I hate!

    Comic Strips, Extra Cheese 
  • FoxTrot:
    • Double subverted in one strip; Roger calls for pizza, and finds himself pleasantly surprised that all three kids ask for pepperoni, thinking he'd never see them agree on anything. Unfortunately, his surprise is short-lived, as the kids then individually demand thick crust, thin crust and "the third option, whatever it is", seemingly just to be contrarian.
    • In another strip Roger asks his kids what they want on the pizza he's about to order. Jason says he wants pepperoni and no mushrooms. Paige says she wants mushrooms and no pepperoni. Peter says he wants pepperoni and mushrooms together. Roger pauses for a brief moment and then tries making an order. Andy then reads in an article that a teen credited his perfect SAT score to a stint at the local pizza parlor.note 

    Fan Works with Flaky Crust 
  • Defied in Hybridized!. As Dev hasn't eaten pizza for long because of his lactose intolerance and didn't know it can be lactose free , no one knows what kind he likes. As such, Anti-Juandissimo makes him several different lactose free pizzas for him. While it's acknowledged he can't eat all of them, everyone else is willing to help him.
  • Roll of the Dice: In the first chapter, the former HiME are ordering separate pizzas, as Haruka likes anchovies, Natsuki likes pineapple, and Mikoto balks when Mai orders a bell-peppers and pepperoni, only for Mai to tell her not to be a Picky Eater and reminding her that the only other options are Haruka's fishy pizza or Natsuki's pineapple. Mikoto relents.

    Film — heavy on the Live-Action 
  • Home Alone: Kevin only likes cheese pizza, and is furious that his Big Brother Bully Buzz (try saying that five times fast) ate it just to be a dick, leaving none for him, with the remaining pizzas being things he dislikes. This ends up being the Last Straw for Kevin after being pushed around and ignored all day, and the ensuing scuffle gets him exiled to the attic for the night, setting up the main plot.

    Literature, heavy mushroom and black olive 
  • Clue:
    • In book #10, chapter 2 ("Baby Booty"), when the doorbell starts ringing, the guests initially think it's a pizza delivery person and, even after Mr. Boddy says he didn't order a pizza, they start arguing over toppings — Mrs. White says she hopes it's loaded with mushrooms, while Miss Scarlet expresses a dislike of them and says it'd better be topped with pepperoni.
    • In book #14, chapter 7 ("To Top It Off"), Mr. Boddy orders four large pizzas for the guests, making sure to poll them beforehand (Colonel Mustard prefers meat toppings, Miss Scarlet wants only vegetable toppings and Mrs. Peacock wants only cheese, while Plum and Green each prefer specific meat and vegetables and Mrs. White says she'll eat anything). Despite this, there's still some arguing, as Colonel Mustard refuses to eat meat-topped slices from the one pie that's half-meat, half-veggie, in case any of the vegetables have wandered too close (though he later has no problem eating from the all-cheese pizza), and Miss Scarlet counters by refusing to eat vegetable pieces from the same pie, since it's half-meat.

    Genuine Farm-Fresh Live-Action TV 
  • Castle (2009): Downplayed in "Slice of Death". A young man brings his date back to the pizzeria his family owns, Authentic Nick's. When they enter, the young lady says something smells good and asks if it's barbecue pizza. The young man is affronted, stating, "We don't do barbecue pizza. That's for those hacks like Terrific Nick's". note  The implication is that he views barbecue pizza as an inferior product and far from the genuine article. Unfortunately, it wasn't pizza or barbecue, but the Victim of the Week stuffed in the pizza oven.
  • The Puzzle Place: One episode revolves almost entirely around the kids arguing about what topping to put on a pizza. They finally resolve it by each ordering one slice each with their preferred topping.
  • Saturday Night Live: A 1999 sketch parodied Congressional gridlock in the Clinton hearings by having Chief Justice Rehnquist decide to order lunch "because we’re going to be here all day." Since Republican Trent Lott wants pizza and Democrat Tom Daschle wants Chinese food, the parties line up behind what they call for, leading to a vote of 55 percent in favor of pizza and 44 percent for Chinese food.note  Next, Lott proposes getting pepperoni while Daschle wants mushrooms. Mary Bono calls for a vote, to which Rehnquist replies, "We’re not going to vote. 56 percent of the pizza will have pepperoni, the other 44 percent, mushroom."
  • The Thin Blue Line: In "Rag Week", the bank robbers demand a pizza from the police. Goody asks what toppings are needed, and the conversation quickly becomes side-tracked into a discussion about pizza toppings, until Fowler yells at them to just get a plain cheese and tomato pizza, and get it now.

    Video, hold the Games 
  • Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes: In one puzzle, Lilli is invited to join a tabletop RPG session, but only if she can first get the other players a pizza that satisfies all of their needs. Drogglejug wants bananas and hates broccoli, Petra wants broccoli and hates tomatoes, Peter wants blueberries and hates bananas, and Adrian wants tomatoes and hates blueberries. Each of the players also has a specific form of colour blindness, which means you can dye the topping they don't want a specific colour to make them mistake it for a topping they're ok with.

     Web Animation 
  • 13 Cards: As shown in Clones Order Pizza, the clones have different food preferences, which is a problem when they try to order pizza. Spade wants wants meat, Romeo loves pineapples, Felix wants extra cheese, and Waru wants to try pears on pizza. However, they all seem okay with pepperoni pizza, which is exactly what Spade decide to order.

    half-Western half-Animation 
  • Aladdin: The Series: A scene in "Some Enchanted Genie" has Genie and his Distaff Counterpart Eden arguing over whether to give Dhani pizzas topped with gumdrops or pepperoni respectively. Dhani settles the feud by mixing the toppings together.
  • American Dad!: In the episode "A Piñata named Desire", Steve, Snot, Barry and Toshi are at Pizza Overlord trying to figure out the pizza for their last ever sleepover. Snot initially proposes pepperoni as the topping, but Steve shoots it down, citing the symbolism of pepperoni slices being too close to separation. Snot snaps at him and calls him out for proposing the sleepover, which nobody else wanted. He also says that Steve would pick the pizza himself and Barry would eat it all. When Toshi tries to respond, Snot screams at him to "Learn English", to which he responds "Eat...My... Bowls!" Snot and Toshi fight while Barry starts crying. Steve then puts his foot down and pointedly states that maybe the problem isn't that they've gotten too old for sleepovers, but rather that they've gotten too old for each other. He then storms out, leaving Barry to cry in despair:
    Barry: The "All Is Lost" Moment!
  • Cyberchase: In one of the live-action "For Real" segments that focuses on Venn diagrams, Bianca is tasked with ordering a pizza from John's that appeals to her and her friends' tastes. While both Darcy and Lupé enjoy anchovies, she in turn can't stand them, much less have them anywhere near her slice. She then builds a custom venn diagram pizza, which allows each friend to enjoy their own personal favorite topping, which sharing another topping with another friend (example: she enjoys mushrooms, shares onions and pepperoni, and avoids anchovies) Of note, she mentions that the center point in the venn diagram pizza is purposely blank because none of the three friends have a universal favorite topping. She then returns to the chef who informs her that they are closed, but do have a couple house specialty pizzas available, which are anchovy, to her disgust.
  • Garfield and Friends: In "Binky Gets Cancelled Again", Garfield finds himself assailed with the ever annoyingly cheerful Buddy Bears, a trio of bears who always get along with each other no matter what (read: they engage in groupthink and any dissenting opinion is quickly punished). Garfield determines to get rid of them, but his efforts are all rebuffed. Garfield only succeeds by asking what the Buddy Bears want on the pizza he's ordering. The Buddy Bears quickly devolve into a heated quarrel, which Garfield says is always the result of asking that question. Indeed, as a crowd of people watches the Buddy Bears argue about pizza toppings, the onlookers themselves start arguing about it.
  • Muppet Babies (2018): In a lesson on not being picky and compromise, the kids are arguing over pepperoni pizza or deep dish meatball and olive, until they end up creating a pizza with half of each and like the combination.
  • Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: In one episode, April refuses to eat the pizza Leonardo and Donatello order at a Hidde City restaurant. In her defense, said pizza was topped with purple tentacles that have moving eyes. Leo and Donnie simply dig in, not understanding what her problem is.
  • Poko: In "Poko and Bibi at the Fancy Restaurant", the two friends get into a scuffle at their pretend restaurant when they argue about what toppings should be on their pizza (Poko wants peppers, while Bibi wants mushrooms). In the end, Poko managed to sort the problem by making two mini pizzas for both of them, each with their preferred toppings.
  • Teen Titans (2003): In "Final Exam", the Titans are arguing over what to get on their pizza. Starfire, being an alien, thinks mint frosting would be a good addition, while Beast Boy doesn't want any meat toppings because, "I've been half of those animals!"

"One trope-laden pie... TO GO!"

 
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Video Example(s):

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Clones Ordering Pizza

The clones decide to order pizza, one of the options is pears on a pizza, which the others find gross. One particular option, Hawaiian, was seen as incredibly repulsive by Waru due to having pineapple on top. Meanwhile, Gabriel says "Sraephtiw", which Kuromaku deciphers as "with pears" backwards. The gang ultimately orders pepperoni.

How well does it match the trope?

4.67 (3 votes)

Example of:

Main / PineappleRuinsPizza

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