Brooklyn Pizzeria Nails Viral Marketing With Its Safe, Edible Take on the Tide Pod Challenge

Vinnie's Pizzeria jumped quickly on the disturbing trend and came out with PIEd Pods.

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By Stephen J. Bronner

Vinnie's Pizzeria | Twitter

Tide Pods are not food. They clean clothes. They should never go in your mouth.

But, that hasn't stopped kids and young adults from ingesting them anyway, all in a bid for some quick internet fame.

Related: I Tried Out an Exoskeleton That Some Ford Workers Are Using -- and It Was Great

Sean Berthiaume, co-owner of Vinnie's Pizzeria in New York, told Entrepreneur that he had a dream involving an edible item based on Tide Pods. He then created PIEd Pods, mini calzones with the hypnotic colors of Tide Pods. Once he posted an image of them online, "it blew up," he says.

Online fame and the subsequent media coverage it brings is great, but what does it mean for his business? Customers coming to the shop from all over the country, he says.

I spoke to Berthiaume about creating new items based on pop culture and other methods to market your business. Check out the video below.

Stephen J. Bronner

Entrepreneur Staff

News Director

Stephen J. Bronner writes mostly about packaged foods. His weekly column is The Digest. He is very much on top of his email.

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