CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- One of Chicago’s favorite pizza restaurants is taking issue with jabs from a Netflix series called “Emily in Paris.”
Lou Malnati’s pizzeria is not a fan of the show, "Emily in Paris'", Marc Malnati said.
Lou's deep-dish pizza was described on the show as a “quiche made of cement." There were other jabs at Chicago, as well, stating that Chicagoans are "all so fat."
Malnati called the cement remark "heartless and not humorous."
“We’ve been serving Chicago’s favorite deep dish since 1971. When Netflix’s ‘Emily in Paris’ writers chose to take a shot at Chicagoans and our pizza to try to get a laugh, it felt heartless and not humorous in the midst of Covid-19,” Marc Malnati said in a statement Lou Malnati’s representatives released Wednesday.
He said he has no problem with a little good-natured back and forth with pizza lovers in places like New York or LA with differing opinions, but he said this feels "especially unkind to disparage anyone during these difficult times, given that most restaurants are struggling to hang on."
“Emily in Paris,” which was released Friday, follows a Chicago marketing executive, played by Lily Collins, as she moves to Paris to teach her international colleagues about social media and Gen Z branding. The 10 half-hour episodes feature a few Chicago scenes, which were shot here nearly a year ago. The series was written and filmed well before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the restaurant industry.
On Facebook, Lou Malnati's thanked fans for their support, and is using the moment as a marketing tool offering discounts.
Lou Malnati’s is encouraging fans to use code TCXCHISTRONG when they order pizzas at tastesofchicago.com by Oct. 14 to get $5 off a four- or six-pizza pack.