Chuck E Cheese’s has denied that it serves leftover pizza after a YouTuber’s conspiracy theory claiming that it did went viral.
On Monday, vlogger Shane Dawson posted a video in which he discussed his theory that uneaten slices of pizza in the American chain's restaurants are saved from customers’ trays, reheated and served to the next customer.
In the hour-and-a-half long video, which is titled “Investigating Conspiracies with Shane Dawson”, the YouTuber stresses that his claims are just a theory, “not a fact” before proceeding to point to a pizza with uneven edges that he says looks as if it’s been pieced together.
“It’s weird because it looks like it’s cooked the same throughout,” remarks Dawson’s friend, who also stars in the video. “The cut’s not even.”
Dawson boasts more than 20 million followers on YouTube and his video featuring Chuck E Cheese has now been watched more than 14 million times, garnering thousands of outraged comments from the chain's customers.
But Chuck E Cheese, which is a popular destination for children's parties in the US due to the arcade games in its restaurants, has issued a statement refuting Dawnson's claim.
“The claims made in this video about Chuck E Cheese’s and our pizza are unequivocally false,” a spokesperson for the company told People.
“No conspiracies here – our pizzas are made to order and we prepare our dough fresh in restaurant, which means that they’re not always perfectly uniform in shape, but always delicious.”
Dawson's video follows a wave of conspiracy theories that have been circulating on YouTube in recent months.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was recently forced to comment on this rising trend on YouTube, which is a Google-owned streaming platform, during a testimony to the US Congress.
“We are constantly undertaking efforts to deal with misinformation," he said in December 2018.
"We have clearly stated policies and we have made lots of progress in many of the areas where over the past year — so, for example, in areas like terrorism, child safety, and so on.
"We are looking to do more."
