Pizza Hut Uses Promo Product Tie-In, From "Courting The Consumer"
By Kenneth Hein
November 2009

If your name is Sarah or John Connor, you were in luck on one day this past spring. To celebrate the premiere of the movie Terminator Salvation, Pizza Hut offered a free salvation pizza, with one topping, to those with the same name as the movie’s characters. You just needed ID to prove it.

This was only one part of the pizza chain’s massive tie-in with the highly-anticipated summer sequel. In April, it launched a sweepstakes at www.pizzahut.com, where one grand prize winner was given the chance to attend the official premiere after-party and take a behind-the-scenes tour of Warner Bros. Studios. And, through May 30, a variety of instant-win prizes were given out.

The awards included branded T-shirts, logoed Xbox 360 consoles, the Terminator Salvation video game and other merchandise. One first prize winner even received a replica of the T-600 Terminator. In fact, many retail chains and restaurants use promotional items to tie-in their own marketing efforts to that of big movie releases. It’s one strategy that distributors can capitalize on when conceiving marketing programs for their retail and restaurant clients.

“Fans strengthen their connection to their favorite movies by acquiring collectables, and as a part of our promotion with Terminator Salvation, we’re giving fans the opportunity to win a once-in-a-lifetime collectible – a life-size replica of the Terminator robot from the film,” says Bob Kraut, vice president of marketing communications for Pizza Hut. “Anything we can offer our customers that brings the experience of their favorite movies to life will always be a sought after prize.” 

The Web site also offered a sneak peek of exclusive footage from the film, the movie’s trailer and downloadable wallpapers – available whether your name was Connor or not. – KH