By Matt Wake
Voting has never had this many carbs before. And you’ve never seen pizza boxes quite like these.
Leading up to the Nov. 5 presidential election, north Alabama’s Valentina’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar is running a promotion in which customers can get take-out orders or leftovers in election themed boxes.
The boxes feature cartoon graphics, created by Pizza Bib, an Australian venture that creates novelty pizza boxes.
Imagery on the Valentina’s boxes depicts: Donald Trump exclaiming “Make pizza great again!”; Kamala Harris as a She-Grinch saying “How dare we say Merry Christmas”; a beer-clutching Kid Rock waving an American flag; Elon Musk, Dana White, Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney cheering as Trump and Harris prepare to do battle inside a mixed martial arts octagon. The slogans “Make pizza not war” and “Eat pizza not pets” are also emblazoned.
“We know it’s a tense race,” Valentina’s owner Joe Carluchi said in an Instagram video. “We just want to have some fun with pizza because pizza brings the world together and brings peace to everybody.”
In addition to the celebs cartooned on the box, the graphics also depict Carluchi’s 11-year-old daughter Valentina, for whom his pizzeria is named for.
As part of the promotion, customers of Valentina’s can ask for a blue or red box, representing a Democrat or Republican vote. The graphics on both boxes are the same. Only difference is the color of the sides of the boxes. The boxes are available until supplies run out.
Carluchi said in his IG vid, “If this offends you in any way, then you are the problem. And we would still love you to come in, but you are the issue in the world because it is pizza. It is a box.”
And your vote counts. Part of Pizza Bib designs is, due to the half-oval cutout on the lids, customers can “become a part of the box” by taking selfies.
As part of their promo, Valentina’s is encouraging people who choose an election pizza box to take a pic of themselves behind the raised lid of their election pizzas boxes and tag the restaurant on Instagram or Facebook.
On Nov. 6, Valentina’s will announce a winner for best photo. That winner receives free pizza for a week, according to the restaurant’s FB.
Recently “50 Top Pizza,” a pizza ranking website based in Italy, ranked Valentina’s at 31 in their “50 Top Pizza USA 2024″ list. Valentina’s, which has a Madison address but is technically (we’re told) in Huntsville, was the only Alabama pizzeria to make the list.
In September, AL.com selected Valentina’s meat-tastic “The Godfather” signature pie, as one of Huntsville’s five essential Huntsville pizzas. In 2023, Valentina’s checked in at number seven on our Alabama’s best pizza list.
Carlucci is legitimately “pizza famous.” In 2006, he notched a Guinness Book of World Records honor for highest pizza toss with a 21-foot-5-inch fling. At Naples, Italy’s World Pizza Making Championship he was once crowned fastest-pizza-maker, after manifesting five pizzas in 31 seconds.
According to the Valentina’s website, Carlucci was also, “2023 Pizza Maker of the Year, 2023 International Pizza Expo Winner of Best Non-Traditional Style Pizza in the World, 2022 International Pizza Expo Winner of Best Traditional Style Pizza in the World, a seven-time World Pizza Champion, two-time Guinness World Record Holder, three-time World Champion Pizza Acrobat, and has won awards in competitions worldwide.”
