Fine Dining At Pizza Hut

Adland has posted an article about Pizza Hut’s recent “fake restaurant” campaign, in which they serve their pasta in a fine dining environment, and then shock satisfied customers by revealing where the food actually came from.

There are really two implications here, one much more interesting than the other. The first is that Pizza Hut pasta is just as good as pasta you’d find at an expensive restaurant. This, of course, is the implication that consumers are expected to focus on.

The second implication is that consumers can’t tell the difference between a product and a brand. And while most people don’t have the vocabulary to describe the difference, I would argue that they can still tell. The product is the pasta itself. The brand is the idea of Pizza Hut Pasta. By definition (and by design), the brand is more complex and nuanced than the product. The brand ensures that when you think of Pizza Hut, you think of the shingled pyramid roof, the dining room with Parmesan and hot pepper shakers on all the tables, the selection of soft drinks (all Pepsi products, of course), the salad bar heavy on garbanzos, the uniforms…

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