TheBuzz Erika Engle

Pizzas and petals for procrastinating paramours

All the newspaper and television stories and advertising in the world is not enough of a clue for some people. This is Valentine's Day and they've still not secured a special something for their special someone.

"This worked so well last year, we wanted to expand it this year with roses," said Quan Nguyen, vice president and operating partner.

Hawaii Papa John's restaurants have teamed up with Watanabe Floral to offer a pie and a posy -- technically, a a red, medium-stemmed South American rose.

The large, thin-crust single-topping pizza and rose is $19.99. The pizza by itself is $16.99 and extra toppings can be had for an additional charge.

"It's a novelty for Valentine's Day and for pizza lovers -- but more importantly, we'll take your order and deliver a heart-shaped pizza and a rose to that special someone and keep you out of the doghouse for waiting till the last minute," Nguyen said.

Papa John's is not doing this on the mainland, according to publicist Patrick Bullard.

The Hawaii stores are often the first to do something that then rolls out across the company, he said.

Additionally, "just this morning we decided we're going to keep the heart-shaped pizza year-round," he said yesterday.

Bullard isn't actually with Papa John's, but is senior director at Heinrich Marketing Hawaii. It's just that he's handled the pizza account for so many years and it has moved with him as he has navigated through his career.

Papa John's figures it's not just on Valentine's Day when somebody will want to say, "I love you," or "I'm sorry," with a pizza, he said.