It’s 1997 and one man’s party guests are really confused about the pizza. “Who delivered?” asks one. “Wait, where’s it from?” asks another. The host gets increasingly frustrated with each question, trying to make himself heard over the verbal boxing match. Finally, on about the fourth try, they all get it: It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno.
DiGiorno’s sell was simple: Instead of calling out, waiting, and tipping a delivery person, you could pull a pizzeria-quality pie out of your freezer, bake it at home, and your friends and their mouths would be none the wiser. Their pizzas were so fresh tasting and of such high quality that they could be mistaken for being the work of a pizzaiolo. Even Diddy was convinced. The catchphrase was pointing out the trick you could pull — the bar is set at delivery, and DiGiorno comes damn close to meeting it.
In 2013, a DiGiorno ad asked “How fresh is it?” and compared the process of delivery with making one of their frozen pizzas at home. A delivery pizza was compromised by irresponsible drivers and questionable sources. DiGiorno’s wasn’t only more convenient, it was an entirely better pizza. The brand’s slogan was now an insult to delivery, a way to remind your guests that you wouldn’t deign to serve them that slop, a silent “don’t worry” hidden before you reveal that it’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno.
I don’t know when it dawned on me that DiGiorno’s catchphrase had done a complete 180 from the version I grew up with, but at some point I realized that “delivery” was no longer the pinnacle of pizza experience. Companies change their slogans and catchphrases all the time to keep themselves fresh in customers’ minds. But DiGiorno might be the only one that has kept the same catchphrase, but changed the implication. It’s maddening. I have attempted to point this out to my friends, only to have them either not believe me, or think it’s not that weird. Wrong! It is weird!! But it’s also a commentary on just where we are in our pizza consumption.
The pizza business looks different in 2019 than it did in the ’90s. DiGiorno got into the frozen pizza market in 1995, right as America was in the midst of its pizza chain boom. Domino’s was in the middle of an international expansion, Pizza Hut added drive-thrus and ran an ad featuring Donald Trump, and McDonald’s introduced a “McPizza” to compete. Frozen pizza — with its pebbly cheese and often disappointing results — just couldn’t compare when a piping hot pie could be brought right to your door.
At the time, pizza delivery was still a bit of a novelty, and pizza chains were often profiting off the excitement that, basically no matter where you lived, there was a Domino’s or Pizza Hut or Little Caesars nearby. By now, though, the luster has worn off; these chains are no longer new and delivery apps have made all kinds of delivery easier. DiGiorno used to have to compete with a hot new trend — a fresh pizza brought to directly to your home, ready to eat. Now, it has to compete with the norm.
“It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno,” then, changes from positioning delivery as the thing against which frozen pizza can compare itself, to the reverse. Everyone knows the landscape of delivery pizza, and the promise of better is more enticing than the promise of the same, but just out of your own oven.
There has also been a change in how Americans view cooking. While in the ’90s the exciting thing may have been someone making a pizza for you, the 2000s saw the rise of cooking as not just a chore, but a hobby. The Food Network, Anthony Bourdain, and other food media helped change the narrative, positioning homemade things as good and artisan, and fast food as a harbinger of the death of culture. Even if it’s a frozen pizza, DiGiorno in some ways feels closer to “homemade” than a fresh pie brought to you on an electric bike.
The embrace of lowbrow foods like Domino’s by chefs like David Chang have ensured chain delivery pizza isn’t going anywhere, but brands are trying to remind customers why pizza is enticing, especially when meal kits and Seamless make almost any kind of food available to anyone. Pizza Hut is reverting to the logo it had in the ’80s, harkening back to a time when delivery pizza was the only game in town. Back when DiGiorno’s slogan meant it just wanted you to think it was delivery. I don’t think that means the slogan switch worked (delivery pizza is still incredibly popular), but good on DiGiorno for rolling with the punches of time.