Parody Instagram account causes problems for UMW Vocelli Pizza
3 min read
The official Vocelli Pizza Instagram account has reported @notvocelliumw on Instagram. | Cara Lowengrub, The Blue & Gray Press
by DIEGO PHILLIPS
Staff Writer
UMW Vocelli Pizza has been attempting to remove a parody account on Instagram.
On April 14, the Instagram account @notvocelliumw posted for the very first time. It appeared to be a harmless post promoting an on-campus dining option, captioned “We have medium topping pizzas! Order on grubHub or walk into the store or call us.”
Since their initial post, the account has gained 211 followers and posted 488 times as of April 26.
The official UMW Vocelli account messaged the parody account asking them to take down their account and stop posting. They then proceeded to report @notvocelliumw on Instagram and to Vocelli Pizza’s corporate website.
The official Vocelli account does not want to be associated with the parody account, but it may be hard to do so with the parody account taking trademark logos and photos directly from the official Vocelli account.
“They are using trademark logos and pictures that are owned by our corporation. I don’t care about the site, just want them to not use the logos without permission,” said the official UMW Vocelli account.
The UMW Vocelli parody account does not believe Vocelli has the need to be concerned.
“They also point out that we are not the Vocelli pizza at UMW. I don’t think that needed to be cleared up for anyone because if you take more than a second to look at this page it is very clearly a satirical page not run by UMW or Vocelli pizza. The username and bio are about as blatant as possible about that,” they said.
Only two days after forming the account, @notvocelliumw posted a picture used by Vocelli Pizza with a child licking ice cream on it. The child was crossed out in red, and the caption stated, “I am SICK of seeing this dumb kids’ face. We don’t even deliver either,” referring to the advertisement, ‘Ice cream delivered!’ in bold text. The use of photos from the original Vocelli page has caused problems.
The official UMW Vocelli Instagram account, going by @umwvocellipizza, is seeing things in a different light as the parody account continues to post memes and pictures about UMW’s resident pizza joint with their logo.
One picture posted by the parody account was of an Oreo brand frozen mousse cake in a box with 14 pre-cut slices. The image also had a sticker over part of it saying “Like a boss,” and the caption read “Order some of our delicious Oreo cake stuff and you will be ‘Like A Boss’!!! Order now.” This cake is an item sold by Vocelli Pizza.
In one of the more recent posts with the image of a pizza, the parody account captioned “It is the Vocelli guarantee that we will NEVER wear gloves while preparing your food. We will wash our hands about once or twice per shift. Cleanliness is a priority, but not ours!”
Some students find the parody account to be humorous and entertaining.
“I think that the fake account is pretty funny, it definitely doesn’t make me want to go to Vocelli’s any more or less, they are still one of the best options for food on campus,” said junior business major Ryan Skone.
The parody Instagram account took a poll survey asking its followers “Are you more likely to go to Vocelli pizza after seeing this account?” 83 people voted and 64 percent of them said yes.
