Happy's Pizza

The last remaining Happy's Pizza storefront.

Happy's Pizza is a Michigan, USA-based chain of restaurants that became infamous in 1970 due to the founder's chain of murders that became immortalized in an advertising ploy released in poor taste by the Happy's Pizza company shortly after the scandal in an attempt to capitalize off their notoriety.

## Origin

Happy's Pizza claims to have been founded in 1994, but this was merely a cover up for the long series of illegitimate businesses that have existed under its management since the late 1910s. Originally a front for organized crime shortly reestablished as a bootlegging company, Happy's Pizza has undergone many iterations, including a hugely successful pyramid scheme, a hitman service, and even a nationwide drug cartel. In the 1960s it finally began to rebrand itself into its current title of Happy's Pizza, as previous to then it was simply known as Happy's. The new hired founder took his job very seriously and successfully reidentified Happy's Pizza as a food chain through the introduction of several economically revolutionary deals. However, the newfound positive image of Happy's Pizza would not last long.

## Killings

In 1970, the owner of Happy's Pizza, known simply as Happy, committed a series of murders seemingly at random. 11 victims were identified, each having been killed through means of blunt trauma. No connection between any of the victims and the perpetrator was uncovered, except for one of the victims having a relative who worked at Happy's Pizza for a few years prior. The trial was brief and private, and it is theorized that the Happy's Pizza company pulled several strings to avoid the enormous controversy that would come with the publication of such an event. Happy's Pizza continued to enjoy its reputation as a decent food chain popular in the upper Midwest for several decades after.

## Controversy

Due to a new discovery that Happy had been motivated by the Jackson 5's breakout single *I Want You Back*, which had released a year prior to the murders, Happy's Pizza came back under scrutiny. However, as their administration had gotten comfortable and quite detached from the sharp mindset it had formerly had when associated with organized crime, they made light of the situation in two extremely controversial ads aired in the summer of 2009. The first, which was the more popular among

the two, was voiced by Rucka Rucka Ali and featured a cartoon depiction of Happy dancing to a jingle which proclaimed that Happy's Pizza had "lost they mind" and referenced several of the deals that Happy had been well known for during his years of management. This sparked outrage as it was very clearly attempting to capitalize off the killings through tongue-in-cheek references. The second, and significantly more provoking, ad was a poor quality remake of the original set to the tune of I Want You Back. The outright mockery of the events that these two ads seemed to perpetuate was enough to force Happy's Pizza to close all but one of their locations, which remains at an undisclosed location in Michigan. Each of these ads can still be viewed, with the second ad being upheld against the legal wishes of Happy's Pizza by an Instagram user simply known as @\_lordspicy\_.