Pizza Hut
Encyclopedia
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant
chain and international franchise
that offers different styles of pizza
along with side dish
es including pasta
, buffalo wings
, breadstick
s, and garlic bread
.
Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company. According to its corporate website, there are more than 6,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States, and more than 5,600 store locations in 94 other countries and territories around the world.
Pizza Hut is split into several different restaurant formats; the original family-style dine-in locations; store front delivery and carry-out locations; and hybrid locations that offer carry-out, delivery, and dine-in options. Many full-size Pizza Hut locations offer lunch buffet
, with "all-you-can-eat" pizza, salad, bread sticks, and a special pasta
. Additionally, Pizza Hut also has a number of other business concepts that are different from the store type; Pizza Hut "Bistro" locations are "Red Roof"s which offer an expanded menu and slightly more upscale options.
"Pizza Hut Express" and "The Hut" locations are fast food
restaurants. They offer a limited menu with many products not found at traditional Pizza Huts. These type of stores are often paired in a colocated location with a sibling brand such as Wing Street, KFC
or Taco Bell
, and are also found on college campuses, food courts, theme parks, and in stores such as Target
.
Traditionally, Pizza Hut has been known for its ambiance as much as pizza. Vintage "Red Roof" locations can be found throughout the United States, and quite a few exist in the UK and Australia. Even so, many such locations offer delivery/carryout service. This building style was common in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The name "Red Roof" is somewhat anachronistic now, since many locations have brown roofs. Dozens of "Red Roofs" have closed or been relocated/rebuilt. Many "Red Roof" branches have beer if not a full bar, music from a jukebox
, and sometimes an arcade. In the mid 1980s, the company moved into other successful formats including delivery/carryout and the fast food "Express" model.
The oldest continuously operating Pizza Hut in the world is in Manhattan, Kansas
, in a shopping and tavern district known as Aggieville
near Kansas State University
.
Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney
in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas
. When a friend suggested opening a pizza parlor, they agreed that the idea could prove successful, and they borrowed $600 from their mother to start a business with partner John Bender. Renting a small building at 503 South Bluff in downtown Wichita and purchasing secondhand equipment to make pizzas, the Carneys and Bender opened the first "Pizza Hut" restaurant; on opening night, they gave pizza away to encourage community interest. They chose the name "Pizza Hut" since the sign they purchased only had enough space for nine characters and spaces. Additional restaurants were opened, with the first franchise
unit opening in 1959 in Topeka, Kansas
. The original Pizza Hut building was later relocated to the Wichita State University
campus.
Dan and Frank Carney soon decided that they needed to have a good standard image. The Carney brothers contacted Wichita architect Richard D. Burke, who designed the distinctive mansard roof
shape and standardized layout, hoping to counter competition from Shakey's Pizza
, a chain that was expanding on the west coast. The franchise network continued to grow through friends and business associates, and by 1964 a unique standardized building appearance and layout was established for franchised and company-owned stores, creating a universal look that customers easily recognized.
By 1972, with 314 stores nationwide, Pizza Hut went public
on the New York Stock Exchange
under the stock ticker symbol . In 1978, Pizza Hut was acquired by PepsiCo
, who later also bought KFC
and Taco Bell
. In 1997, the three restaurant chains were spun off into Tricon
, and in 2001 joined with Long John Silver's
and A&W Restaurants
to become Yum! Brands
.
The Pasta Bravo concept was acquired in 2003 from Pasta Bravo, Inc. of Aliso Viejo, Calif for $5 million to pair with Pizza Hut.
Pizza Hut experiments with new products frequently, with less successful ones being discontinued. These include the initially popular two-foot by one-foot square cut pizza Bigfoot, the 16" Big New Yorker, made with a sweet sauce, the Chicago Dish Pizza
and Sicilian pizza
, the latter also offered in 2006 as Lasagna Pizza. Other products Pizza Hut has offered are the "P'zone", Pizza Hut's version of the calzone
; the Cheesy Bites pizza, similar to the Stuffed Crust pizza except the crust has been divided into 28 bite-sized pieces that can be pulled apart; and the Insider pizza, where a layer of cheese
is in between two layers of dough
. Another limited time offer was a Double Deep pizza with double the toppings and 50% more cheese, with the crust wrapped over the top to hold in all the toppings. In 1985 Pizza Hut introduced the Priazzo, a two-crusted Italian pie that resembled a deep-dish pizza. Varieties included Priazzo Milano, a blend of Italian sausage, pepperoni, beef, pork fillings, a hint of bacon, mozzarella and cheddar cheese; Priazzo Florentine, a light blend of five cheeses with ham and a touch of spinach, and Priazzo Roma, stuffed with pepperoni, mushrooms, Italian sausage, pork filling, onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The double-crusted pie was topped with a layer of tomato sauce and melted cheese. The Priazzo was introduced by a $15 million advertising campaign, but proved too labor-intensive and was removed from the menu several years later.
Depending on the individual restaurant size, Pizza Huts also may offer pasta
dinners such as spaghetti
and Cavatini – a mixture of Cavatelli
(shells), Rotini
(spirals), and Rotelle
(wheels).
A new, upscale concept was unveiled in 2004, called Pizza Hut Italian Bistro. Unveiled at fifty locations nationwide, the Bistro is similar to a traditional Pizza Hut, except that new, Italian themed dishes are offered, such as penne
pasta, chicken pomodoro, toasted sandwiches and other foods. Instead of black, white, and red, Bistro locations feature a burgundy and tan motif. Pizza Hut Bistros still serve the chain's traditional pizzas and sides as well. In some cases, Pizza Hut has replaced a "Red Roof" location with the new concept.
Pizza Hut on May 9, 2008, created and sold in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas, "The Natural", featuring organic ingredients. This was discontinued on October 27, 2009 in the Dallas market. It has since launched a nationwide advertising campaign. Also in 2008, Pizza Hut created their biggest pizza ever, the Panormous Pizza.
Pizza Hut introduced stuffed pan pizza on August 23, 2009. Unlike a regular stuffed crust pizza, cheese is not inside the crust, just pressed into the pan crust. Pizza Hut introduced the Big Italy, a pizza that is almost two feet long on August 22, 2010.
In 2010, Pizza Hut came under fire when its supplier of palm oil, Sinar Mas
, was exposed to be illegally slashing and burning the Paradise Forests of Indonesia to plant palm oil plantations.
Pizza Hut's very first ad was "Putt Putt to Pizza Hut". It starts with a man apparently ordering take-out and driving his 1965 Mustang JR to Pizza Hut, while some of the townspeople start chasing him. He picks up his pizza and goes to his house, when all of the people who were chasing him start eating all the pizza except the man who ordered it. Frustrated, he calls Pizza Hut again.
Until early 2007, Pizza Hut's main advertising slogan
was "Gather 'round the good stuff", and was "Now You're Eating!" from 2008 to 2009. The advertising slogan is currently "Your Favorites. Your Pizza Hut." Pizza Hut does not have an official international mascot, but at one time, there were commercials in the United States called 'The Pizza Head Show
.' These commercials ran from 1993 to 1997 and were based loosely on the Mr. Bill shorts from Saturday Night Live
in the 1970s. The ads featured a slice of pizza with a face made out of toppings called 'Pizza Head'. In the 1970s Pizza Hut used the signature red roof with a jolly man named "Pizza Hut Pete". Pete was on the bags, cups, balloons and hand puppets for the kids. In Australia during the Mid to late 1990s, the advertising mascot was a delivery boy named Dougie, with boyish good looks who, upon delivering pizza to his father, would hear the catchphrase "Here's a tip: be good to your mother".
Pizza Hut sponsored the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II
, and offered a free pair of futuristic sunglasses, known as "Solar Shades", with the purchase of Pizza Hut pizza. Pizza Hut also engaged in product placement
within the film itself, having a futuristic version of their logo with their trademarked red hut printed on the side of a mylar dehydrated pizza wrapper in the McFly family dinner scene, and appear on a storefront in Hill Valley in the year 2015.
The 1990 NES
game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
, came with a coupon for a free pizza. The game was filled with Pizza Hut advertising (the first ever console video game with product placement
) and pizza that would refill the character's life.
In 1994, Donald Trump
and ex-wife Ivana Trump
starred in a commercial. The ending of the commercial showed Ivana Trump asking for the last slice, to which Donald replied, "Actually dear, you're only entitled to half", a play on the couple's recent divorce.
In 1995, Ringo Starr
starred in a Pizza Hut commercial which also featured The Monkees
. Rush Limbaugh
also starred in a Pizza Hut commercial the same year, where he boasts that "nobody is more right than me," yet he states that for the first time he will do something wrong, which was to participate in Pizza Hut's then "eating pizza crust first" campaign regarding their stuffed crust pizzas.
Talk show host Jonathan Ross
, co-starred in an ad with American model, Caprice Bourret
. They were used to advertise the stuffed crust pizza, with Jonathan Ross saying "Stuffed Cwust", to which is a play on Jonathan's pronunciation of 'R's.
Another UK ad shows British Formula One
driver Damon Hill
visit a Pizza Hut restaurant and order a pizza, with famous F1 commentator Murray Walker
visiting with him, and narrating as though it was a Formula One race. As Hill is about to finish his meal, Walker, in a play on Hill's 1994 & 1995 seasons where he was runner up in the Formula One World Championship both won by Michael Schumacher
, shouts "And Hill finishes second, again!" at which Hill grabs Walker by his shirt and shakes him angrily, Walker proclaiming, in his usual tones, "He's lost it! He's out of control!"
Following England's defeat to Germany on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 96, Gareth Southgate
, Stuart Pearce
and Chris Waddle
featured in an advert. The advert shows Southgate wearing a paper bag over his head in shame as he was the one, who missed the crucial penalty against the Germans. Waddle and Pearce, who both missed penalty kicks in Italia 90
are ridiculing him, emphasising the word 'miss' at every opportunity. After Southgate finishes his pizza he takes off his paper bag, heads for the door and bangs his head against the wall. Pearce responds with, "this time he's hit the post".
In 1997, former Soviet Union
Premier
Mikhail Gorbachev
starred in a Pizza Hut commercial to raise money for the Perestroyka Archives. In recent years, Pizza Hut has had various celebrity spokespeople, including Jessica Simpson
, the Muppets
, and Damon Hill
and Murray Walker
. Recent commercials have Queen Latifah
providing the voiceover. Also in 1997, Pizza Hut, reunited "greatest of all time boxer" Muhammad Ali
with trainer Angelo Dundee
in a sentimental made for Super Bowl
commercial.
In 1999 The Sega developed Dreamcast game, Crazy Taxi
, Pizza Hut was one of the locations that players were able to drive to and drop off customers. However, in the 2010 re-release of the game for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, all of the product placement, including the Pizza Hut locations were removed.
Pizza Hut sponsored the first space pizza delivery in 2001 to the International Space Station
(ISS), and paid for their logo to appear on a Russian Proton rocket in 2000, which launched the Russian Zvezda module.
January 2003 saw Pizza Hut's Advert's Slogan Called "Eat. Laugh. Share." the Commercials are Created By Head Gear Animation
as of January 2007 the New Commercial we caled The "4 For All"
At The End of the "Excitement" Commercial. Hew Open and Closes the Pizza Hut Box to reveal an Underwater while saying "¿Se puede tener un Pizza Pan" The Subtitles with a the words "Can you Have a Pan Pizza" in it
Early 2007 saw Pizza Hut move into several more interactive ways of marketing to the consumer. Utilizing mobile phone SMS technology and their MyHut ordering site, they aired several television commercials (commencing just before the Super Bowl
) containing hidden words that viewers could type into their phones to receive coupons. Other innovative efforts included their "MySpace Ted" campaign, which took advantage of the popularity of social networking, and the burgeoning user-submission marketing movement via their Vice President of Pizza contest.
As of October 2009, Pizza Hut is advertising its WingStreet brand on a nationwide basis, having met its internal requirement of 80% of stores having the product available.
On April 1, 2008, Pizza Hut in America sent email
s to customers advertising that they now offer pasta items on their menu. The email (and similar advertising on the company's website) stated "Pasta so good, we changed our name to Pasta Hut!" The name change was a publicity stunt held in conjunction with April Fools' Day
, extending through the month of April, with the company's Dallas headquarters changing its exterior logo to Pasta Hut.
This name change was also used to promote the new Tuscani Pasta line and new Pizza Hut dine-in menu. The first Pasta Hut advertisement has the original Pizza Hut restaurant being imploded, and recreated with a sign saying "Pasta Hut" placed on the building.
, aside from the Pizza Hut restaurants, there is another brand called "PHD - Pizza Delivered Hot by Pizza Hut." This brand is only for food courts at malls and for express delivery. This was created to compete on the "fast food" market while restaurants will concentrate in casual food.
and reduce children's intrinsic interest in reading. However, a study of the program found that participation in the program neither increased nor decreased reading motivation. The program's 25th anniversary was in 2009. Book It! in Australia ceased in 2002 when Pizza Hut in Australia was removing its dine-in stores as Australians opt for take away pizza instead of dine-in.
To meet the Food Standards Agency
2010 target for salt levels in foods, between 2008 and 2010 the company removed over 15% of salt across its menu.
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
chain and international franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
that offers different styles of pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
along with side dish
Side dish
A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.-Common types:...
es including pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
, buffalo wings
Buffalo wings
A Buffalo wing, hot wing or wing is a chicken wing section that is traditionally fried unbreaded and then coated in sauce...
, breadstick
Breadstick
Breadsticks are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry bread originating in Turin and the surrounding area in Italy. They are originally thought to have been created in the 14th century; according to a local tradition, they would be instead invented by a baker in Lanzo Torinese in 1679...
s, and garlic bread
Garlic bread
Garlic bread consists of bread topped with garlic and olive oil or butter. It is then either grilled or broiled until toasted, or baked in an oven....
.
Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company. According to its corporate website, there are more than 6,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States, and more than 5,600 store locations in 94 other countries and territories around the world.
Concept and format
Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...
, with "all-you-can-eat" pizza, salad, bread sticks, and a special pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
. Additionally, Pizza Hut also has a number of other business concepts that are different from the store type; Pizza Hut "Bistro" locations are "Red Roof"s which offer an expanded menu and slightly more upscale options.
"Pizza Hut Express" and "The Hut" locations are fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurants. They offer a limited menu with many products not found at traditional Pizza Huts. These type of stores are often paired in a colocated location with a sibling brand such as Wing Street, KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
or Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
, and are also found on college campuses, food courts, theme parks, and in stores such as Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
.
Traditionally, Pizza Hut has been known for its ambiance as much as pizza. Vintage "Red Roof" locations can be found throughout the United States, and quite a few exist in the UK and Australia. Even so, many such locations offer delivery/carryout service. This building style was common in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The name "Red Roof" is somewhat anachronistic now, since many locations have brown roofs. Dozens of "Red Roofs" have closed or been relocated/rebuilt. Many "Red Roof" branches have beer if not a full bar, music from a jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
, and sometimes an arcade. In the mid 1980s, the company moved into other successful formats including delivery/carryout and the fast food "Express" model.
The oldest continuously operating Pizza Hut in the world is in Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
, in a shopping and tavern district known as Aggieville
Aggieville
Aggieville is the name of six square blocks consisting of college-age oriented bars, restaurants and shops in Manhattan, Kansas, USA.- History :...
near Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
History
Dan and Frank Carney
Dan and Frank Carney are the original founders of Pizza Hut.-External links:* - Interview with Dan Carney from 2002*...
in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
. When a friend suggested opening a pizza parlor, they agreed that the idea could prove successful, and they borrowed $600 from their mother to start a business with partner John Bender. Renting a small building at 503 South Bluff in downtown Wichita and purchasing secondhand equipment to make pizzas, the Carneys and Bender opened the first "Pizza Hut" restaurant; on opening night, they gave pizza away to encourage community interest. They chose the name "Pizza Hut" since the sign they purchased only had enough space for nine characters and spaces. Additional restaurants were opened, with the first franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
unit opening in 1959 in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
. The original Pizza Hut building was later relocated to the Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
campus.
Dan and Frank Carney soon decided that they needed to have a good standard image. The Carney brothers contacted Wichita architect Richard D. Burke, who designed the distinctive mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
shape and standardized layout, hoping to counter competition from Shakey's Pizza
Shakey's Pizza
Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. The chain currently has about 500 stores globally, and about 60 in the United States.-History:...
, a chain that was expanding on the west coast. The franchise network continued to grow through friends and business associates, and by 1964 a unique standardized building appearance and layout was established for franchised and company-owned stores, creating a universal look that customers easily recognized.
By 1972, with 314 stores nationwide, Pizza Hut went public
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
under the stock ticker symbol . In 1978, Pizza Hut was acquired by PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
, who later also bought KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
and Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
. In 1997, the three restaurant chains were spun off into Tricon
Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc. or Yum! is a United States-based Fortune 500 corporation. Yum! operates or licenses Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and WingStreet restaurants worldwide....
, and in 2001 joined with Long John Silver's
Long John Silver's
Long John Silver's, Inc. is a United States-based fast-food restaurant that specializes in seafood. The name and concept were inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's book Treasure Island. Formerly a division of Yum! Brands, Inc., the company was divested to a group of franchisees in 2011.-History:The...
and A&W Restaurants
A&W Restaurants
A&W Restaurants, Inc., is a chain of fast-food restaurants, distinguished by its draft root beer and root beer floats. A&W was arguably the first successful food franchise company, starting franchises in 1921 in California. Today it has franchise locations throughout the world, serving a typical...
to become Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc. or Yum! is a United States-based Fortune 500 corporation. Yum! operates or licenses Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and WingStreet restaurants worldwide....
.
The Pasta Bravo concept was acquired in 2003 from Pasta Bravo, Inc. of Aliso Viejo, Calif for $5 million to pair with Pizza Hut.
Products
In America, Pizza Hut sells "Stuffed Crust" pizza, with the outermost edge wrapped around a cylinder of mozzarella cheese; "Hand-Tossed," more like traditional pizzeria crusts; "Thin 'N Crispy", a thin, crisp dough which was Pizza Hut's original style; "Dippin' Strips pizza", a pizza cut into small strips that can be dipped into a number of sauces; and "The Edge pizza," where the toppings nearly reach to the edge of the pizza. There was also formerly a crust that was not as thick as Pizza Hut's pan pizza, and not as thin as its thin crust. This crust was used on the Full House XL pizza and discontinued in 2007. There are regional differences in the products and bases sold.Pizza Hut experiments with new products frequently, with less successful ones being discontinued. These include the initially popular two-foot by one-foot square cut pizza Bigfoot, the 16" Big New Yorker, made with a sweet sauce, the Chicago Dish Pizza
Chicago-style pizza
Chicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza style developed in Chicago. Chicago-style pizza has a buttery crust up to three inches tall at the edge, slightly higher than the large amounts of cheese and chunky tomato sauce, acting as a large bowl. The term also refers to "stuffed" pizza, another...
and Sicilian pizza
Sicilian pizza
Sicilian pizza refers to the different ways to prepare pizza in Sicily .In the USA, among the Italian American community, the locution sicilian pizza it refers to a particular way to cook the pizza originated from the city of Palermo.-Local pizza in Sicily:In Sicily there are many local ways to...
, the latter also offered in 2006 as Lasagna Pizza. Other products Pizza Hut has offered are the "P'zone", Pizza Hut's version of the calzone
Calzone
A calzone Italian: , "stocking" or "trouser") is a turnover that originates from Italy. It is shaped like a semicircle, made of dough folded over and filled with ingredients common to pizza....
; the Cheesy Bites pizza, similar to the Stuffed Crust pizza except the crust has been divided into 28 bite-sized pieces that can be pulled apart; and the Insider pizza, where a layer of cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
is in between two layers of dough
Dough
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
. Another limited time offer was a Double Deep pizza with double the toppings and 50% more cheese, with the crust wrapped over the top to hold in all the toppings. In 1985 Pizza Hut introduced the Priazzo, a two-crusted Italian pie that resembled a deep-dish pizza. Varieties included Priazzo Milano, a blend of Italian sausage, pepperoni, beef, pork fillings, a hint of bacon, mozzarella and cheddar cheese; Priazzo Florentine, a light blend of five cheeses with ham and a touch of spinach, and Priazzo Roma, stuffed with pepperoni, mushrooms, Italian sausage, pork filling, onions, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The double-crusted pie was topped with a layer of tomato sauce and melted cheese. The Priazzo was introduced by a $15 million advertising campaign, but proved too labor-intensive and was removed from the menu several years later.
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
dinners such as spaghetti
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
and Cavatini – a mixture of Cavatelli
Cavatelli
Cavatelli are a type of pasta. It has two meanings: the most common meaning is small pasta shells that look like miniature hot dog buns. It is similar in shape to casarecci, but shorter in length. The name is less frequently used for a type of dumpling made with ricotta.In Italy, cavatelli...
(shells), Rotini
Rotini
Rotini is a type of helix- or corkscrew-shaped pasta. The name derives from the Italian for twists. It is related to fusilli, but has a tighter helix, i.e. with a smaller pitch. It should not be confused with rotelle ....
(spirals), and Rotelle
Rotelle
Rotelle are a type of pasta resembling wheels with spokes. It is similar to Fiori.The name derives from the Italian word for little wheels...
(wheels).
A new, upscale concept was unveiled in 2004, called Pizza Hut Italian Bistro. Unveiled at fifty locations nationwide, the Bistro is similar to a traditional Pizza Hut, except that new, Italian themed dishes are offered, such as penne
Penne
Penne is a type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces. Penne is the plural form of the Italian penna, deriving from Latin penna . In Italy, penne are produced in two main variants: "penne lisce" and "penne rigate" , the latter having ridges on each penna...
pasta, chicken pomodoro, toasted sandwiches and other foods. Instead of black, white, and red, Bistro locations feature a burgundy and tan motif. Pizza Hut Bistros still serve the chain's traditional pizzas and sides as well. In some cases, Pizza Hut has replaced a "Red Roof" location with the new concept.
Pizza Hut on May 9, 2008, created and sold in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas, "The Natural", featuring organic ingredients. This was discontinued on October 27, 2009 in the Dallas market. It has since launched a nationwide advertising campaign. Also in 2008, Pizza Hut created their biggest pizza ever, the Panormous Pizza.
Pizza Hut introduced stuffed pan pizza on August 23, 2009. Unlike a regular stuffed crust pizza, cheese is not inside the crust, just pressed into the pan crust. Pizza Hut introduced the Big Italy, a pizza that is almost two feet long on August 22, 2010.
In 2010, Pizza Hut came under fire when its supplier of palm oil, Sinar Mas
Sinar Mas Group
Sinar Mas Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia. It was formed in 1962. It has many subsidiaries including Asia Pulp & Paper and palm oil producer PT SMART....
, was exposed to be illegally slashing and burning the Paradise Forests of Indonesia to plant palm oil plantations.
Advertising
Until early 2007, Pizza Hut's main advertising slogan
Advertising slogan
Advertising slogans are short, often memorable phrases used in advertising campaigns. They are claimed to be the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product. A strapline is a British term used as a secondary sentence attached to a brand name...
was "Gather 'round the good stuff", and was "Now You're Eating!" from 2008 to 2009. The advertising slogan is currently "Your Favorites. Your Pizza Hut." Pizza Hut does not have an official international mascot, but at one time, there were commercials in the United States called 'The Pizza Head Show
The Pizza Head Show
The Pizza Head Show was the name of a live action parody show used in Pizza Hut commercials from 1993 to 1997 to advertise their promotions and new kinds of pizza...
.' These commercials ran from 1993 to 1997 and were based loosely on the Mr. Bill shorts from Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in the 1970s. The ads featured a slice of pizza with a face made out of toppings called 'Pizza Head'. In the 1970s Pizza Hut used the signature red roof with a jolly man named "Pizza Hut Pete". Pete was on the bags, cups, balloons and hand puppets for the kids. In Australia during the Mid to late 1990s, the advertising mascot was a delivery boy named Dougie, with boyish good looks who, upon delivering pizza to his father, would hear the catchphrase "Here's a tip: be good to your mother".
Pizza Hut sponsored the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science fiction comedy film and the second installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson...
, and offered a free pair of futuristic sunglasses, known as "Solar Shades", with the purchase of Pizza Hut pizza. Pizza Hut also engaged in product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
within the film itself, having a futuristic version of their logo with their trademarked red hut printed on the side of a mylar dehydrated pizza wrapper in the McFly family dinner scene, and appear on a storefront in Hill Valley in the year 2015.
The 1990 NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Kame Ninja in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in...
, came with a coupon for a free pizza. The game was filled with Pizza Hut advertising (the first ever console video game with product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
) and pizza that would refill the character's life.
In 1994, Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
and ex-wife Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump is a former Olympic athlete, socialite, and fashion model noted for her marriage to mogul Donald Trump.-Early years:...
starred in a commercial. The ending of the commercial showed Ivana Trump asking for the last slice, to which Donald replied, "Actually dear, you're only entitled to half", a play on the couple's recent divorce.
In 1995, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
starred in a Pizza Hut commercial which also featured The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
. Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
also starred in a Pizza Hut commercial the same year, where he boasts that "nobody is more right than me," yet he states that for the first time he will do something wrong, which was to participate in Pizza Hut's then "eating pizza crust first" campaign regarding their stuffed crust pizzas.
Talk show host Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
, co-starred in an ad with American model, Caprice Bourret
Caprice Bourret
Caprice Bourret is an American supermodel, actress, television personality and businesswoman. She currently resides in the United Kingdom where she runs her company By Caprice Lingerie Ltd.- Early life :...
. They were used to advertise the stuffed crust pizza, with Jonathan Ross saying "Stuffed Cwust", to which is a play on Jonathan's pronunciation of 'R's.
Another UK ad shows British Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
driver Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
visit a Pizza Hut restaurant and order a pizza, with famous F1 commentator Murray Walker
Murray Walker
Graeme Murray Walker, OBE is a former Formula One motorsport commentator...
visiting with him, and narrating as though it was a Formula One race. As Hill is about to finish his meal, Walker, in a play on Hill's 1994 & 1995 seasons where he was runner up in the Formula One World Championship both won by Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
, shouts "And Hill finishes second, again!" at which Hill grabs Walker by his shirt and shakes him angrily, Walker proclaiming, in his usual tones, "He's lost it! He's out of control!"
Following England's defeat to Germany on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 96, Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009...
, Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce OBE is an English football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the England national under-21 team and the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team...
and Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...
featured in an advert. The advert shows Southgate wearing a paper bag over his head in shame as he was the one, who missed the crucial penalty against the Germans. Waddle and Pearce, who both missed penalty kicks in Italia 90
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
are ridiculing him, emphasising the word 'miss' at every opportunity. After Southgate finishes his pizza he takes off his paper bag, heads for the door and bangs his head against the wall. Pearce responds with, "this time he's hit the post".
In 1997, former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
starred in a Pizza Hut commercial to raise money for the Perestroyka Archives. In recent years, Pizza Hut has had various celebrity spokespeople, including Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
, the Muppets
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
, and Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
and Murray Walker
Murray Walker
Graeme Murray Walker, OBE is a former Formula One motorsport commentator...
. Recent commercials have Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
providing the voiceover. Also in 1997, Pizza Hut, reunited "greatest of all time boxer" Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
with trainer Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee is an American boxing cornerman. He is best known for his work with Muhammad Ali , and has worked with 15 world boxing champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, José Nápoles, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Carmen Basilio, Luis Rodriguez and Willie Pastrano.-Professional career:Born in...
in a sentimental made for Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
commercial.
In 1999 The Sega developed Dreamcast game, Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi is a sandbox racing video game developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It is the first game in the Crazy Taxi series. The game was first released in arcades in 1999 and was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. Subsequently, it was ported to the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube by...
, Pizza Hut was one of the locations that players were able to drive to and drop off customers. However, in the 2010 re-release of the game for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, all of the product placement, including the Pizza Hut locations were removed.
Pizza Hut sponsored the first space pizza delivery in 2001 to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS), and paid for their logo to appear on a Russian Proton rocket in 2000, which launched the Russian Zvezda module.
January 2003 saw Pizza Hut's Advert's Slogan Called "Eat. Laugh. Share." the Commercials are Created By Head Gear Animation
Head Gear Animation
Head Gear Animation wasfounded in 1997 by creative partners Steve Angel and Julian Grey. Conceived as a small animation shop that provided clever alternatives to purely traditional animation or computer graphics...
as of January 2007 the New Commercial we caled The "4 For All"
At The End of the "Excitement" Commercial. Hew Open and Closes the Pizza Hut Box to reveal an Underwater while saying "¿Se puede tener un Pizza Pan" The Subtitles with a the words "Can you Have a Pan Pizza" in it
Early 2007 saw Pizza Hut move into several more interactive ways of marketing to the consumer. Utilizing mobile phone SMS technology and their MyHut ordering site, they aired several television commercials (commencing just before the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
) containing hidden words that viewers could type into their phones to receive coupons. Other innovative efforts included their "MySpace Ted" campaign, which took advantage of the popularity of social networking, and the burgeoning user-submission marketing movement via their Vice President of Pizza contest.
As of October 2009, Pizza Hut is advertising its WingStreet brand on a nationwide basis, having met its internal requirement of 80% of stores having the product available.
Pasta Hut
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
s to customers advertising that they now offer pasta items on their menu. The email (and similar advertising on the company's website) stated "Pasta so good, we changed our name to Pasta Hut!" The name change was a publicity stunt held in conjunction with April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
, extending through the month of April, with the company's Dallas headquarters changing its exterior logo to Pasta Hut.
This name change was also used to promote the new Tuscani Pasta line and new Pizza Hut dine-in menu. The first Pasta Hut advertisement has the original Pizza Hut restaurant being imploded, and recreated with a sign saying "Pasta Hut" placed on the building.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Pizza Hut announced it would be changing its name to Pasta Hut in October 2008, six months after the US 'April Fool' trial. This was announced as being a temporary name change to reflect the chain's new emphasis on healthier foods. On January 19, 2009, Pizza Hut announced that the Pasta Hut trial had ended and that the names of all stores previously converted to Pasta Hut would be converted back to Pizza Hut, following an online poll in which 81% chose to keep the Pizza Hut name.Costa Rica
In Costa RicaCosta Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, aside from the Pizza Hut restaurants, there is another brand called "PHD - Pizza Delivered Hot by Pizza Hut." This brand is only for food courts at malls and for express delivery. This was created to compete on the "fast food" market while restaurants will concentrate in casual food.
Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, aside from Pizza Hut restaurants, there is a subsidiary brand called "PHD - Pizza Delivered Hot by Pizza Hut," only for food courts at malls and for express delivery. Pizza varieties are changed to suit local tastes; pasta products with similarly Asian tastes are also sold in Indonesia. In Singapore, Pizza Hut have sold a baked rice dish called Curry Zazzle.Sponsorship
- In the early 1990s, as part of PepsiPepsiPepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
Co's sponsorship of The NewsHour with Jim LehrerThe NewsHour with Jim LehrerPBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
(and its former moniker, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour), Pizza Hut was included in the acknowledgment alongside Taco BellTaco BellTaco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
and KFCKFCKFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
, which PepsiCo owned at the time. - In 2000, Pizza Hut was a part-time sponsor of Galaxy Motorsports' #75 Ford in the then NASCAR Winston Cup Series, driven by Wally Dallenbach Jr.
- Pizza Hut was the shirt sponsor of English footballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club Fulham F.C.Fulham F.C.Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
for the 2001–02 seasonFA Premier League 2001-02The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...
. - Terry LabonteTerry LabonteTerrance Lee Labonte is a semi-retired NASCAR driver who occasionally drives in the Sprint Cup Series when called upon and is a two-time Winston Cup and IROC champion. He currently drives the #32 U.S. Chrome Ford for FAS Lane Racing. Labonte was introduced to the sport through his father, who had...
drove selected events with Pizza Hut as the primary sponsor of his #44 car in 2005. - Pizza Hut purchased the naming rightsNaming rightsIn the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
to Major League SoccerMajor League SoccerMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
club FC DallasFC DallasFC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...
' stadium, Pizza Hut ParkPizza Hut ParkPizza Hut Park is a soccer-specific stadium with a 21,193-seat capacity, built and owned by the city of Frisco, Texas. Its primary tenant is Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, which relocated from the Cotton Bowl in central Dallas to the fast-growing suburb...
, prior to its opening in 2005. - In March 2007, Pizza Hut partnered with Verizon WirelessVerizon WirelessCellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
to offer a free LGLG GroupLG Corp. is the second-largest South Korean conglomerate company following Samsung, and it is headquartered in the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. LG produces electronics, chemicals, and telecommunications products and operates subsidiaries like LG Electronics, LG Display,...
mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
with the purchase of a Cheesy Bites Pizza. - Pizza Hut is a sponsor of the Newcastle VipersNewcastle VipersThe Newcastle Vipers were an ice hockey club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Former members of the Elite Ice Hockey League, the club previously held membership in the British National League.- History :...
ice hockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team for the 2007/08 EIHL season in the UK. - Pizza Hut is a sponsor of Children's Joy Foundation In The Philippines.
- Pizza Hut Japan sponsored the anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, with their mascot, Cheese-kun, making cameos throughout the series.
Book It!
Pizza Hut has been a longtime sponsor of the "Book It!" program (started in 1985), which encourages reading in American and Australian schools. Those who read books according to the goal set by the classroom teacher are rewarded with Pizza Hut coupons good for a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza or discounted menu items. In the late 1980s, Pizza Hut threw free pizza parties for classes if all students met their reading goals. The program has been criticized by some psychologists on the grounds that it may lead to overjustificationOverjustification effect
The overjustification effect occurs when an external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task. According to self-perception theory, people pay more attention to the incentive, and less attention to the enjoyment and satisfaction that they receive...
and reduce children's intrinsic interest in reading. However, a study of the program found that participation in the program neither increased nor decreased reading motivation. The program's 25th anniversary was in 2009. Book It! in Australia ceased in 2002 when Pizza Hut in Australia was removing its dine-in stores as Australians opt for take away pizza instead of dine-in.
Nutrition
In the UK, Pizza Hut was criticised in 2007 for the high salt content of its meals, some of which were found to contain more than twice the daily recommended amount of salt for an adult. The meats that consumers demand for pizza toppings (pepperoni, sausage, bacon, etc.) are, likewise, salty and fatty meats.To meet the Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
2010 target for salt levels in foods, between 2008 and 2010 the company removed over 15% of salt across its menu.