A Homesick Alien Stars in Droga5's First Work for Pizza Hut

A Severely Injured Man Also Appears in Another Spot From 'No One OutPizzas the Hut' Campaign

Published On
Sep 22, 2016

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A homesick alien and a severely injured man are ready to deliver a new message: "No One OutPizzas the Hut."

The latest tagline for the largest pizza chain appears in a campaign debuting Thursday that marks Pizza Hut's first work from Droga5.

"Pizza Hut makes the best pizza in the entire universe, but they won't tell you that," the homesick alien says in 30-second and 60-second (see above) commercials. In another spot, a man in a full body cast implores a Pizza Hut worker to "eat every slice like it's your last!"

The TV spots were directed by Adam & Dave via Arts & Sciences, with tabletop by Trevor Shepard out of Woodshop. They center around the chain's latest stuffed crust marvel, pizza with a crust stuffed with cheese meant to resemble a grilled cheese sandwich.

"The grilled cheese stuffed crust is a product that is out of this world. It is that good," said David Timm, Pizza Hut's U.S. chief marketing officer. "So why wouldn't you have an alien to be able to say it's the best in the universe?"

Radio commercials include a romance novelist bragging about the chain's "seductive pizzas" and a man ready to be rescued from Mt. Everest who longs for the warmth of two Meat Lovers pizzas.

The campaign still includes pricing details, but aims to make the products the focus rather than drilling in on convenience, technology and value, which have all gotten more attention across the broader pizza category, Mr. Timm said. "We feel that we are the brand that has the right to really champion and hero the pizza again," he said.

Pizza Hut, owned by Yum Brands, brought on Droga5 as its lead creative agency in May after working with Deutsch since the summer of 2014.

Pizza Hut's U.S. same-store sales rose just 1% in the second quarter after a 5% jump in the first quarter. In July, Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed attributed some of the slower growth to competitors responding to the chain's first-quarter strength with more aggressive promotions. At that time, Mr. Creed mentioned that Pizza Hut was working with a new advertising agency and said: "I think the Pizza Hut team would agree we can do a better job of communicating both better and easy."

Scott Bell, group creative director at Droga5, said the new tagline, "No One OutPizzas the Hut," was part of the agency's pitch.

The idea to use others to brag about the product, including the alien and the injured man, ties into the idea that "they really truly are a very humble company" and would not boast about the products themselves, Mr. Bell said. Using characters gives the brand the chance to let someone else do the bragging.

For now, TV is the main focus, along with radio spots. Social and digital elements may follow.

(Before you ask, we did: Dom DeLuise's Pizza the Hutt from 1987's "Spaceballs" was not an inspiration for the alien's love for pizza, Mr. Bell said.)

This story originally appeared on Adage.com.

Credits

Date
Sep 22, 2016
Brand :
Pizza Hut
Client :
Pizza Hut
Agency :
Droga5-New York
Chairperson :
David Droga
Chief Creative Officer :
Ted Royer
Group Creative Director :
Scott Bell
Creative Director :
Jillian Goger
Creative Director :
Matt Swinburne
Copywriter :
Conor Dooley
Copywriter :
Craig Gerringer
Copywriter :
Eric Johnson
Art Director :
Conner Tobiason
Design Director :
Devin Croda
Design Director :
Rich Greco
Junior Designer :
Jessica Trombatore
Chief Creative Officer :
Sally-Ann Dale
Executive Broadcast Producer :
Rebecca Wilmer
Associate Broadcast Producer :
Jamil McGinnis
Director, Integrated Production Business Affairs :
Dianne Richter
Integrated Production Business Manager :
Bryan Cosgrove
Music Supervisor :
Mike Ladman
Music Supervisor :
Ryan Barkan
Global Chief Strategy Officer :
Jonny Bauer
Group Director, Strategy :
Ramon Jimenez
Director, Strategy :
Ben Brown
Group Communications Strategist :
Brian Nguyen
Senior Communications Strategist :
Samantha Sutantio
Strategist :
PJ Mongell
Data Strategy Director :
Lily Ng
Data Strategist :
Christina Fieni
Executive Group Director :
Brett Edgar
Account Director :
Megan Gokey
Account Manager :
Lucie Kittel
Associate Account Manager :
Jake Thelen
Project Manager :
Andrea Verenes
Chief Brand and Concept Officer :
Jeff Fox
Chief Marketing Officer :
David Timm
Director, Media and Data Strategy :
David Daniels
Advertising Director :
Nichole Dreyer
Associate Advertising Manager :
Amanda West
Production Company :
Arts & Sciences
Director :
Adam & Dave
Director, Photography :
Toby Irwin
Executive Producer :
Marc Marrie
Managing Director :
Mal Ward
Head of Production :
Christa Skotland
Producer :
Pat Harris
Production Company :
Woodshop Studios
Director :
Trevor Shepard
Executive Producer :
Sam Swisher
Producer :
Dan Marcus
Editorial Company :
Arcade Editorial
Editor :
Greg Scruton
Assistant Editor :
Fernando Raigoza Jr.
Executive Producer :
Sila Soyer
Producer :
Alexa Atkin
Post Production :
MPC
Visual Effects Executive Producer :
Camilla De Biaggi
Executive Producer of Color :
Dani Zeitlin
Senior Producer :
Elissa Norman
Music :
Pulse Music
Executive Producer :
Dan Kuby
Composer :
Danny Bensi
Composer :
Saunder Jurriaans
Music :
APM Music
Sound Director :
Sonic Union
Mixer :
Paul Weiss
Producer :
Pat Sullivan

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