Pizza Hut Pivots to the Past With Retro Logo in Bid for Consumer Nostalgia

Pizza Hut revives vintage logo in bid for consumer nostalgia

Goodbye, old Pizza Hut logo, hello … old Pizza Hut logo? Starting this week, the chain is bringing back its iconic, red-roofed logo that diners might recall from its 32-year run between 1967–1999.

The new-old logo, which will be used interchangeably with Pizza Hut’s current, red-swirl logo, will first be seen in national advertising and then in the delivery box design later this year. It’s a calculated marketing decision amid flagging sales in the U.S., Nation’s Restaurant News reports. The old-school logo reportedly tested well with customers, who responded enthusiastically to retro features like restaurants with red roofs and red-and-white-checkered tablecloths.

The Takeout theorized that the change is timed to “cash in on Netflix’s latest wave of ‘80s nostalgia” with the upcoming release of the next season of Stranger Things. Whether or not that’s the specific impetus, one thing is certainly true: consumers remain suckers for nostalgia, and brands are cashing in on it.

And in other news…

• McDonald’s says Quarter Pounder sales are up since the chain switched from frozen to fresh beef. I guess you could say customers are … lovin’ it (sorry). [USA Today]
• The Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Canta, the Dominican Republic, is removing liquor dispensers from its minibars following a series of American tourist deaths that may have involved liquor. [CNN]
• A chef demonstrates how you can actually do that garlic-peeling hack (hint: it requires actual skill/technique, not just the unfettered enthusiasm of a thousand amateurs stabbing garlic bulbs over and over). [Glen & Friends Cooking/YouTube]
• Between 23 and 33 percent of women have apparently engaged in a “foodie call” — the ancient art of using dating as a way to get a free meal — according to recent surveys. [New Food Economy]
• The New York Times profiles a new wellness resort from the owners of acclaimed Tennessee dining destination Blackberry Farm. [NYT]
• The weird rules of entering a drawing to buy rare wine in Utah. [LA Times]
• Five words: Flamin’. Hot. White. Cheddar. Popcorn. [Popsugar]
• Enjoy this good tweet:

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]