Is it tasty? Yeah. Is it quick and cheap? Yup. Does it save me from having to cook? Sure does. But those are just secondary positive effects of pizza. The true purpose of pizza is in its aesthetics and how it signals “I have friends.”
Let me put it like this. Pizza is the picture-perfect food. It’s made for social media. If you see someone post a picture of a pizza at midnight, you know they’re probably enjoying themselves with a group of people (unless they’re eating the whole thing by themselves in which case, they’re really enjoying themselves). Now think about if someone posts a picture of say, a Big Mac at that time. It just doesn’t have the same effect. It’s a boxed meal for one without having nearly the same photogenic effect that baked cheese and grease leaking pepperoni have. Does the cholesterol-raising pepperoni taste good? Yup. But its greater purpose is to look good on camera and let people guess what you’re up to with your crew.
Let me put it another way. If you see someone walking out their car with three pizza boxes, you already know that person is having a big enough event to warrant three boxes. You want to know what that person is up to. You just ask yourself: “Why aren’t I going a get together like that?” She could have three boxes of just cheese and anchovy pizza but you know what? It doesn’t matter. If anything, it makes her even more impressive because that girl has managed to find enough people who like anchovy pizza.
The real importance of pizza is bigger than the box that holds it. People like pizza but it’s the idea of pizza that they truly love. If you show you have pizza, you’re showing the digital world (and everyone who couldn’t come out) that you have friends.