Bear-hug pizza man becomes subject of Yelp war

President Barack Obama, right, is picked-up and lifted off the ground by Scott Van Duzer, left, owner of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant during an unannounced stop, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, in Ft. Pierce, Fla.

/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

(CBS News) The latest comments on Big Apple Pizza's Yelp page aren't about anchovies.

After President Obama stopped by and received a bear hug from owner Scott Van Nuzer, comments started being posted on the pizza shop's page on Yelp, a site for posting reviews of local businesses. With two 5-star reviews dating back to 2009, Big Apple Pizza's overall rating took a dive with new comments - from people living much further than the Fort Pierce, Fla., pizzeria will likely deliver - awarding 1 out of 5 stars.

Among them:

Mike A, Murrietta, Calif., who awarded 1 star:

"Well.. I'd eat there but after seeing the owner grab our leftist President I felt compelled to disrespect his establishment as much as the President disrespects our constitution. Shame on you Scott Van Duzer for thumbing your nose at all the small business owners this President has disrespected for the last four years. I guess you DIDN'T BUILD IT!
I hope you're prepared for many more Yelps like this!!! Maybe you weren't thinking, or maybe you are the only liberal pro Obama business owner, who knows.. but you won't get mine or anyone else's business for your treachery.

Andrew B, Meza, Ariz., who awards 1 star:

Owner states he is a Republican that supports Obama.

Greg S., Cottonwood, Ariz., who awarded 1 star:

Talk about committing business suicide. After picking up Obama, your books are gonna be in the red pretty soon. Not too smart.

Yet they were quickly outnumbered by positive Yelp comments - also originating far from Florida - from people awarding five stars, and bringing the shop's overall rating back up. Among them:

Nathan C of Cambridge, Mass., gave five stars:

Simply to balance out the idiots, like Mike A., who are reviewing a place because the owner was able to not hate someone that they did.

Ann S., Phoenix, Ariz, awarded 5 stars:

Congrats to one of the many small business owners in America! You help make up the backbone of this country. May you prosper for many years.
I am sorry Big Apple Pizza now has a politically-charged yelp, but woot! woot! for all the free publicity you have received!
Go America! Go all small business owners!! You one-star posters...you are looking like the Republicans who have voted against every single jobs bill. America is better than that.

Carl F., N.Y., awarded 5 stars:

These reviews demonstrate that the right-wingers DON'T support small businesses. They support small businesses that agree with their stinking POLITICS, which is the same thing as not supporting small businesses AT ALL.

Conscientious S., Oakland, Calif., awarded 5 stars:

Pizza is awesome, New York pizza is the best in the world, and if this place sells "Big Apple" pizza it must be worth a visit!
This review brought to you by a political independent who thinks it's wrong to vote down a business you've never visited just because the owner was hospitable to the President of the United States.

Aris D., Urbana, Ill., awarded 5 stars - and a particularly unsavory wish:

Good stuff...and the morons who vote 1 star because of politics, I hope you eat somewhere else and get the runs for a lifetime...and everyone is better off that you won't be around this restaurant.

[stevencwalker]

This is one good example of why political parties and the official recognition of them needs to just stop lol most people, and i mean the vast majority of the country, don't even understand in the slightest whats really going on within politics on any level throughout the nation and they rely heavily if not solely on a political handle to fall in line with that for the most part suits their views, instead of actual learning in detail what is really up for debate in every aspect that affects their lives.

This 'dumbing' down of politics is mainly attractive because obviously people work and have their own lives so it's very hard (at best) for them to become fully aware of the political system, I mean that is constant struggle even for politicians. The problem is though ignorance begets ignorance so encouraging people to become ignorant is only going to get you a lot more ignorance and intolerance. If these people took a breath, stood back for a moment, and really thought it out I think they'd find to their delight that regardless all human beings in the world are 100% percent the same regardless of culture and want the same exact things, the latter is of course without any debate whatsoever and for which the conclusion is absolutely inescapable; to thrive,all human beings want to not survive but thrive. So with this knowledge taken into account and considering the vast billions on this earth currently it's absurd to say the least that things won't, in the long run, as they always have move in a positive direction.

I'm not offering a solution just stating an obvious problem at least to me it is.

[daggett588525]

Any comments, negative or positive about a business or service on Yelp, should be based on the customer's PERSONAL experience with the business or service. Yelp's FAQ states "Relevance: Please make sure your contributions are relevant and appropriate to the forum. For example, reviews aren't the place for rants about a business's employment practices, POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES, extraordinary circumstances, or other matters that don't address the core of the consumer EXPERIENCE." Want to make a statement, contact the business through their website!

<end of rant>

[NewbiusMaximus]

The pizza place's rating hasn't take a dive. But Yelp's rating has in my book. Yelp is worthless if people who have not truly used the place can dump on it unhindered.

[nygurl1]

Hey - anyone can dump on here!
Better if you post a positive post on Yelp than complain about something that can't be changed.

[JeffKos]

Clearly this Van Duzer fellow deserves to be trashed. I mean, sure, he's a small-business owner and the founder of a charitable foundation dedicated to helping people who experience financial or personal hardship due to tragedy, BUT HE HUGGED THE SOCIALIST PRESIDENT WHO WANTS TO RUIN YOU AND EAT YOUR BABIES!

[kansas1946]

LOL. Right on. Repulicans are the most hateful group of folks on the planet.

[RollotheNorman]

A socialist President that want's to rape your livestock too!

[cntrygirl3]

Gee where is all the republican screaming about freedom of speech you heard back during the chicflay dust up. I guess freedom of speech is only for right wingers

[zenia5]

What difference does it make whether it was "spontaneous" or "planned"??? Who cares? This is a political campaign and that involves meeting and greeting people. At least President Obama has great people skills and interacts beautifully with anyone....even ORDINARY people....unlike Romney who only interacts well with other plastic people like him

[BigMykul]

by Shallow_RepubsAre_CRET_Ns September 11, 2012 8:34 AM EDT
Regardless of whether this was "planned" or "not planned"...... LOL!...he's still a small business owner, voting for Obama. One of the smart ones out there.

I guess, as with many of us, he recalls the 4 million jobs LOST within 9 consecutive months of the last year of that last Republi-'con' in the White House...and knows that he'd rather have 4 more years of Obama (who stopped that downward trend and started job GROWTH in the country again), over 1 year of any Republi-'con' who wants to go back to the same messed up policies that put the country in that economic death spiral.

U.S. MONTHLY JOB LOSSES DURING THE LAST 9 MONTHS OF THE LAST REPUBLI-'CON' WE HAD IN THE WHITE HOUSE:

May '08 = -201,000 jobs lost
Jun '08 = -191,000 jobs lost
Jul '08 = -208,000 jobs lost
Aug '08 = -334,000 jobs lost
Sep '08 = -137,000 jobs lost
Oct '08 = -267,000 jobs lost
Nov '08 = -714,000 jobs lost
Dec '08 = -750,000 jobs lost
Jan '09 = -1,141,000 jobs lost

TOTAL Job Losses within 9 CONSECUTIVE months = "4 million" jobs LOST

Obama's Turnaround after spending his first year fixing the mess that G.W. Bush left him:
2010 = + 1,252,000 jobs GAINED
2011 = + 1,570,000 jobs GAINED
2012 (just for the months of January to August) = + 1,526,000 jobs GAINED

TOTAL JOB GAINS SINCE OBAMA TURNED AROUND BUSH'S ECONOMIC "DEATH SPIRAL" MESS = + 4,348,000

---------------------------------------------------------------
Do you ever have anything new? For several weeks I have seen this same message from you. I understand you may have just learned how to cut and paste, but at least have something new and different.

[RollotheNorman]

It's an excellent message! Shows whose out there creating jobs, not just mouthing empty promises of them.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

by LynnetteLA62 September 10, 2012 2:56 PM EDT

I hear a lot about republicans going to vote for Obama
____________

I hear quite the opposite, that a lot of Democrats are fed-up with Obama and will be voting for Romney.

[nygurl1]

Have seen posts from two (2) dems and they were going to vote inedpendant.

Have seen posts from lots of reps that are leaving the insanity behind! A few plan on not voting at all. Some will vote dem and some indie.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Does Obama think everyone is a dumb liberal ? Do we have a president, or a college frat brother.....what lack of professionalism for the office of President......it was all staged, nobody bear hugs the president like that, nobody gets that close to the president, without the Secret Service clearing him and arranging the fake hug prior to the incident.

[zenia5]

Sounds like you need a hug (((George)))...there, is that better?

[kansas1946]

Hmmm....so all of Romney's photo-ops are spontaneous. Really???

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

I can see how ALL the republicans are for the small business owner; look at all the good reviews they are giving this guy!!

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Too bad they found out he worked for the Obama campaign in the past, and he wasn't a "republican"......Obama thinks everyone is stupid, and falls for this nonsense.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

So you republicans only want republican small business to succeed?