NJ pizzeria ‘The Doughfather’ hit with cease-and-desist for using ‘The Godfather’ iconic logo

A New Jersey pizza shop just got an offer it couldn’t refuse.

Paramount Pictures is demanding that the The Doughfather in Monroe Township change its logo and branding, which the film studio claims is too similar to that of its iconic 1972 film “The Godfather.”

Max D’Amico, the pizzeria owner, told News12 New Jersey he thought the notice was a prank until he saw the studio’s official letterhead.

“I didn’t mean no harm to anybody, but we’re going to correct that,” he said.

He added that the revised logo will swap the puppet strings for “a hand throwing a pinch of salt or a thumbs up.”

D’Amico, who immigrated to the US as a child, said his admiration for the mob classic inspired both the shop’s name and its look.

“It’s one of the greatest movies ever made,” he told WABC-TV.

“I was 7 years old watching it with the family. It was a snowy day. We sat there for six hours.”

His wife, Dina, came up with the moniker.

“You’re the ‘Doughfather.’ You’re the king of all,” she told New Jersey 101.5 radio.

“At first he was hesitant, but I was like, ‘No, that’s who you are.’”

The couple said they had worked with a designer to create a logo showing Max’s silhouette styled as Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone — complete with puppet strings. The design appeared on every surface, from pizza boxes to staff shirts.

Then came the call from Hollywood.

“They said that they called the but we never had anything. They were sending it to the wrong email,” Max D’Amico told 101.5.

“Then Dina actually picked up the phone, and she’s like, ‘what’s going on?’ And she gave the right email. She says ‘This thing is real.’ So let’s straighten it out right away’,” Max said.

“Paramount Pictures is concerned by The Doughfather’s adoption [of the logo],” attorney Christine Sun wrote in the letter, which warned that the company could sue if the pizzeria didn’t comply, according to NJ.com.

Sun said the restaurant’s branding copied the film’s “distinctive typeface and script design” and “identical marionette design.”

Despite the dispute, Paramount’s letter stopped short of objecting to the pizzeria’s name itself — allowing D’Amico to keep The Doughfather brand as long as it doesn’t resemble “The Godfather” and its protected artwork.

The original logo also carried the slogan “pizza you can’t refuse,” echoing Don Corleone’s famous line from the film. That phrase, too, is being phased out.

The change means redoing everything from the restaurant’s website to its menus and awning, a costly process for the small business.

“The logo has to change on the menus, the website, the restaurant,” D’Amico said on the radio.

“But we do get to keep the name.”

Local officials have rallied to D’Amico’s defense.

“This is a family-owned business,” Monroe Township Councilman Charlie DiPierro told WABC-TV.

“They’re all hard-working people that help our community.”

Customers have taken the news personally.

“He’s not making money off the font,” loyal patron Pete Tufano told WABC.

“He’s making money off the pizza. He’s not making movies. I don’t see the conflict, but the law is the law, and Max is a stand-up guy, so he’ll change the emblems and comply with whatever they’re asking.”

The Post has sought comment from Paramount Pictures.