Let them eat…. pizza?

When Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the revolution, was asked how to quell her starving peasant subjects, she is alleged to have said “Let them eat cake.”

And as history so often repeats itself, Gov. Ned Lamont seems to be taking the same tact with grumbling Connecticut residents angry over utility pricing.  While he still refuses to call a special session of the legislature to address the issue, last week he presided over the unveiling of a new campaign to make Nutmeggers feel better about their lot.

Four signs were erected on the interstate entrances to our state, welcoming travelers by reminding them that Connecticut is “The Foodie / Submarine  / Basketball / Pizza Capital” of New England / The US / The World.  Don’t you just feel the pride?  Or is it more like confusion?

These braggadocio claims were produced by our state’s new Chief Marketing Officer Anthony Anthony (yes, that’s his real name) who reminded us that “Connecticut is a drive-to state, not a drive-through state.”

Contemplate that the next time you’re in bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-95 or I-91.

The reaction was swift and predictable, with the governors of New Jersey and Massachusetts picking a fight over the claims. Sure, Groton is the submarine capital, but everyone knows that the Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield MA and good food can be found throughout New England.  But “Pizza Capital of the United States?”  Really?  That’s the best you could do?

How could Connecticut music teacher Mrs. Fitzgerald cover all our state’s highlights in this two-minute ditty by Carmino Ravosa and our state’s CMO so misses the mark?

Because this was all intentional.

In an earlier life I was a News Director at NBC News.  Later I became a communications consultant and even wrote about it in my book “Off The Record: Confessions of a Media Consultant.”  I know how the media works.  And so does the governor and his staff.

Don’t want to make the hard decisions about electric rates?  Just distract everyone with a phony debate about who has the best pizza.

This quartet of signs cost the Connecticut Department of Transportation all of $90,000 to produce, most of it paid for by the feds.  Hoist the signs and then just stand back and watch social media spread the anger and confusion .  It’s all a brilliant distraction technique and we are gobbling it up.

Twitter memes like this seemed inevitable…

Who needs a special legislative session to solve utility costs when we’re instead talking about pizza?  We all have the attention span of a goldfish and the governor and his media minions know it.

Notably missing from this conversation was another set of recently erected highway signs… the ones proclaiming how many people have died on CT roadways this year.

It’s a running tally… 224 year to date, and climbing. Those sobering reminders were the brainchild of the CDOT, which deserves kudos.

But hey… enjoy that pizza, peasants.