Cats + Pizza = Japanese Pizza Hut Commercial  

Not too long ago, in a piece that ran on The Cat Channel, I expressed my surprise – and confusion– over the recent trend of pairing cats with pizza. The pizza cat so to speak (a few examples below). Am I the only who didn’t realize this was a “thing”?

left to right: hottopic.com, myplaceisbetterthanyours.com, Etsy, Redbubble

It seems the jokes on me. The folks at Pizza Hut in Japan have taken the trend and run with it – more like sprinted with it actually – by launching an advertising campaign comprised of an all-cat cast to sell what else – pizza.

The new campaign is currently made-up of twelve commercials and many are quite amusing. Here are a few of my person favorites:

Taking phone orders

Writing reports

Cleaning shop

Is this idea completely insane or insanely cute?  I can’t help but take my “cat hat” off for a moment given the years I spent in the advertising field and express my surprise that these spots were ever made.

Why? Well primarily, because Pizza Hut is owned Yum! Brands, Inc., a US based company who operates brands the likes of Taco Bell and KFC.  And most American companies are pretty formulaic when it comes to the creation of food-related commercials. They love food shots. Food is the main attraction – the “hero” so to speak – of the commercial.

Surprise! The Japanese spots never show a pizza. No bubbling fresh from the oven pizza shots, no long strings of cheese as a slice is pulled away from the pie shots, no happy Japanese faces enjoying Pizza Hut’s pizza. Not even a pizza dough throw (though I imagine that would be hard to pull off with cats). Just a few illustration at the end of what I have to believe are supposed to be pizzas. Not so very appetizing.

So while the spots are entertaining and the cats adorable as ever, I have to wonder if the campaign will actually boost sales for the chain. Then again, we are talking about a country with a pretty massive cat obsession.

From left to right clockwise: Cat Cafe; Sushi Cat; Maru; Cat Ears for Humans. Center: Young Japanese girl dressed as cat.

What do you think? Are the spots successful in getting you to remember Pizza Hut or merely entertaining? Can you picture them running stateside? Which one’s your favorite?