Pizza Hut and My Passion for Cheap Pizza

I love cheap pizza. The cheaper it tastes, the more I like it (to a certain degree). I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a perfect way to fellowship with others during those times when you gather to tackle a special project or meet for other reasons. It’s perfect for movie nights with the family or just for those days where work kicked your butt and you don’t have the time or energy to cook a healthy meal. Cheap pizza makes life easier and tastier.

College students thrive on cheap pizza. I know because I probably had more $5.25 pizzas from Domino’s during my four years at college than all the pizza I ever had combined to that point (if you take out those two years I was employed at Pizza Hut . . . I ate a lot of pizza during those two years). Nowadays, Hungry Howies satisfies my cheap pizza cravings. There’s something about that butt-cheese (aka “Butter Cheese”) crust and it’s perfect melding to all the other ingredients I can’t resist.

So now that you know my passion for cheap pizza, let me tell ya something. You know that this passion has spread throughout the nation because Pizza Hut is trying to get into the game. And I really wish they wouldn’t – because they don’t know how to do it.

I’ve always considered Pizza Hut more upscale from other establishments. I’m willing to pay more because it is generally better than pretty much all others. While I would argue (quite effectively I might add) that their old way of making pizzas was better before they had to start competing with Papa John’s, their pizza is still of high quality.

But I am sure their sales have taken a slight hit because of the cheap pizza craze. So they have introduced Pizza Mia. The idea seems logical: if you are losing business to cheap pizza, make your own, right? Well, that’s good in philosophy, but poor in execution.

Pizza Hut had to take their own slant and brand Pizza Mia as a “cheap pizza that taste’s expensive.” I tried it and it tastes like crap. They seem to be on this kick about making everything taste sweet these days. They’ve sweetened their hand-tossed crust and I really think they have sweetened most of their sauces too. The Pizza Mia is no exception. There is this ugly sweet taste that really makes you want to stop eating pizza way before your stomach has had it’s fill.

You know how you will often watch a sequel to a movie and after it is over, your perception of the original is diminished by how poor the sequel is? That’s sort of how I feel about Pizza Hut and their Pizza Mia. So Pizza Hut, I want to offer this advice as a cheap pizza connoisseur and Yum Brands stockholder: Please! Stop trying to get into the cheap pizza market. I’m still going to cheat on you and eat at other places. But when I want good pizza, don’t worry. I’ll be back for it.

[tags]Pizza Hut, Pizza mia, cheap pizza, food, marketing, business, passions, Yum! Brands, Hungry Howies[/tags]