Dive Brief:

• Pizza Hut is turning TikTok content into real-world currency via a promotion running in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to details shared with Marketing Dive.
• The “Pay With Your Trend” promotion tasks consumers with ordering a My Box meal from Pizza Hut UAE before filming a creative video of themselves featuring a TikTok trend and the My Box meal. After posting the video and tagging the brand, Pizza Hut will send a one-time promo code on TikTok that can be redeemed for a free My Box meal.
• The limited-time promotion leans heavily into promoting Pizza Hut’s customizable My Box offering. The effort also follows a number of other novelty marketing plays from the Pizza Hut brand more broadly and signals how advertisers are continuing to lean into TikTok hype.  

Dive Insight: 

Content creators and influencers are one of the most popular areas of mobile marketing these days, and Pizza Hut is democratizing the space with this latest promotion, giving everyone a chance to reap the benefits of content creation.  

“Social media is quite literally becoming a currency in today’s world. So far, it’s been accessible only to those who have a large following. With this promotion, we’re opening it up for everyone and anyone,” said Ahmed Sabri, marketing lead at Pizza Hut Middle East & Pakistan, in a statement provided to Marketing Dive. 

The “Pay With Your Trend” promo is connected to the QSR chain’s My Box product, which allows customers to create a box of their favorite menu items from the chain’s choices. For the new promo, consumers are encouraged to create content that follows a current social media trend and includes a My Box within the content. Those who create the video and tag the brand (@PizzaHutUAE) and use the hashtag #YourTermsYourConditions on TikTok will get a promo code via direct message that can be redeemed for another My Box meal.

Pizza Hut’s My Box product was introduced in the Middle East market in 2019 as a way to gain market share from QSR competitors like Burger King and KFC, which had been offering value meals at a similar price point. While pizza itself is generally a shared food, people have strong preferences about what they like, so the My Box offering enabled consumers to customize their individual orders from Pizza Hut to have a small personalized pizza along with two sides from the chain’s menu.  

The company expanded the My Box offerings last year with a campaign that introduced the idea of ordering under “Your Terms, Your Conditions.” That campaign’s hashtag is carried over for the “Pay With Your Trend” promo. The latest effort launched in the UAE in August and will expand throughout the Middle East and North Africa through the coming months, according to a company representative.  

Beyond the UAE, Pizza Hut has been known for its novelty marketing plays. In May, the brand promoted its new Cheeseburger Melt by having delivery drivers appear at burger-chain drive-thrus in Chicago and Miami (the headquarters of McDonald’s and Burger King, respectively). The drivers’ cars had a QR code on the back windows and a message asking consumers if they wanted a better burger. Prior, Pizza Hut launched a “Goodbye Pies” promotion ahead of Valentine’s Day to promote its new Hot Honey pizza.