The guys who invented the Stuffed Crust Pizza (well, their precursors did) have come up with a new way to glorify the Pizza and keep their brand image above the crowd, just when you thought they had run out of clever, new marketing ideas. But it still shows their desperation…
I recently posted a treatise about the growing desperation of fast Food Marketing folks who seemed to have run out of inspiration when they needed it the most: The midst of a deepening pandemic which had just entered what the experts were officially calling ‘Wave 3’.
The medicos announced just before Christmas that they had discovered COVID-19 actually gets into your brain – something that was totally unexpected, given its primary identity as a respiratory virus – one that effects your cardio-pulmonary system. Nevertheless, the brain angle is being used to explain some of the more mysterious side effects of the disease and why it seems to effect the otherwise most-healthy of its victims most seriously. I fear some of the Pizza guys and gals have COVID on the brain…
Latest Crust innovation
It’s like Pizza Hut invited magician David Copperfield (famous for his ‘disappearing’ stunts) to be artist in residence. The result? A Pie-less Pizza. Well, okay. That may be a bit of an exaggeration.
Back in 1995, The Hut preméred the Stuffed Crust Pizza – a truly remarkable innovation at that time. It gave The Hut the lead in the Pizza parlour race for months thereafter and became an international sensation. Not too long after it appeared, people started eating their crusts first just because the straight Cheese-and-Bread combo was so irresistible. Over the years, several further variations on the theme were tried, all to similar acclaim.
Now, the ulimate…
Pizza Hut has launched a new Stuffed Crust for a limited time. And this time, it’s the bare minimalist approach. The new Stuffed Crust is a Cheese-filled rolled rim surrounding… Nothing. That’s right. It’s called Nothing But Stuffed Crust (NBSC) (not the most creative name) and will be available for a limited tie in the Los Angeles area. Will it become part of the permanent menu chain wide? Who knows? But I have a feeling that, if it sells well enough for long enough during the test, it just might.
If you didn’t know what to expect, walked into a Glendale, CA, Hut and just tossed over the usual shorthand order – “Gimme the Stuffed Crust.” – and got back an NBSC, you’d be totally confused!
Anyway, it’s the first move in what could be a fast Food Pizza niche marketing chess match which could last months. And who knows what might come next, in response to the Hut’s opening move? Whatever it may be, I really don’t think it will be enough to occupy consumers’ laboured minds until the vaccination programs catch up with the clamouring demand and the lock downs are finally called off.
But I will admit, it’s a good enough stunt to rate a standalone post here on the FFB. And a promise to keep our eyws on developments as they happen…
~ Maggie J.