Thursday, November 20, 2014

12240: Pizza Hut Haters Unite!

Pizza Hut is launching its revitalized menu and brand with a painfully long video featuring allegedly real Italians pooh-poohing the new pies. The big idea was to let people with experience making authentic pizza judge the fresh offerings. Um, does anyone connect Pizza Hut’s fare with anything from Italy? This concept is the equivalent of asking Latinos weigh in on Taco Bell foodstuff. Additionally, the heavy stereotyping is questionable. Granted, Pizza Hut’s cartoonish characters may not be as bad as the mobster clichés once presented by Godfather’s Pizza, but is it really necessary to push such imagery? White advertising agency Deutsch LA—which landed the account sans a review—is no stranger to cultural cluelessness. The shop showed a Caucasian speaking like a Jamaican for Volkswagen and positioned Dr. Pepper Ten as a males-only soft drink. Plus, agency figurehead Donny Deutsch has made multiple appearances in this blog’s “C’mon White Man!” series. Pizza Hut should invite real advertising professionals to critique the Deutsch LA work. Or better yet, just hire real advertising professionals next time.

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