Tom Brady Puts the 'Hut' in Pizza Hut

In American Football, ‘hut’ is the call that a quarterback shouts to start the play, and no one has said it more than New England Patriots icon – and widely considered GOAT of football – Tom Brady. With this in mind, the Hut – Pizza Hut, that is – has partnered with the quarterback to launch a new campaign, ‘Pizza Before the Hut’, celebrating the debut of its $10 Big New Yorker deal.

Created by agency VML, the campaign kicks off with a comedic spot directed by Tool's Erich Joiner. In the film, Tom Brady has traded in his playbook for a Pizza Hut delivery bag, finding a second career as a Pizza Hut delivery driver so he can keep saying ‘hut’ off the field.

“Football has been advertising Pizza Hut for years. Its name is said more than fifty times in every game,” said VML’s CCO, Ryan Blum. “All we did was turn those quarterback calls into a simple reminder for fans to order Pizza Hut before kick-off. And having Tom Brady, the man who’s said ‘hut’ more than anyone, introduce the idea felt less like casting and more like bringing two greats together.”

The campaign also launches a new programme that will reward any city who can get their quarterback to say ‘pizza’ immediately before ‘hut’ during a nationally televised game. The fans who convince their quarterback to do this will win a free post-season pizza party for their city.

“When you launch the Big New Yorker for just $10, you’ve got to go big with everything around it: from partnering with the biggest name in football and the QB who has shouted ‘hut’ more than anyone, to a big challenge worthy of the moment with a big pizza party,” said Melissa Friebe, chief marketing officer at Pizza Hut. “No one does ‘hut’ like Tom Brady, and now we’re having fun turning it into something only Pizza Hut could do.”

The multi-channel campaign rolls out nationwide across TV, digital, and social platforms from today.