Shane Dawson Vs Chuck E. Cheese: Who Wins?

In 2019, YouTuber Shane Dawson released a video in which he alleged that the pizza chain Chuck E. Cheese recycles uneaten pizza slices from customers and uses them to create new pizzas to serve. The video garnered 14 million views in two days and caused a stir online, with many people taking the theory as fact. Despite the franchise refuting the claims and stating that their pizzas are made to order, the conspiracy theory blew up, with many social media users demanding an explanation from Chuck E. Cheese. The question remains: who will win in the Shane Dawson-Chuck E. Cheese case?

Chuck E. Cheese's official statement

Official Statement from Chuck E. Cheese

We at Chuck E. Cheese are aware of the recent conspiracy theory regarding our pizza, which has been perpetuated by Shane Dawson and others on social media. We want to assure our customers that the claims made in the video about our pizza are unequivocally false. We pride ourselves on providing a safe and enjoyable experience for our guests, and this includes serving freshly made pizza prepared with care.

Our pizzas are made to order, and we prepare our dough fresh in our restaurants. This means that the shape of our pizzas may not always be perfectly uniform, but we can assure you that they are always delicious. Our pizza dough is made from scratch and is never recycled from leftover pizzas, as has been suggested. We have strict food safety guidelines that we adhere to, and the well-being of our customers is our top priority.

We understand that the unusual shape of some of our pizza slices has sparked curiosity and concern. However, we want to clarify that this is simply due to the way our pizzas are cut and prepared. Our kitchen staff work hard to ensure that each pizza is made with the utmost care and attention to detail, but sometimes, slices may be cut unevenly, resulting in a misshapen pie. This is not indicative of recycled pizza but rather the result of human error in the cutting process.

We take these claims about our pizza very seriously and want to reiterate that the conspiracy theory is entirely false. We invite our customers to come and see our pizza-making process for themselves and witness the care and freshness that goes into every pie. We are proud of the ingredients we use and the pizzas we create, and we want our customers to feel confident and assured that they are enjoying a freshly made meal when they dine with us.

Thank you to our loyal customers who have continued to support us and spread the word about our delicious, freshly made pizzas. We are grateful for your trust and will continue to uphold the highest standards of food safety and quality in our restaurants.

Dawson's video evidence

In the video, Dawson and his friends discuss the theory that Chuck E. Cheese employees take leftover pizza slices, combine them, and serve them to new customers. To test this theory, Dawson and his friends visit a Chuck E. Cheese location and order three pizzas. The pizzas arrive with misaligned crusts and pepperoni slices that do not match up with the next slice. Dawson is shocked by the appearance of the pizzas, exclaiming, "It's real," and repeatedly saying, "Oh my god".

Dawson then takes one of the pizzas home and attempts to figure out how it was sliced. He tries to line up the slices to form a perfect circle but is unable to do so, claiming that he has "definitely proven" that the pizza halves didn't originally fit together. He also tries to use a rocker blade to cut the pizza but is unable to get the slices to line up properly.

Throughout the video, Dawson notes that his theory is just a theory and that he doesn't want to get sued. However, he received a cease-and-desist letter a few days after posting the video and was forced to stop promoting the theory. Despite this, Dawson never responded to the letter and did not take down the video.

Former employees' statements

In response to Shane Dawson's conspiracy theory, a former Chuck E. Cheese's employee told Insider that she had never seen anyone reuse pizza slices and that it would be "gross". Samantha, who worked at the company in 2010 and 2011, said she had never witnessed anyone recycling pizza slices. She added that the pizza gets so cold and gross so fast that she thought people would notice if they were being recycled. Samantha also mentioned that employees often took leftover slices for themselves.

YouTuber Payden, another ex-employee, explained that the uneven slices that Dawson pointed out in his video could be the result of kitchen staff messing up during the cutting process. They might cut an extra slice to make up for a missing one, making the pizza look "funky" and further throwing off the alignment.

Chuck E. Cheese's also denied Dawson's claims in an official statement, saying that their pizzas are made to order with fresh dough and that any unevenness in shape is due to the dough preparation process in the restaurant.

Buzzfeed's investigation

In 2019, YouTuber Shane Dawson posted a video titled "Investigating Conspiracies with Shane Dawson", in which he discussed a conspiracy theory about Chuck E. Cheese's pizza. The theory, which Dawson did not create, alleged that the restaurant chain recycles uneaten pizza slices from customers and uses them to create new pizzas. Dawson's video garnered 14 million views in two days and sparked a response from Chuck E. Cheese, who refuted the claims.

In Dawson's video, he and his friends discuss the theory and then order several pizzas from Chuck E. Cheese to test it out. They are shocked to find that the pizzas they receive are misshapen, with jagged crusts and misaligned pepperonis. Dawson also takes a pizza home and attempts to figure out how it was sliced, claiming that he has "definitely proven" that the pizza halves weren't originally together.

While Dawson's conspiracy theory had its flaws, it gained a lot of attention on social media, with many users taking it as fact. The theory was so widespread that Chuck E. Cheese felt compelled to release an official statement refuting the claims. The company explained that their pizzas are made to order with fresh dough, which sometimes results in uneven shapes. Additionally, an ex-Chuck E. Cheese employee, YouTuber Payden, provided another explanation for the uneven slices, stating that kitchen staff sometimes mess up during the cutting process and have to cut an extra slice, making the pizza look "funky".

Despite the backlash and flaws in Dawson's theory, Chuck E. Cheese did not sue him over the conspiracy. Looking back, many social media users are surprised that so many people believed the theory, as there are several other possible reasons for a pizza's uneven crust.

Public opinion

In 2019, YouTuber Shane Dawson posted a video titled "Investigating Conspiracies with Shane Dawson" in which he discussed the theory that Chuck E. Cheese recycles its uneaten pizza slices by baking them into new pizzas. The video received 14 million views in two days, and Dawson's claim gained significant traction, with many social media users demanding an explanation from the company. Dawson's video included observations of misshapen pizzas with misaligned crusts and pepperonis, which he claimed proved his theory.

However, Chuck E. Cheese refuted Dawson's claims, stating that their pizzas are made to order with fresh dough, which sometimes results in uneven slices. This explanation was supported by ex-employees of the company, who noted that kitchen staff could mess up the cutting process, creating funky-looking slices. Additionally, a Chuck E. Cheese manager explained that the slices may appear disproportionate due to being cut earlier in the cooking process, causing them to move around and look uneven by the time they are served.

Despite the refutations, Dawson's conspiracy theory continued to capture the public's attention, with some people expressing shock that others believed it, while others remained convinced that there was truth to his claims. Some pointed out that the company's explanation for uneven slices did not adequately disprove Dawson's theory, as many pizzerias serve perfectly shaped pizzas made with fresh dough.

Overall, the public opinion on the outcome of the case is unclear, as there is no indication that Chuck E. Cheese took legal action against Dawson. However, the company successfully refuted his claims, and public discussion of the topic has largely moved on, with most people reflecting on the incident with amusement.

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