Pizza Hut reworks presidential debate stunt. Sort of.
| New York
Pizza聽Hut聽is rethinking its contest daring people to ask "Sausage or Pepperoni?" at the presidential debate Tuesday.
After the stunt triggered backlash last week, the company says it's moving the promotion online, where a contestant will be randomly selected to win free聽pizza聽for life.
The聽pizza聽delivery chain had offered the prize 鈥� a pie a week for 30 years or a check for $15,600 鈥� to anyone who posed the question to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate.
But blogs and media outlets immediately took the聽pizza聽delivery chain to task for trying to capitalize on the election buzz by injecting itself into the process.
A聽Pizza聽Hut聽spokesman says in an email that moving the contest online was a "natural progression of the campaign" after people got excited about the idea and "wished they could get in on it."
Pizza聽Hut, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., says it will still honor the prize if someone poses the question live at the debate. But it's encouraging everyone to participate in the new online version, where contestants must enter their email addresses and zip codes to be eligible. The company did not say whether it would award two prizes if someone does ask the question.
The change comes after聽Pizza聽Hut's聽stunt became the butt of jokes last week.
In a segment on Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," host Stephen Colbert asked, "What could be more American than using our electoral process for product placement?"
Colbert said the prize for a free聽Pizza聽Hut聽pie every week meant that "if you eat one of their聽pizzas聽every week, you will die in 30 years."
The blog Gawker wrote about the stunt under the headline, "Want Free聽Pizza聽Hut聽Pizza聽for Life? Just Make a Mockery of the American Democratic System on Live TV." The site wrote that all the contestant had to do was "embarrass themselves on live television before the President of the United States and millions of their fellow Americans."
Pizza聽Hut's聽stunt comes as TV audiences have become increasingly resistant to traditional commercials. As marketers look for new ways to engage viewers, the presidential election has presented a rare opportunity.
Earlier this month, an estimated 67.2 million people watched the first debate between Obama and Romney. That made it the largest TV audience for a presidential debate since 1992, according to Nielsen's ratings service.
This isn't the first time a promotion tied to current events has backfired. Last year, Kenneth Cole compared the Arab Spring uprisings to a frenzy over the U.S. designer's spring collection; the company later apologized.
