Not since the “I can’t believe it’s not butter” ads with Fabio have we seen such trickeration in the marketing of food.
Pizza Hut has been running these commercials in which the surprise is that you’re eating Pizza Hut food and not the food of the restaurant you’re sitting in. The ad campaign started with Tuscani pasta and now also includes wings from “wing street.” People walk into a restaurant, order (from what I imagine is set up as some sort of special menu) and then huzzah! they’re elated that they’re actually eating Pizza Hut and it’s not horrible.
Not that Pizza Hut is listening, but if it were, some thoughts:
Pizza Hut,
a) you better not charge me the menu price for the restaurant I’m actually in, and
b) it’s our anniversary, I made reservations for this place and we’re eating Pizza Hut pasta. This is a problem. Fix it.
I’m not usually a fan of surprises. The kinds of surprises I like are limited. Here’s a contrasting pair. You guess which one I’d like.
A letter from Citibank explaining that recent financial restructuring means my student loan balance has been forgiven.
A guy in a Pizza Hut trucker hat running out of the kitchen at the restaurant at which I’m eating, screaming “You’ve been punk’d!”
It’s like this, Hut (can I call you “Hut?”). If your approach is “if we told you it was The Hut, you’d think it sucked, so we lied to you, with the hope that we could avoid the stigma of such a presumption,” well, I think your ad council sucks.
But I guess it takes diff’rent strokes to feed the world, Hut. What might be right for some, may not be right for me.1 And I suppose I shouldn’t judge you for aiming for the market of people who love putting unidentified objects in their mouths just because I like to keep my ingestion honest.
Pizza Hut: it’s not just on purpose anymore.
_____________
1They’ll have theirs, you’ll have yours and I’ll have mine. And my stomach will be fine.
I always laugh at those commercials because they say “These are real people eating pasta” or something. They never say they’re not real people who are actors.
Haha. Right. They seem to find a way to leave that detail out.
I would totally love a surprise deep dish pizza though. That shit is deeeelish.
Deep dish is its own exception-carrying beast.
Why are they going out and making pasta and wings when they are called, yanno, PIZZA Hut? Just sayin.
They want to rule the world.
Oh no, they changed their name to The Hut (for real). It’s on their boxes and shit. But I (am totally embarassed to admit) that I kind of like their pastas.
They’re calling themselves “The Hut” nowadays to avoid the stigma of just having pizza. That in and of itself is a travesty.
Wait. They’re really using “The Hut?” That’s amazing (in the worst kind of way).
Stuffed crust pizza is my (fatty) guilty pleasure. But don’t serve it to me pretending it’s gourmet.
Actually, I don’t think that’s even possible.
Oh! Those stuffed crust/jackpot commercials with Jim Breuer. Cannot stand those.
Pizza Hut kind of disgusts me. Therefore, their commercials disgust me.
This post didn’t disgust me, though. Hmm. Maybe you should join the Hut’s PR team and set things straight over there.
I would love to be on someone’s PR team like that. It would be a new world order, except, you know, figuratively and not in the geopolitically inappropriate way.
Let me just ask you this. Have you ever actually HAD WingStreet wings?
No?
Because they suck. A lot.
If they served that to me in another restaurant, I would be up in the manager’s face asking for my money back. Which, I guess, is why they didn’t cast me in the commercials.
This is what I’m guessing. Exactly. That you’d be like, “I ordered the pesto and penne and got what? And I paid how much?” Not, like Patrick said, that anyone would be applauding.
It’s like you’re in my head, get out! I pointed out every single one of these consistencies the first time I saw one of those Tuscani pasta commercials.
I would like your thoughts on the concept of Pepsi Max, “the first diet cola…for men!” Ready, go.
I do not drink diet cola. But not because I’m a dude. Because it tastes like caramelized pigeon tears, a flavor I am all too familiar with. So Pepsi Max has always just sounded like more of the same; except I bet it’s got a little more salt or something.
I love how in the early versions of the ad the crowd starts applauding- really? You really think that’s amazing?
I know. There’s that one guy who’s like “Ooh, so much flavor!” It’s salt, dude. Salt.
Three letters.
L.
O.
L.
seriously. if the only way they can get people to eat their food is to TRICK them into eating it? they’ve got bigger problems.
It terrifies me when I see the disclaimer that says “These are real people, not actors.”
You better hope you’re paying them as though they were, or you’re gonna have a riot on your hands..
Call me a spoilsport, but I think Pizza Hut should stick with pizza. We really don’t need more bland, mushy pasta served with the same boring three sauces that they already serve at a dozen shitty chain restaurants.
Chris Farley sketch, anyone?
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4154/saturday-night-live-schillervision-hidden-camera
Yeah, I’d being throwing a few left hooks if someone screwed with my dinner.
You just don’t mess with my food. EVER.
It isn’t safe.
Exactly. Just don’t surprise me. Ask me to eat Pizza Hut for free? Sure. Let’s do it.
Listen, have you had any of the Tuscani pastas? Because if you had, you’d eat your words. That bacon mac is to die for. Ain’t no trickeration in that, son.
I haven’t. Also, your use of “son” was perfect.
I wish someone would just come up to me and say “guess what? you can go home! surprise!”
now that would be awesome.
I’d take that today. Right now, even.