10 special examples of the ‘pizza effect’

Happiness, heartburn and even heart disease can all be consequences of pizza, but when anthropologist Agehananda Bharati first pizza effect‘in 1970 he meant nothing by eating it. The history of iconic Italian food was an example of a pattern he had observed where something unimportant in one culture becomes popular in another. This then changes the way it is viewed where it came from.

Pizza used to be unpopular in Italy and was seen as food for the poor. Its popularity only grew when Italians moved to the US, and new toppings made it a hit there. This gave pizza in Italy a completely new image, that of a beloved national dish. This kind of feedback loop doesn’t just happen with food. From music to mindfulness, here are ten more examples of the pizza effect in action.

Related: Top 10 lasting trends, movements and subcultures

10 Carbonara

Although it has been widely known in the social sciences since the 1970s, at the beginning of 2023 many Italians had never heard of the pizza effect. And when a food history professor dared to suggest in an interview that this applied to many more of their dishes than just pizza, the country was outraged. One of the controversial claims made by Professor Alberto Grandi, himself an Italian, was that carbonara was actually an American dish.

Grandi’s claim was supported by the work of a fellow food historian who discovered that the dish was first served to American soldiers during World War II. It dates back to 1944 when an Italian chef in Riccione prepared it with the soldiers’ bacon and egg rations. Grandi knows that his fellow countrymen see their food as part of their identity, but he thinks this link goes too far. He cannot understand why he is being attacked for simply pointing out that many dishes loved by Italians today, like pizza, were developed in the US over the past sixty years.^[1]

9 The Day of the Dead Parade

Under the right conditions, the pizza effect can occur surprisingly quickly. An example of a sudden pizza effect occurred in 2016 when Mexico City decided to turn its Day of the Dead celebration into a festival with a parade for the first time. Officials were inspired by the fictional parade from the opening scene of the James Bond film Ghostwhich was released in 2015.

The scene in the film was obviously inspired by the real Day of the Dead; the holiday dates back to the times of the Aztecs and celebrates dead relatives visiting their families. However, it was a more solemn occasion then and the activities were very quiet. Homes and cemeteries were lit with candles, and most people spent the day with their families.

But after the Bond film, more than 1,000 actors and dancers took part in the parade through Mexico City. Spectators were treated to the sight of giant skeletons, skulls and performers in traditional costumes dancing down the street.^[2]

8 The St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Another traditional parade that the pizza effect is responsible for is the St. Patrick’s Day parade. However, it has not gained a foothold so quickly in its own country. In the years since the first official parade took place in Dublin in 1931, it has become Ireland’s largest annual celebration. And while that may sound like a long time, other countries have been hosting St. Patrick’s Day parades for centuries before ever heading to the Emerald Isle.

An Irish priest in St. Augustine, a Spanish colony in what is now Florida, held the first known parade to mark the occasion in 1601. But modern parades are derived from Irish soldiers stationed in New York in 1762. by marching down the street, wearing green, and playing Irish music on their military instruments. As more and more Irish moved to the US in the 19th century, these types of parades became annual events, and eventually the idea made its way back to Ireland.^[3]

7 Yoga

Ask anyone what he or she knows about yoga, and he or she will probably say that it is an ancient Indian tradition. They’re not wrong…unless they think that means yoga is a big part of most Indians’ lives. In the first decade of the 21st century, some yoga teachers in India said they were teaching classes to hundreds of people that did not include a single Indian. But then things started to get better. Major cities like Mumbai saw a resurgence of yoga studios and teachers started offering private classes at home.

Had the Indians suddenly reconnected with their ancient culture? Not exactly.

Director Kate Churchill, who made a documentary about yoga in India, attributed the growth in popularity she saw during her time there to Madonna. People wanted to copy the habits of the Queen of Pop. She can’t take all the credit, though; that’s just one example of how the adoption of yoga in the West caused its revival in India. Another is how the Indian teachers offering private lessons were inspired by American yoga DVDs.^[4]

6 Meditation

Another trend that has made its way from the ancient East to the West is mindfulness, and is now on its way back. It started making waves in the West in the 1960s, but has recently become mainstream. Many of the mindfulness practices that have become popular, such as meditation, are adapted from Buddhist traditions, but are often used outside their original religious context and with a different purpose in mind.

Some religious scholars dismiss this as ‘McMindfulness’. Still, it has made it possible for doctors to study and use mindfulness exercises in medicine. It is in this form that mindfulness is returning to Asia, where it is only just beginning to be seriously considered in a medical context. This is because in the past, practices were not viewed as individual tools to achieve specific goals. But this is starting to change. Doctors in Asia are beginning to see Western mindfulness tools as new and potentially useful treatments.^[5]

5 Tibetan Singing Bowls

The sonorous tone you hear when you strike a Tibetan singing bowl can certainly have a relaxing effect. Today, sound healing and spiritual treatments, workshops and recordings can be found in Tibet, Nepal and other countries with Buddhist cultures. The bowls themselves are also widely sold. But despite the claims those who sell them may make, the historical evidence for their use in spiritual contexts is scant.

Tibet doesn’t even have a specific term for singing bowls, which were originally just food bowls from Nepal and Northern India. They could always make a beautiful sound, but like wine glasses they were not seen as spiritual objects, and it is not known exactly when or how they came to be seen as such.

Strangely, the lack of evidence contributed to their sale to Western customers, making them seem more secretive and mysterious. It has also given Tibetans and Nepalese the opportunity to create their own singing bowl practices. Initially this might have been to make money from foreign visitors. Yet the bowls have now become closely linked to Tibetan national identity.^[6]

4 Preppy menswear

To know which American cultural trends are likely to continue, Japan is a good place to start. From bourbon whiskey to workwear: the Japanese are masters at identifying and refining the best American products. These Japanese reinterpretations can then be sold back in the US, where they have helped revive the fortunes of things that have fallen out of favor.

For example, when “Ivy style” fashion became popular in Japan, it helped save preppy men’s fashion in the US. The classic American brand J. Press, which is still going strong after more than a century, has been in Japanese hands since the 1960s. 1980s. Iconic American brand Woolrich hired a Japanese design director after finding success in the Japanese market; He then founded his own brand, which sells vintage American-style clothing in the US. And smaller Japanese brands like Kamakura Shirts have opened U.S. stores to sell American-style Japanese shirts back to Americans.^[7]

3 Greek dance

Visitors to a Greek celebration, such as a wedding or birthday, will likely at some point link arms with their fellow guests and kick to the beat of classical Greek folk music. Slowly at first, then gradually accelerating until chaos ensues. It’s tradition, right? Well, that may be true now, but only since 1964, which is hardly a point in time, as this is a culture with one of the longest and best-documented histories.

Dance has long been part of that history, of course, but the specific dance described above – perhaps seen as the most quintessentially Greek dance – was invented by the composer Mikis Theodorakis for the finale of the 1964 film. Zorba the Greek. It is actually a combination of two traditional dances, a slow one and a fast one. The dance in the film became known as syrtaki and is now symbolic of Greek culture, not only among non-Greeks but also among natives.^[8]

2 Blues music

Blues musicians like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters are rightly seen today as iconic and influential, but this has been recognized in a rather roundabout way. In the early 1960s, blues music was old news. The rock ‘n’ roll craze of the ‘0s seemed to be over, and the blues had returned to the African-American communities where it came from. At least that was the case in the US

In Great Britain, American blues music found an audience among working-class youth who empathized with the melancholic music of a people who, through no fault of their own, are at the bottom of society. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and many more British musicians based aspects of their sound on their beloved blues records. As their popularity soared and the “British Invasion” occurred, many bands’ passion for the blues encouraged young Americans to explore the genre. This led to a blues revival, which evolved into genres such as classic rock, as a new generation of American artists drew inspiration from the blues and the invading British rock bands.^[9]

1 Terrorism

It may have brought the world delicious food, music and better mental health, but the pizza effect isn’t always a force for good. One way this could be bad for the world is by causing political commentators to unknowingly encourage terrorists. This could happen in cases where important concepts have more than one interpretation, such as the Islamic idea of ​​jihad. There are two main definitions: the pursuit of doing something good or godly, and the use of violence against non-Muslims.

Unlike most Muslims, terrorists subscribe to the latter. Many aggressive Western commentators also use it. The historian Mark Sedgwick has suggested that this could create a pizza effect problem, because some Muslims, whose background or education means they know no different, will be told by these people that jihad means violence against non-Muslims. And they will believe it to be true.^[10]