Last week Pizza Hut announced that they will be taking their branding
up a notch by pushing "The Hut" as their hip, cool nickname in order to
appeal to a younger generation. This does not mean they are completely
rebranding, though--they still plan to be officially called Pizza Hut.
This is more of a marketing push. As a spokesperson explains, "We think that 'The Hut' is to Pizza Hut as Coke is to Coca-Cola. We
have begun using the term in conjunction with Pizza Hut in our
advertising, pizza boxes and some restaurants."
So
basically, Pizza Hut wants to give itself a nickname. If you have ever
spent any time in a college dormitory, you are thinking the exact same
thing I am thinking right now: EVERYONE KNOWS YOU CAN'T GIVE YOURSELF A
NICKNAME. If you try, it will just backfire, and instead of being
known as "The Tank," you will be called something like "Colonoscopy
Joe" as punishment.
Besides being completely inorganic and violating every rule in the Nicknames Acquisition Codebook, "The Hut" is also a stupid nickname.
Basically, the name "Pizza Hut" has two components: a word describing
the product sold by the company, and a word describing a structure made
of dirt and sticks. Which seems more appropriate for spinning a
nickname off of, you ask? Answer:
Duh.
Well, Pizza Hut must at least have a good reason for wanting a nickname, right? Back to our friendly spokesperson:
"And
yes, we're also introducing another vocabulary word with Pizza Hut,
which is 'The Hut.' That ties in nicely with [today's] texting
generation. We wanted to make sure that Pizza Hut and 'The Hut'
become common vernacular for our brand. Red is our mark and when
you see that red roof, people will refer to it as 'The Hut' or
'Pizza Hut.' As we expand our online and mobile businesses, 'The
Hut' is the perfect icon for our mobile generation."
Ah-ha!
We are appealing to THE YOUTH! Of course! With their text messages
and their tight pants and emo haircuts! Surely they will
treat this marketing campaign with the same earnest, genuine acceptance
they routinely demonstrate when confronted with corporate America's
attempts to connect to them! This can't not work!
Long live THE HUT!