Pizza: Meet Pasta

If these two italian foods were strangers somehow, let them be strangers no longer. In an attempt to create buzz about their new pasta dishes, Pizza Hut has launched a huge ad campaign in which the company will "change" its name to "Pasta Hut"... right around April Fools. Hmmm... coincidence? I think not.

Well... now I can say that I don't think it was a coincidence, as opposed to last night. I admit - I was trapped into thinking Pizza Hut will actually change its name for good to "Pasta Hut." Hey, the advertisement I saw in an e-mail looked pretty legit, and it came from my mom (the fact that it said April 1st on it did not seem to phase me... seemed like a minor detail at the time). Later on, however, I come to find out my mom actually thought it was real, as well... who received the e-mail from my dad, who thought it was also real. The e-mail forwarding of idiots at its best. Oh, the irony.

While Pizza Hut is embarking on a large-scale advertising campaign promoting this thing called "Pasta Hut," they are not actually changing their name for good - they are indeed changing signage and billboards, coupled with ad spots nation-wide. However, the campaign is intended to simply raise awareness of Pizza Hut's new pasta line (TWO different kinds of pastas... no wonder they needed something really clever). After about a month or so, the pasta hut signage should go away.. or so we think.

From a marketing standpoint, I thought it was a clever idea. Pizza sales have went down over the years, and Pizza Hut wants to promote themselves more as a fast-casual restaurant with more variety than ever. The only concern I have is how they will keep the pasta warm when delivering it to eager, hungry customers. Yes, they want to be the first pizza chain to deliver pasta. Warm, gooey mush. Yum.

Whether the whole pasta delivery routine works out or not isn't the point to all of this, though. The fact of the matter is, Pizza Hut wanted to catch peoples' attention - in a big way. I'm not so sure about other people, but I definitely know the planning of the campaign around April Fools made me that much more interested in Pizza Hut.

As a matter of fact, that might have been the first time I ever visted their web site. Did the pasta pictures look good? Kind of. Will I ever try it? Maybe. But the point is that it intrigued me enough to go look for the ever-elusive "Pasta Hut."

Never had I been so interested in pizza and pasta. Pizza has now officially met pasta.