Californians don't know the difference.
There are two different Californias, man. One California has people who know good food when they eat it, and the other California is the fake-ass Hollywood crowd. This group is full of people who fall for every marketing gimmick in the book. This group is why most Americans think there is actually a California style of pizza. (And if anyone cares to dispute my implicit claim that there is no such thing as California style pizza, go take a look at the date of the most recent "California style" post.)
Thankfully the lesser known California is actually a much bigger group than the Hollywood group, even though the ideas of the Hollywood group seem to get a lot more attention from the media. (Quick lesson: "Media" and "Hollywood" mean almost the same thing, so it should not be a surprise to anyone that Hollywood gets a vastly disproportionate amount of exposure from Hollywood.)
Believe it or not, LA is a freaking incredible food city. For burgers, donuts, Mexican food, and Asian food, there's probably nowhere better on the planet. But that Hollywood mentality seems to be what gets noticed the most.
When it comes to pizza, though, California has no clue.
