Pizza Hut and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will join forces on a summer-long promotion celebrating the return of an all-time favorite Pizza Hut pizza, Cheesy Bites, and the arrival of the new movie featuring the pizza-loving Turtle brothers, appearing in theaters nationwide on August 8 from Paramount Pictures.
The pizza/movie pact revives a long-standing connection between the pizza company and the Turtles brand, going back decades to the previous animated films, live concerts, and packaging promotions. Pizza Hut will offer a large one-topping Cheesy Bites pizza for $11.99 beginning July 7 as the featured product during the promotion.
“There’s no denying the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ love of pizza, which is one of the many reasons it fits having our brand fuel their hunger in the upcoming film,” says Carrie Walsh, chief marketing officer for Pizza Hut. “Coupling the popularity of the Ninja Turtles to our pizza innovation, we’re thrilled to be bringing back a fan favorite in Cheesy Bites Pizza that combines the great pizza taste with a little ‘food fun’ for fans to enjoy.”
The 2014 partnership with the Pizza Hut and the Ninja Turtles live-action film delivers a high-tech offering to engage customers, including augmented reality, digital videos, hidden menus, custom pizza boxes, and even a throwback to a fan favorite: the Pizza Thrower vehicle at live events.
The Pizza Hut campaign around the big screen return of the Turtles will be supported with a custom national television spot featuring the famous Turtles invading a Pizza Hut test kitchen.
“We just couldn’t seem to keep the Turtles from devouring all the Pizza Hut pizza on set,” says LeeAnne Stables, executive vice president of marketing partnerships at Paramount Pictures. “This national partnership delivers so many cool and innovative ways for Ninja Turtle fans to take part in the excitement around the film release”.
To kick off the promotion, Pizza Hut will host a #TBTMNT (Throwback Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) promotion on its Twitter and Instagram channels where fans are encouraged to post their old Turtle swag or Turtle costumes for chances to win gift cards and other prizes.
Leading up to the premiere of the Ninja Turtles movie, fans can learn the turtle way to cut a pizza “Katana Style” via a “Katana Cut” training video. Fans will then be able to order a pizza cut this way: in four Ninja Turtle–size slices to draw a closer experience to the film.
In addition, the box topper for Cheesy Bites pizzas will feature an augmented reality experience for customers at home. Fans will have a chance to unlock extended footage from the movie and additional content through an interactive AR experience.
All digital assets will also be housed on a new Tumblr page hosted by Pizza Hut. The page will provide an arena for fans of pizza and the Ninja Turtles to showcase memories and stories related to the Turtles and Pizza Hut for other enthusiasts around the world to enjoy.
While all the Turtles have a love of pizza, they each have their own favorite. To highlight this, Pizza Hut will include an exclusive, online-only hidden menu that features unique Cheesy Bites Pizza recipes inspired by the personality of each Ninja Turtle. The recipes are available for $13.99.
Donatello’s Favorite Pizza includes chicken, mushroom, green pepper, and tomatoes; Leonardo’ s Favorite Pizza includes onions, black olives, green pepper, and mushrooms; Michelangelo’ s Favorite Pizza includes pepperoni, ham, pineapple, and jalapeño; and Raphael’s Favorite Pizza includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, and beef.
Pizza Hut will reprise a legendary toy figure and fan favorite by unveiling a life-size version of the Pizza Hut Pizza Thrower, which will make appearances at live events. Fans will be able to take charge of the iconic vehicle and fire Cheesy Bites Pizza props at targets, including movie bad guys like Shredder and the Foot Clan, and also enjoy a sampling of Cheesy Bites Pizza.
