I think he's arguing separate points, one good the other not:
1) Pizza flyers are expected to look a certain way and despite the fact that this look is deemed trashy by snob designers, it's actually appropriate for the product and audience. This is true and valid. See also:
http://www.graphpaper.com/2006/09-04_class-and-web-design-pa...
2) "...the logic suggested that if a pizza flyer does its job then, no matter how awful it looks it must, by definition, be 'well designed'." No it doesn't. Just because it does its job doesn't mean it does its job WELL. I keep a copy of local pizza flyers because they're local, not because they're well designed. One flyer could still be designed better than another. But a badly designed flyer costs me a few seconds at most, so I don't really care.
He is trying to separate two concepts: "works-as-designed" and "esthetically well-designed". There are many things that would not benefit from high esthetics, but do benefit from a surprising amount of sweat.
The case of pizza flyers is a good example of overlooked effort: they have to look both alluring and cheap. Their design is not ill-considered, at least for the larger brands. They have been worked out over decades by talented and observant people using empirical data.
The "looking cheap" bit can be important for many products. Many consumers would rather not pay for expensive advertising and design on products, and go for a products that appears ths most "no-frills."
1) Pizza flyers are expected to look a certain way and despite the fact that this look is deemed trashy by snob designers, it's actually appropriate for the product and audience. This is true and valid. See also: http://www.graphpaper.com/2006/09-04_class-and-web-design-pa...
2) "...the logic suggested that if a pizza flyer does its job then, no matter how awful it looks it must, by definition, be 'well designed'." No it doesn't. Just because it does its job doesn't mean it does its job WELL. I keep a copy of local pizza flyers because they're local, not because they're well designed. One flyer could still be designed better than another. But a badly designed flyer costs me a few seconds at most, so I don't really care.