Your Next Gig Could Be 'Chief Pizza Officer' for Yelp
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Whether it's a desperate attempt to lure people back to the job market or just a publicity stunt, one increasingly popular move is for brands to offer cool and quirky official titles. It's certainly worked for food brands as a marketing opportunity. Red Lobster hired a "Chief Biscuit Officer." Top Ramen was seeking a "Chief Noodle Officer." McCormick hired a "Director of Taco Relations." And the list goes on.
Today, jumping on the trend with the usual mix of a fun title, actual cash, and a slightly ambiguous level of work, Yelp has announced that they're hiring their first "Chief Pizza Officer" — a position the company says "will serve as the authority on all things pizza, from deep dish to Detroit style, pizza cones to personal pan." The pay: $25,000.
"During their six-month engagement, the Chief Pizza Officer will be responsible for spreading their love for pizza and sharing the latest pizza trends with the Yelp community," Yelp explains on their blog." To apply, pizza pundits should submit a 30- to 60-second video explaining why they're qualified to take on the role, at ChiefPizzaOfficer.Yelp.com. Participants will be judged based on their love for local businesses, pizza pride, geography, and social media presence.
Video "applications" are being accepted from February 9 to February 28, and a single CPO will be selected on March 15. Yelp says the winner will have to enter into an independent contractor agreement, but the question always seems to arise: What are they expected to do from there? Is this hard work or just an easy windfall?
Digging into the official rules, the job doesn't sound too bad. "As the Chief Pizza Officer, such individual shall be responsible for certain ongoing obligations during the term of the engagement, including but not limited to: 1 blog post and 3 videos highlighting 3 different pizza spots per month," they state. The only real downside is that the $25,000 lump sum has to cover all your expenses, so at least some of those winnings will inevitably have to be spent on pizza.
Still, as another bonus, Yelp has already done some of the legwork for you on finding interesting pizza joints. Along with the Chief Pizza Officer announcement, the site has also released its list of the "Top 100 Pizza Spots in the U.S., According to Yelp." Or if you don't want to take Yelp's word for it, Food & Wine also has a list of "The Best Pizza in Every State."