![\"Spam-pizza\"](\"http:\/\/hidefideas.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/spam-pizza.jpg\")
WHAT IS IT with pizza and spam?<\/p>\nWHAT IS IT with pizza and spam?<\/p>\n
Just to be clear, we\u2019re not talking about spam the delicious luncheon meat. Y\u2019know, the meat that comes in a can; the meat encased in a jelly that even baffles scientists, including those who have cracked the human genome. No, we\u2019re talking about the other<\/em> spam, the kind that makes us want to punch walls, dropkick small furry quadrupeds, and intentionally forget to send our mothers flowers on Mother\u2019s Day. That<\/em> spam.<\/p>\n Late last year we reported<\/a> how Papa John\u2019s Pizza, the third largest pizza chain in the US, was facing a $250 million class action lawsuit for spamming more than 500,000 unsuspecting pizza lovers. Users, it seems, prefer their pizza with extra cheese and not extra junk in their inboxes.<\/p>\n That lawsuit has since been settled<\/a> for $16.5 million, and it appears that consumers have had enough of marketers who assume that it\u2019s okay to barrage you with unsolicited messages simply because you bought a slice of their pie. But governments like to send distinct messages, too, when it comes to badly-behaved marketers<\/a>. Some nations have become the model to emulate, with nations like the UK<\/a>, the US<\/a>, and Australia<\/a> being particularly noisy about what constitutes good behavior. Others, and we\u2019re calling you out, Canada<\/a>, have been a lame duck, preferring to quack rather than act. Here\u2019s an idea for a minor change to your national anthem: \u201cThe true north weak<\/em> and free.\u201d It ain\u2019t lyrical, but it sure is accurate.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the venerable Emerald Isle. God bless you, Ireland, for making so many invaluable contributions to society, not least of which is Guinness. But who knew that the home of Saint Patrick, green beer, and the shamrock had such a bite when it comes to email spamming?<\/p>\n Several Irish newspapers, including the Kildare Nationalist<\/a> and the Irish Examiner<\/a>, are reporting that Four Star Pizza (Ireland) Ltd., one of the nation\u2019s largest pizza chains, has been prosecuted for \u201csending unsolicited emails and had pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to breaking data protection regulations.\u201d Brought to the court following a probe by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, 30 charges were originally brought.<\/p>\n Four Star Pizza pleaded guilty and was fined \u20ac4,000 (approximately USD $5,200). In a tremendously classy, \u201clet\u2019s all feel good about this\u201d move, Dublin District Court Judge John O’Neill adjudicated that Four Star Pizza could avoid criminal conviction if it donated the aforementioned \u20ac4,000 to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.<\/p>\n The company promptly paid the sum and presented a receipt. O\u2019Neill struck out the case, noting that “the sum of \u20ac4,000 has been paid to Temple Street hospital by Four Star Pizza, this will benefit the hospital and the young people there.”<\/p>\n Four Star Pizza certainly paid up for its infraction, but the story doesn\u2019t really take on context until you understand the nature of their crime.<\/p>\n They sent six spam emails.<\/p>\n Yes, you read that right. According to the Irish Examiner, \u201cthe company admitted sending unsolicited emails to six people from October 19, 2011 until August last year.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, that\u2019s one expensive pie, extra cheese or no. The gravity of the infraction shouldn\u2019t suffer by the number, as ironic as it may be. Six spams or 600,000, the number is just that: a number. If even one person is unnecessarily inconvenienced because some marketing wonk thinks it\u2019s his God-given right to contact you without permission, that\u2019s one too many.<\/p>\n The tides are changing, and in a good way. We suffer every day from the inconvenience and sheer dangers of email spam. It\u2019s bad enough that we have to deal with those who would rob us blind, given the chance. We don\u2019t need the issue confused by those who think a door should be knocked upon simply because it\u2019s a door<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
The punch line<\/strong><\/h2>\n