This Toronto Blue Jay’s favourite pizza topping will floor you
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is doing a Pizza Pizza promo—and his go-to topping is just plain weird
Toronto’s $500-million man has done a lot for the Blue Jays over the past few weeks to prove he was worth the big pay cheque. Vladdy mania has swept the nation, so it’s no big surprise that our national pizza chain is getting in on the action. Vladdy’s Big Deal is Pizza Pizza’s promo for an XXL pizza with three toppings, ringing in at just $19.99.
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Does a man who makes 10 figures eat a lot of big-box pizza? Earlier this year, he listed Prime Seafood Palace and Jacobs and Co. Steakhouse among his favourite Toronto restaurants. But high-earning athletes hawking affordable food chains is definitely a thing—especially during playoff season. And to be honest, it’s just nice to see that Vladdy isn’t doing ads for sports-betting apps (at least not yet). But enough preamble already—let’s get to the shocking reveal that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. makes in a new Pizza Pizza ad spot.
The promo may include three toppings, but Vladdy’s preference is—wait for it—plain cheese. That’s right: the man who could sprinkle his pie with truffle shavings and gold flakes prefers the same pizza as Kevin McCallister. Which is surprising in some ways (he certainly loves bling and excess in other areas) but also lines up pretty well with his recent promo for Smucker’s. Our star slugger isn’t going to be a food critic any time soon, but his day job pays better anyway.
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According to Pizza Pizza, the Vladdy special has led to a 10 per cent spike in pizza sales, which doesn’t seem like that much, but the XXL pie was already a top-selling item. The company is good at tapping into the zeitgeist: earlier this year, it ran the Reverse Tariff promo (25 per cent off a regular-priced pizza). In 2024, there were 4/20 pizza pre-rolls (zero per cent cannabis, 100 per cent pizza). And 2023 gave us the Buzz-Off Pie (which somewhat spuriously promised to repel mosquitos), the Growflation campaign (a medium pizza for the price of a small one) and the internet-famous dip roller. So of course the brand was going to do something with the Jays for playoff season. Here’s hoping the promo is still in effect by this time tomorrow.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
