Dive Brief:
- Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut is giving away free pizza for a year and tickets to next year's Super Bowl to the parents of the first baby born after kickoff of this year's championship game, the company announced.
- Parents can enter by posting a photo on Twitter of their new baby including the exact time of birth, tagging @PizzaHut and using hashtags #PizzaHutSpecialDelivery and #Promotion.
- Pizza Hut is also making free pizza deliveries to Boston and Los Angeles area hospitals. The brand says it will bring pizzas directly to families getting ready for their baby's delivery to "ease the FOMO the soon-to-be-parents will likely experience on Super Bowl Sunday," since they will likely miss the game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. The brand is also hosting special brand experiences for fans in Atlanta on game day.
Dive Insight:
Offering free Super Bowl tickets and pizza for a year, which Pizza Hut says will help "fuel them through 365 sleepness nights," is part of the brand's promise to "overdeliver" for its first year as the official pizza sponsor of the NFL, in terms of creating memorable experiences for football fans. The pizza chain took over the role last year after the embattled Papa John's stepped aside. Pizza Hut also recently launched the Overdeliver campaign, which included a 20% discount on NFLShop.com for Hut Rewards members ordering meals on Super Bowl Sunday, as well as a rebrand to Pizza Hut Hut this week on its website, social channels and at an Atlanta location.
Pizza Hut appears to be taking its commitment to "overdeliver" seriously and is going all out for its Super Bowl push to connect with sports fans and drive sales on one of the biggest pizza-ordering days of the year. Along with the pizza and ticket giveaway for new parents, Pizza Hut unveiled a series of TV spots, two of which will debut on game day. The ads depict Abe Lincoln, "Mr. Five Dollar Bill," as a modern family man who hypes up Pizza Hut's $5 menu items and humorously tries to impress his family and friends. Pizza Hut also teamed up with Pepsi on a Super Bowl sweepstakes to give fans the chance to win a trip to the big game and a chance to get on the field for the halftime show. Fans could enter by purchasing limited-edition Pepsi four-pack carriers at Pizza Hut locations and entering a code online or by sharing their "homegate"photos on social media.
Marketing stunts are becoming a regular trend for fast food and restaurant chains to drive social media buzz. Pizza Hut isn't alone in attempting to help out new parents with freebies in exchange for some brand engagement. While Pizza Hut only asked for baby pictures on Twitter, KFC recently took things further by contributing $11,000 to the college fund of the first baby named Harland, after the brand's founder Colonel Harland Sanders, to be born on Sept. 9, the Colonel’s birthday.
