1959 Mike Illitz, a Marine Corps veteran and retired minor league baseball player,

partners with his wife Maryann to open a pizzeria in suburban Detroit.

1984.

A pizzeria is open in Jeffersonville, Indiana by John Schnatter, who, like many rich capitalists

who hold themselves up as paragons of the meritocracy, was able to start his business because of financial

aid from his father.

As the Illiches turned their motor city original into a value-oriented nationwide pizza chain,

they would also become extraordinary philanthropists.

Running a charity that provides hot and ready food to disaster struck areas, launching a foundation

that helps veterans rejoin the civilian workforce, and personally paying the rent of civil rights

hero Rosa Parks and tell her death.

Meanwhile, as Schnatter's pizza chain expanded beyond the borders of the Hoosier State, so

too did his legal troubles and PR struggles, as his company was hit with numerous lawsuits

for unpaid wages and false advertising, and deal with its plastic surgery scarred CEO publicly

whining about paying for his employees' health insurance and now protest against police

violence impacted his bottom line.

But there are no bonus points for corporate ethics here in Kitchen Stadium.

It's all about the taste of that zesty pie.

Will it be the chain with the absurdist commercials in the Toga-clad cartoon mascot whose catchphrases,

Pizza Pizza?

Or will it be the corporation whose ads feature alleged PED user Peyton Manning and Schnatter

himself, who combines the acting talent of M. Knight Shamalan with a physical appearance

...