November 24, 2014

Pizza Hut Dishes Up a New Line of Pizzas

by Stites & Harbison, PLLC


I don't often eat pizza, but when I do, I eat Pizza Hut. No, seriously. Gorging on pizza doesn't really fit with my yoga/juicing lifestyle, but every so often I find it hard to resist a good stuffed-crust pizza. Pizza Hut is now making it even harder for me to resist pizza with its recent rebrand. Pizza Hut is tossing out the oozing cheese and greasy pepperonis for spicy sriracha and peruvian cherry peppers. This rebrand has taken Pizza Hut from run-of-the-mill to (dare I say) healthy and eclectic. Practically overnight, Pizza Hut unveiled its "Flavor of Now" campaign and the chain revamped its logo, packaging, server uniforms, and website.

Pizza Hut Header1

Last Wednesday, Pizza Hut began rolling out 10 new crust flavors, six new sauce choices, five new "premium" toppings, and five "drizzles." Honey sriracha and buffalo are among the favorite new flavors, and these new premium toppings include spinach and banana peppers.

Honey Siracha

As if this wasn't enough, Pizza Hut is lanuching a line of "Skinny Slice" pizzas that average 210 calories a slice. The pizza will even be delivered in a new box with a new logo.

Pizza Hut Box

Pizza Hut is currently testing two of these "Skinny Slice" pizzas in 47 restaurants in two different test markets: Toledo, Ohio and West Palm Beach, Fl. If only Pizza Hut was testing in Alexandria, VA... Not surprisingly, the target customer for the "Skinny Slice" is one like me -- a customer who might not be including pizza in their regular choice of meals. The "Skinny Slice" is getting lots of traction via social media with the slogan, "All the taste and flavor that you love, but now with fewer calories."

Skinny Bitch Pizza

But wait...there's more! As if this rebrand couldn't get any better, Pizza Hut has also introduced puns to the menu, and dishes up pizzas with names like "Curried Away," "Cock-a-Doodle Bacon," and "Skinny Beach." Who doesn't appreciate a good pizza name pun? This rebrand is the biggest rebrand in Pizza Hut's history and is aimed to give Pizza Hut's business a boost. Yum Brands CEO David Novak stated that Pizza Hut "should have a strong 2015 led by an expected U.S. turnaround," and the turnaround plan includes marketing that will help Pizza Hut to "better connect with millennials" and "reinforce Pizza Hut's leadership, quality, innovation and superior value." While I have yet to try the "Skinny Luau" or the "Old Fashioned Meatbrawl," this millennial is already quite pleased.

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