Dive Brief:
- Pizza Hut and Yahoo have teamed up for a digital game on Yahoo Sports called Squares Pick 'Em, per a joint press release. The game can be played on desktop and on mobile devices and is billed as a first for letting football fans play along with the big game.
- Participants in Squares Pick 'Em invite friends who each predict which square on a 10x10 grid will reflect the score at the end of each quarter of the Super Bowl.
- "The entire sports viewing occasion has changed, with digital engagement being as much a part of it as the game itself, which is why we’re excited to be part of the launch for this new digital game from Yahoo Sports," said David Daniels, VP of advertising and media at Pizza Hut, in the press release.
Dive Insight:
As Daniels' alluded to, the game is an interesting second screen campaign for Pizza Hut. The press release pointed out that the Super Bowl is Pizza Hut’s busiest day of the year and offering a digitized version of the popular scoring grid game is a way to get the brand in front an engaged audience.
Although the Squares Pick 'Em stipulates it's for entertainment purposes only, and the release states that the winner of each quarter only wins "ultimate bragging rights," scoring grids are a popular way for office pools and local watering holes to let people engage in low-level gambling by charging for each of the 100 scoring squares. The Pizza Hut/Yahoo game obviously doesn't encourage this, but it does help automate the process and put it on the web, not unlike online versions of March Madness brackets during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Games, in general, seem to be popular with chain restaurants this year. Chipotle recently teamed with Avocados from Mexico for a "Cado Crusher" mobile game that gives players free chips and guacamole with the purchase of an entree through Feb. 7. Like Pizza Hut, Chipotle is likely hoping that promotion will play into Super Bowl viewing party snack plans.
