'Stranger Things'-inspired pizzas made in Milwaukee vie for 'Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin' title

Jeff Bollier
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Milwaukee-based Palermo's Pizza produces a line of Surfer Boy Pizzas based on the pizzeria featured in "Stranger Things" season 4 on Netflix.

"Stranger Things" fans, Palermo's Pizza is counting on you to help Surfer Boy Pizza make a deep run in this year's Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest. 

Surfer Boy Pizza and its delivery driver Argyle, played by Eduardo Franco, may be based in Lenora Hills, California, in Season 4 of the wildly-popular Netflix show. But the real, frozen Surfer Boy Pizza on sale in Walmart stores nationwide is made right here in Wisconsin.

"It's always surprising when you tell people who you work for and that we're making Surfer Boy Pizza," said John Leonardo, Palermo's' senior director of marketing. "It's a 'No way!' (reaction). They think it's so cool, but it's a natural fit for us. We're really excited."

Entering the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest should help Milwaukee-based Palermo's spread the word a little further about its tie-in to the show. The initial round of online voting, which opened Monday and ends at 5 p.m. Sept. 27, will narrow the more than 120 entries down to 16.

Coolest Thing Made In Wisconsin logo

The event may be called "Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin," but Leonardo hopes the passionate "Stranger Things" fan base will vote for Surfer Boy Pizza to victory in the bracket-style elimination rounds.

"The fans of 'Stranger Things' are very vocal," Leonardo said, noting the pizzas made appearances on Tik Tok and other social media channels this summer. "I think we're going to get a lot of support from those folks, plus other folks familiar with Palermo's as a Milwaukee company that's been around for almost 60 years."

Since 2016, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has organized the annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest to showcase the innovation and breadth of products Wisconsin-based manufacturers make. Manufacturing generates $60 billion in direct economic impact in the state each year and employs one in six workers in the state, per WMC. 

This year's entries include many products we traditionally associate with manufacturing. There's Ariens Co.'s Mammoth 850 snow remover, which the Brillion-based company calls "a go anywhere, clear anything behemoth designed and built to make a mockery of Wisconsin (and all) winters;" Appleton-based Pierce Manufacturing's Volterra EV fire truck, first deployed in Madison in summer 2021; and Sturgeon Bay's Bay Shipbuilding's M/V Mark W. Barker, the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter to be built on the lakes in almost 40 years

The 639-foot-long bulk carrier Mark W. Barker, shown in its dock at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, advanced to the Round of 8 in the bracket-style "Manufacturing Madness" tournament in the annual "Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin" contest sponsored by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. The winner of the contest is decided by online public voting. Bay Ship built the vessel, which set off on its maiden voyage July 28, and it's believed to be the first Great Lakes freighter built on the lakes since 1983.

RELATED:Is a Door County-built freighter the 'Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin'? Voting is now open

Wisconsin is more than just cheese, trees and Kringle

Many entries highlight other key state industries, like agriculture, food and health care, as well as the ingenuity and innovation of Wisconsinites.

For Rick Kellow and Beth Kuehl, creators of GreatPlate, the decision to enter their patented, re-usable plates and cups made from environmentally-friendly plastic was a no-brainer since almost every element of the GreatPlate was developed or sourced in Wisconsin, Kellow said. 

"It's 100% Wisconsin. It was patented through Foley & Lardner, the design work was done at Creative Design in West Bend, Mantz Automation in Harford made our molds and it's manufactured in Oshkosh," Kellow said. "Even the labels are printed in Wisconsin. It's truly a Wisconsin product." 

Kellow and Kuehl have sold more than 7 million GreatPlates now and have introduced a square plate with a space to hold a wine glass, too. Kellow said the company is in talks to license is product to other companies, as well. 

Health care products and innovations include a radiotherapy machine for cancer patients, Oculogica's EyeBOX device that can help diagnose a concussion in less than four minutes, cranberry seed CBD oil, body lotions, an MRI disinfecting system, and the 30,000-gallon solvent storage tank designed to aid in the production of COVID-19 vaccines designed, fabricated and built by Ashwabuenon-based Fourinox Inc. 

Every storage tank and vessel Fourinox designs, fabricates and builds is special. Its customers operate in industries like oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, water, chemicals and food production where the margin for error is often non-existent. But Quinn Meeuwsen, Fourinox's business development manager, said the 33,000-pound vaccine storage tank, ordered by a Michigan pharmaceutical company, took on added meaning. 

"We're a vessel shop. You don't always get to see where your tanks go and what they do," Meeuwsen said. "But something of this nature is just cool, it's something meaningful. Our guys know what it's for and what it's doing."

But Meeuwsen said he hopes the contest also calls attention to Fourinox as a place to work, as the company continues to need to hire welders skilled in TIG, MIG and flux core welding. 

Milwaukee-based Palermo's Pizza produces a line of Surfer Boy Pizzas based on the pizzeria featured in "Stranger Things" season 4 on Netflix. The company created the pineapple jalapeno style pizza because of Surfer Boy delivery driver Argyle's belief that fruit on pizza is "gnarly."

Plenty of cheese curds, root beer, bitters and, of course, frozen pizza, too

Food and agriculture contests include multiple cheese curds, multiple popcorns, multiple beef sticks, vegan ice cream, Jolly Good sodas, Sprecher Root Beer, Sunset Point Winery's wine pouch, Bittercube cocktail bitters, and, of course, Surfer Boy Pizza.  

Leonardo said the ingredients in Surfer Boy Pizza started to come together early this year ahead of the "Stranger Things" season 4 premier in May. Netflix and Walmart wanted to capitalize on Surfer Boy Pizza and develop a quality pie that also captured the mid-1980s takeout pizza vibe. The pizza features a crust that's crispy on the outside and more airy inside, a slightly sweeter tomato sauce and quality meats and cheese. 

Walmart, familiar with Palermo's' other brands like Screamin' Sicilian pizzas, approached the company with the idea. Palermo's agreed to license and produce the pizzas and design the 1980s-style pizza delivery box complete with a Surfer Boy Pizza logo. Palermo's produces four styles of Surfer Boy Pizza: Pepperoni, multi-meat, supreme and a pineapple jalapeno pie of which Argyle, an advocate for fruit on pizzas in the show, would approve.

Amid the quick turnaround, Leonardo said the company focused on quality ingredients and a style of pizza that would outlive this season's initial wave of popularity. He said feedback so far has been positive with people on social media saying they hope the pizza outlasts the show. 

"We knew we’d get a lot of trials because of the show, but we didn’t want it to be a one-and-done (product)," Leonard said. "We want it to be a product that people can enjoy for a long, long time again and again. The feedback that people wanted it to be available reflects the good experience they've had with the brand."

How, and when, to vote for the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin

People will have several, upcoming opportunities to vote for their favorite entries this year. The 16 selected during initial voting will proceed to face off in a series of bracket-style votes that wrap up on Oct. 19 when WMC announces this year's winner at its Business Day event in Madison.

Here's a look at the upcoming key dates in the Coolest Thing contest: 

  • Sept. 27: Popular vote ends
  • Sept. 28: Top 16 announced
  • Sept. 29 to Oct. 4: Bracket voting among top 16
  • Oct. 5: Top 8 announced
  • Oct. 6 to 11: Bracket voting among top 8
  • Oct. 12: Top 4 announced
  • Oct. 13 to 19: Final round of voting
  • Oct. 19: WMC announces winner at an event in Madison.

For more information about the entries, the contest and to vote, visit madeinwis.com

Meeuwsen said he likes the idea of the annual competition for the exposure it gives so many companies like Fourinox. 

"There's a lot of stuff that doesn't get recognized as being made in Wisconsin," he said. "This is a great way to display the work ethic and what we're all about here."

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier