Tombstone was founded in Medford, Wisconsin, U.S., by Pep Simek, his brother, Ron Simek, and two other individuals in 1962.[1][2] The name came from The Tombstone Tavern, a tavern owned by the Simeks which was located across from a cemetery, hence its name.[1]
In 1988, the Tombstone Pizza Company became a wholly owned but "freestanding" division of Kraft Foods. The employees who worked for Tombstone at the time were allowed to keep their jobs, although Pep and Ron Simek stepped aside from their roles in the business.[3]
On January 5, 2010, Kraft Foods announced it was selling its frozen pizza division to Swiss-based Nestlé Foods as part of a plan to use the proceeds to purchase Cadbury, a maker of dairy milk chocolate. In addition to Tombstone, this included other pizza brands including DiGiorno, Jacks and California Pizza Kitchen's frozen pizza line. The Kraft frozen pizza division is now part of Nestlé D.S.D. (direct store delivery). [citation needed]
"What do you want on your Tombstone?" was created by the Chicago office of advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding, now part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.[4] The slogan was typically used in Western advertising campaigns: a typical television commercial would ostensibly appear to be a public execution, but when the supposed executioner would ask "what do you want on your tombstone?" (i.e. an epitaph), the accused would reply along the lines of "Pepperoni and cheese." A Tombstone pizza would then be summoned.
Another slogan used in 1999 and the early 2000s was "Shoulda had that Tombstone." In one of the television commercials, the growling of a boy's stomach caused him to be caught by his girlfriend's father while hiding in her room.[5]
1 Currently manufactured by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere. 2 Brand owned by General Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license. 3 U.S. production rights owned by The Hershey Company. 4 U.S. rights and production owned by the Smarties Candy Company with a different product. 5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned by Associated British Foods. 6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé. 7 Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland. Produced by Post Foods elsewhere. 8 Philippine production rights owned by Alaska Milk Corporation. 9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned by Fraser and Neave. 10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. 11 Used only in the Philippines. 12 U.S. production rights owned by the Ferrara Candy Company. 13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019. 14 Brand owned by Mars, sold by Nestlé in Canada. 15 Produced by Froneri in the U.S. since 2020.
