BRAND CAMPAIGNS

Pizza chain offers a Goodbye Pie to help pre-Valentine’s breakups

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

Pre-Valentine’s Day relationship breakups are a big deal. Now you can do it remotely while sending your ex a pizza as a consolation.

As we head into Valentine’s Day tomorrow (Wednesday, 14 February), marketing teams around the world have been honing their campaigns to take advantage of the ‘day of love’. But the team at Pizza Hut in the US has adopted a slightly different approach to what is supposed to be a time of great romance.

The Goodbye Pie avoids awkward breakup conversations. Photo: Pizza Hut

In looking for a unique angle, the Pizza Hut marketing team discovered that the days leading up to Valentine’s Day are often filled with heartbreak, as couples choose to rather go their separate ways ahead of 14 February.

“Research shows it’s actually a holiday centred around the most heartbreak, with 45% of people agreeing it’s better to do the deed right before the holiday itself,” the company says in a media statement. “There’s even a phenomenon called ‘Red Tuesday’, which is the Tuesday before Valentine’s Day, where people break up most often in the year.”

Today is, of course, Red Tuesday. In three US cities claimed to be notorious for such heartbreaks – New York, Chicago and Miami – the fast-food chain has launched a limited-edition Hot Honey ‘Goodbye Pie’ to help deliver spicy news in a sweet way to your (soon to be ex) sweetheart.

Avoid that awkward breakup conversation

Residents in the three cities can enter a competition to have a Goodbye Pie delivered to the person they are breaking up with. Pizza Hut says this is a good way to “ditch that awkward breakup convo (conversation) and send a pizza instead”.

“Pizza Hut will help you break up with your significant other by delivering a personalised, simple message on custom packaging with a sweet and spicy Hot Honey pizza to ease the pain,” the statement says.

Any what if you don’t live in one of the three cities? The fast-food chain’s marketing gurus have thought of that too, with a slight variation of the cheeky brand campaign.

You can request that Pizza Hut write a breakup text for you to send, along with a link to a gift card for your future-ex to redeem a free Hot Honey pizza.

Ultimately, the brand campaign is all about promoting the new sweet-heat flavour Hot Honey product.

“We are bringing that perfect blend of sweet-and-heat experience to real life, delivering spicy news in the sweetest way for Valentine’s Day,” says Lindsay Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer at Pizza Hut.

You can watch a TV news broadcast about the campaign here.

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