Pizza Hut tied into the spirit of March Madness by creating an intriguing marketing campaign. Ever wanted to order pizza with just the push of a button? With Pizza Hut’s Pie Tops, that’s possible- and the button is in a pair of shoes.
Teaming up with “Shoe Surgeon” Dominic Chambrone, Pizza Hut’s team created the white and red pair of sneakers, sporting the brand name on the ankle strap and company logo on the tongue. Under the logo is where the magical pizza button lies.
It’s not exactly magic. Using the Pie Tops app on a smartphone, users set up their profile and make a default pie. After that, any time a pizza is desired users simply have to press the tongue of their shoes and Bluetooth connections send the order to the app. Within minutes, a fresh Pizza Hut pie will be delivered to your location, which is tracked through the shoes.
Don’t get too excited; chances are you will never own a pair. Only 64 pairs of Pie Tops were made (to match the number of teams that begin the tournament), and the majority went to media influencers. However, Pizza Hut did give a few lucky fans their own pairs.
The primary goal of the campaign is to emphasize how easy it is to order Pizza Hut pizza online or through their app. The buzz that the shoes created brought tons of publicity to the company, and gave everyone a laugh after a few moments of disbelief. Will we see more clothing with ordering capabilities in the future? Possibly, and maybe next time a company will decide to sell the merch to the general public. In the meantime, here’s a clip to help explain how these shoes actually work.
