"Through the Paving for Pizza program, the chain offered $5,000 grants to one city or town per state for minor road repairs and supplied stencils for an optional logo spray-painted onto newly smoothed streets. The campaign funded modest fixes — for example, $5,000 bought 75 tons of asphalt in Bartonville to fill eight potholes and repair three roads, and in Athens, Georgia it paid a dozen workers for three hours to fix about 150 square yards — while in Burbank crews filled only five small potholes largely for TV ads. Cities could choose which streets to repair and were not required to brand them, and some recipients noted that most residents barely noticed the work; officials welcomed the pragmatic help and publicity amid chronic state funding shortfalls, but critics warned the initiative highlights the limits of small corporate donations and raises concerns about private influence over public infrastructure." - Tim Forster