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What is the “pizza effect”? -

The “pizza effect” is the name given to a feedback loop that occurs when an unimportant thing in one culture becomes popular in another, and then this success finds its way back to the original culture.

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What is the “pizza effect?” -

Other terms have been associated with this cultural phenomenon, including "re-enculturation," "hermeneutical feedback loop," and "self-orientalization."

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Where does the term come from? -

The term "pizza effect" dates back to 1970. It was coined by Agehananda Bharati, an Austrian-born Hindu monk and professor of anthropology at Syracuse University.

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Where does the term come from? -

The origins of the term are a reference to the most popular and obvious example of the “pizza effect.” Of course, we’re talking about Italian pizza.

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Pizza -

Pizza was a simple dish in Italy and something the poor would eat. This changed completely when Italians emigrated to the US. Pizza exploded in popularity across America and became a staple, not only for Italo-Americans, but for the country at large.

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Pizza -

All of a sudden, pizza was a huge culinary hit, and one that Italians still capitalize on. Every year, millions of tourists flock to Italy to have a taste of real Italian pizza, a dish that has become synonymous with the country.

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Day of the Dead parade -

The Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) is a holiday widely celebrated in Mexico. Its roots date back to the Aztecs, later mixing with Christian traditions. As for the huge Day of the Dead parade, it’s actually quite a recent thing.

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Day of the Dead parade -

Until the James Bond movie ‘Spectre’ was released in 2015, the holiday was celebrated relatively quietly, including spending time with family, building private altars, visiting the graves of loved ones, etc.

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Day of the Dead parade -

After the film came out (which featured a big fictional parade in Mexico City), the country embraced the idea of having performers, giant skeletons, and hundreds of people wearing costumes parading down the street.

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Greek dance (Sirtaki) -

You may be familiar with the traditional Greek dance where men point their arms and kick their feet to Greek folk music. It turns out this is not an ancient dance at all though. In fact, it didn’t become known until after 1964.

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Greek dance (Sirtaki) -

This quintessentially Greek dance was composed by Mikis Theodorakis for the 1964 film ‘Zorba the Greek.’ The moves actually combine elements of two traditional dances. Sirtaki is now considered Greece’s typical dance.

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Carbonara -

Italian academic Alberto Grandi ruffled some feathers in 2023 when he claimed that the much-loved Italian dish carbonara was also an example of the “pizza effect” and suggested that it was not even Italian.

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Carbonara -

According to Grandi, carbonara is actually an American dish, first served to American soldiers during World War II.

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Carbonara -

The Italian academic cited food historian Luca Cesari, author of the book ‘A Brief History of Pasta,’ who dug into the history of the dish. Apparently, carbonara was created by an Italian chef in Riccione using the soldiers’ egg and bacon rations.

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St. Patrick’s Day parade -

Like in Mexico with the Day of the Dead parade, the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland is another example of the “pizza effect.” In fact, the first official St. Patrick’s Day parade didn’t take place in Dublin until 1931 (pictured).

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St. Patrick’s Day parade -

Things were quite different across the pond. The parade can be traced back to Irish soldiers who were stationed in New York in 1762. They’d march down the streets on St. Patrick’s Day wearing green and playing Irish music. These eventually became annual events and made their way to the Emerald Isle.

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Salsa music -

Salsa music don’t actually come from a Latin country. Salsa was actually developed by Puerto Rican immigrants in New York in the 1930s. The genre then traveled back to Latin communities in countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

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Yoga -

Indeed, yoga is an ancient Indian tradition…except it was never as big a part of Indian culture as it is today. India is the go-to place to learn and practice yoga, and there have never been so many classes on offer in the country. But when did it become popular?

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Yoga -

The growth in yoga’s popularity has been attributed to its boom in the West, with huge celebrities such as Madonna endorsing it.

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Preppy menswear -

Japan loves American culture, and this has led to an example of the “pizza effect.” Ivy League fashion, popular in the late 1950s in America, later became a hit in Japan. The phenomenon actually helped the preppy men’s fashion regain popularity in America years later.

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Preppy menswear -

American brand J. Press has actually been owned by a Japanese company since the 1980s. In fact, there are several Japanese brands selling American-style clothes back to Americans.

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Mindfulness -

Buddhist and Hindu mindfulness and meditation practices traveled from the East to the West, and by the 1960s they had become widely popular. These practices, however, were mostly used on their own (without religious or philosophical elements).

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Mindfulness -

This phenomenon has been called "McMindfulness" by some critics. But science in the West did start looking at mindfulness and meditation as an individual tool to promote good health, and this concept is returning to Asia. Today, medical professionals in the East are looking at these digested forms as tools to help patients.

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Jack-o'-lanterns -

Before Irish immigrants in America began carving pumpkins on Halloween, Jack-o'-lanterns were actually made with turnips back home. Pumpkins then became the norm in Ireland and Great Britain.

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Blues -

The Blues shaped music history. The genre emerged in the Deep South and eventually led to rock ‘n’ roll. But by the 1960s, it was history. In America, that is.

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Blues -

Across the pond, bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, among many others, were being influenced by American blues. After the "British Invasion" of the 1960s, America saw a blues revival, with numerous bands being influenced by the genre.

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Tibetan singing bowls -

You’re probably familiar with these. Today they are used in a wide variety of contexts, from yoga and meditation classes, to sound-healing treatments, and everything in between. Tibetan singing bowls must have been used in spiritual contexts for a long time, right? Well, not quite.

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Tibetan singing bowls -

Historical evidence is not very clear in regards to the use of these bowls as spiritual objects. Sure, they were widely used as food bowls in Nepal and North India, but their use for other purposes remains hazy.

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Tibetan singing bowls -

It is possible that Westerners may have turned these bowls into spiritual objects, and that they were later adopted by Tibetans as such.

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Indian cinema -

The Apu trilogy movies of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray are yet another example of the “pizza effect.” The were originally unsuccessful in India, but after earning prizes in the West, they were reconsidered as classics in their home country.

Sources: (Listverse) (The Guardian) (NPR) (Saybrook University) (Smithsonian Magazine)

See also: Nocebo effect: what is it and how does it impact you?

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