Pizza Hut forced to pull Vegemite pizza ads
The Pizza Hut logo
Pizza Hut has pulled the ad campaign for its Mitey Stuffed Crust pizza and is “reviewing all imagery” around the promotion after Vegemite’s owner Kraft took exception to its treatment of the brand.
The restaurant had released the pizza, which has Vegemite and cheese in its crust, in its first campaign from new agency Host. An online video push targeting the Australia Day long weekend featured foreign backpackers being appalled by its taste. But it now appears that Kraft had not given permission for the Vegemite brand to be used in the campaign.
The Vegemite logo
Mumbrella understands those videos and other material on social media and its own website were removed over the weekend at the request of Kraft’s parent company Mondelez,.
Vegemite has been a trademarked name since 1923, with that mark currently owned by Mondelez International, which also now owns the trademarks for several Vegemite logos, including the traditional four sided diamond with rounded corners synonymous with the brand’s labels.
The Pizza Hut ad featured a similar logo design with the words Mitey Stuffed Crust inside. The logo has also been removed from the Pizza Hut website, although the pizza is still being advertised prominently.
A statement from Pizza Hut said: “For legal reasons, Pizza Hut is currently reviewing all imagery relating to the promotion of the Mitey Stuffed Crust Pizza.”
She added: “If you didn’t grow up with it, you don’t understand what it is. There’s nothing more Australian than Vegemite and cheese.”
Mondelez issued a statement to Mumbrella saying: “While we can’t comment on specific matters; as the custodians of one of Australia’s most loved and iconic brands, Vegemite, we take brand protection extremely seriously. We take all appropriate action and work diligently to protect our intellectual property when the need arises.”
The original ad is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEHkqjCJ5oc
Alex Hayes
Nice one fun police
User ID not verified.
Sounds absolutely disgusting!
In the 2% chance that I was drunk enough to walk into a Pizza Hut, I certainly wouldn’t be ordering a Vegemite and Cheese crust stuffed pizza!
User ID not verified.
Surely a 4 sided hexagon is a rectangle or square …
User ID not verified.
A four-sided hexagon, s’il vous plaît?
User ID not verified.
how can you have a four sided hexagon?
User ID not verified.
I there such a thing as a’ four sided hexagon’?! I though a hexagon has got six sides by definition.
User ID not verified.
For everyone who has pointed out the four sided hexagon error you are completely right, I in fact meant a diamond.
Back to Early Learning Centre play shapes training for me.
Cheers,
Alex – editor, Mumbrella
An oxymoron replaced by a tautology yet still no hyphen!
User ID not verified.
I preferred the meat pie pizza at Dominoes around ten years ago.
User ID not verified.
Somebody call Tony Harrison because this, my friends, IS AN OUTRAGE.
User ID not verified.
WTF vegemite! Learn how to take a joke!
User ID not verified.
Take a joke? This is a billion dollar brand. Why would they just let anyone use it without their permission?
User ID not verified.
Pizza Hut are struggling to get any decent product in the marketplace and they decide to hang their hat on this concept….continue the slow death of Pizza Hut
User ID not verified.
Good old Pizza Rut.Nothing has changed.Best of luck Host.
User ID not verified.
You would think with Pizza Hut using Vegemite in their ads, someone would have thought of getting permission from Kraft first given that name is trademarked. Someone at Pizza Hut should be sacked for not doing their basic research.
As for Vegemite, unless it’s only a tiny dab of it with the cheese, I wouldn’t eat it. Vegemite is way too salty for my taste buds. Never understood the appeal of it.
User ID not verified.
In the mother land crumpets, with cheese and Marmite is a Saturday afternoon essential, whilst watching the football scores update. Accompany that with either some smokey bacon or prawn cocktail crisps and life is good.
As for Vegemite. Give it a swerve. Dick Smith’s OzeMite is so much nicer, as is Dick v Kraft.
User ID not verified.
I think you will find that Vegemite was sold to a Melbourne based consortium last year by Kraft the current owner of Vegemite is Modelez
User ID not verified.
Have to confess it made me homesick and itching to try a Vegemite stuffed pizza with cheese. If only they had it in Asia. Yum!
User ID not verified.
Tried this. It was NOT a nice pizza. They really lay on the Vegemite, the taste of which completely overpowered all the toppings. Honestly, if I wanted to taste Vegemite *that* strongly, I’d just make myself a toasted Vegemite+cheese sandwich … which I’m pretty sure all we ended up paying $30 for. :/ :/
User ID not verified.