Have you eaten food recently? Was that food vaguely Italian? Be warned: you might have accidentally appeared in the next Pizza Hut commercial.
This is at least the second in Pizza Hut's series of ads in which they trick people into eating their food, the first being this one. Does the premise of this ad seem a little strange to you? That premise being "Our pizza was nasty and artificial, but now it's like, natural. Which means it's good." Doesn't this kind of make you feel bad for ever having ordered from Pizza Hut? "Jesus, did I really consume that disgusting shit?" I mean, "Now you're eating?" Only now am I eating? So, what was I doing the last time I had Pizza Hut? I guess I wasn't eating. I still know what I was doing three hours later, though.
Does "all-natural" pepperoni and sauce really constitute a "totally new way" to make pizza, by the way? It's not like the cheese is made from yak's milk or the pizza baked in a clay oven for six hours. It's pizza, but you made the sauce with like two different ingredients. I think that's worth some sort of Dateline exposé.
All-natural pizza from Pizza Hut is like the all-natural Cheetos they started selling about 5 years ago. If I want something all-natural, I'll go somewhere like Whole Foods where I'd actually believe I was getting all-natural product. Pizza Hut and Cheetos satisfy a different kind of hunger.
ReplyDeleteThese hidden camera commercials seem like a clever idea to me at first, but then I think about how annoyed I'd be if I were one of the people in this commercial. It must be a tough sell by the marketing folks after the reveal, "Hey, do you mind if we use your likeness in a commercial to make you look like an ass?" Just rubs me the wrong way.
Not that it's as much of an issue with these ads compared to the BK Whopper virgin campaign, but are these actually people eating what they think is a gourmet pizza, or is everyone an actor?
ReplyDeleteJust curious. But it reminds me of when McDonalds started claiming that their chicken mcnuggets were now made with real white meat! Or something like that.... made me wonder if all those years I'd been eating fake dark meat, or some other "meat" product.
As always, keep up the great work!
Pizza Hut certainly claims they're real people. Let's assume they are - is it really that surprising that a group of people who we know nothing about might think that Pizza Hut tastes good? There are certainly plenty of people in the world right now who think Pizza Hut is delicious and would have no idea what "gourmet" pizza even was.
ReplyDeleteThink about the Tuscani pasta ad. I'm sure I don't have the world's most sophisticated palate, but Tuscani pasta is stunningly mediocre. Yet people in that ad are praising it as fantastic as though it's handmade pasta from a Tuscan kitchen. The only conclusion I can draw from that is that these people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. Why should we have any reason to trust "real people" anyway? It's not like Pizza Hut would leave in the guy who said he thought it sucked. It's as edited as anything else. If they had to hold five "pasta tastings" before they got good pull quotes, I'm sure they would have.
The most annoying thing about these commercials is the "reveal", which is so staged and phony looking that I have no idea how anyone could find it compelling. Across the spectrum of performances by the presenters in these ads, the delivery of the reveal line is somehow identical. "The [food currently being consumed] is from... PIZZA HUT!" And the sheer delight of the presenters while they speak the line is flat-out creepy. It's like they're either slavish devotees of Pizza Hut, or they simply revel in tricking a group of clueless guinea pigs. The one where the woman prepares pizza for guests at her party is especially bad about this. The whole thing could pass for an audition for some awful supervillian concept, the "Pizza Trickster" or something.
ReplyDeletelol @ TRichter's comment, that was great
ReplyDelete"All natural" is one of those great advertising phrases that means almost nothing. Arsenic is all natural. It sure as hell doesn't mean it's good for you.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are all failing to consider is that all of us have been guilty of saying our food was "ok" so as to not ruin an otherwise pleasant social situation, even though inside we were thinking---"damn, this food isn't quite hot enough" or "they forgot my onions" or" "I asked for meduium rare, not crucified." It's social tact and grace--not any reflection on the quality of the food.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying that Pizza Hut wants me to think, "I bet that guy doesn't really like that shit, he's probably just saying it to be polite?" Assuming your theory is true, it's only further validation of my point that this is a stupid ad and that the opinions of the people in it are not to be trusted.
ReplyDeleteIm just saying that filming people talking to themselves about how the meal was good only shows that people hate to be "buzzkills" and will, at times, wait until after the meal to critique or complain. As a former server I am absolutely sure of this fact. And so, yeah, I agree---very stupid advertising.
ReplyDeleteI just like how the one girl describes the pizza as "vivacious"
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