By Gemma Charles, Marketing, 06 October 2008, 08:31am

Pizza Hut rebrands to Pasta Hut

LONDON - Fifty-year-old restaurant chain Pizza Hut is temporarily changing its name to Pasta Hut in a radical £100m relaunch.

Although it plans to keep the same number of pizzas on the menu, from this week Pizza Hut will introduce eight pasta dishes across its 700 restaurants to support its new positioning. Nine restaurants will change their signage immediately.

Pizza Hut marketing director Claudia Nicholls-Magielsen said it was making the change because research showed that consumers wanted more variety when eating out, and that, on average, the British public ate more pasta than pizza. 'We want to be as famous for our pastas as we are for our pizzas,' she explained.

Nicholls-Magielsen admitted that the move was a 'bit of a shock tactic' designed to 'get people to feel differently about Pizza Hut'.

The name change will be supported by a multimillion-pound marketing campaign spearheaded by TV ads created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, which break on 7 October.

Pizza Hut plans to invest £100m in its restaurants over the next six years. This year the company has spent £17m updating more than 100 restaurants with a more contemporary look and state-of-the-art equipment.

Watch the latest Brand Republic Video and hear the public's mixed reaction to Pizza Hut rebrand featuring a hilarious double act.

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All Comments

BEN JOHNSON - 06 October 2008

Hmmn Mistake

Pasta Hut is limiting. Should've called it The Hut and madeit more of an occasion based.

Simon K - 06 October 2008

Is this just so they can hop onto the Wispa rebrand/relaunch movement 18 months down the line?

Benjamin Tilly - 06 October 2008

What about 'Jabba the'

AwallafaShagba - 06 October 2008

But they sell pizza's and pasta is just a side offering... They are my fave pizza delivery as well .. i think this is silly.

Adam Ward - 06 October 2008

Name change? What about a change of management? All pizza hut's are run by teenagers and their customer service is appalling!!!

Graham Pugh - 06 October 2008

I agree with Ben. Why restrict yourself to one foodstuff? I'd rather have the flexibility of the McDonald's brandname than Burger King's. It's as if Boots had changed from Boots the Chemist to Boots the Cosmetic Store.

Belinda Parmar - 06 October 2008

This seems like an Aprils fool. Surely this can't be right? Seems very silly to go away what they are really good at. Are they actually talking about changing the name? Agree it seems limiting.

James Sandoval - 06 October 2008

Shock tactic...damn right. Pizza Hut is a fantastic and valuable brand. Really shouldn't play around with it. Perhaps introduce a pasta range through a nicely planned and targeted ad campaign, but change the entire brand? For pasta?

Chris Pollard - 06 October 2008

This seems very similar to the whole "Coco Pops Vs Choco Krispies" thing a few years back... Is this just a headline-grabbing PR stunt?

Matt Saunders - 06 October 2008

As far as I can remember they changed the name to pasta hut this April fools. I imagine they hope to change it, get some publicity, then change it back 'due to popular demand'.

Tom Evans - 06 October 2008

Is this a joke? Pizza Hut is one of the best know GLABAL Pizza brands. Famous for its all you can eat buffets, Pizza Hut is a well esablished leader in this sector so why change it now? Silly silly decsison!!

Lucy Barrett - 06 October 2008

They did exactly the same in the US in April. It is just a stunt to make people reassess the menu. Timely for a recession when people are turning towards affordable dining.

david ridings - 06 October 2008

...and surely some that 9 figure sum might actually be better spent on continuing to refresh the interiors rather than a rebrand, no doubt requiring an expensive branding agency who will create a hybrid logo of the hat and some penne or rigatoni, \(insert your own preferred pasta shape here.)

Does anyone really think that you go to spaghetti house and only get spaghetti, Aberdeen Steak House and only get steak...? Am using those two as examples, as although they're both facing dire times, surely Pizza Hut's management don't believe consumers really are THAT stupid?

david ridings - 06 October 2008

...sorry, but it's there for the taking...maybe it's not so much the pizzas they should be worried about, but the pizzazz...

thank you and goodnight.

Duncan James - 06 October 2008

A joke. Surely.

Lewis Cooper - 06 October 2008

If you want to see the 'new' logo, it seems that its already in place at pastahut.co.uk. Interestingly enough there is a poll to which you can vote for whether you think they should change their name or not. How do you think the results are looking so far? Well put it this way, 18% of all that voted must really love pasta! Or they work for the marketing team?!?

Martin Leguay - 06 October 2008

Pizza Hut needs a change and to stop focusing purely on its pizzas otherwise it will go under consumer radar. It's got to work harder to obtain consumer interest and I think McDonalds did a pretty good job, now get ready for Pizza Hut. Shouting pasta out loud is just a marketing stunt, but i'm sure they'll be introducing many new things to the table (scuse) such as free wifi, italian coffee, large family seating areas... it needs it because to be honest their pizzas really aren't that great!

shib hussain - 06 October 2008

i actually work at a pizza hut part time, i must say, I agree with the majority of the comments....its just a stunt, people still see us for pizza and will never see us a place for pasta! The brand is really confused at the moment....trying to get into casual dining whilst still offering mcdonalds type offers (e.g. 50% of meal vouchers)

Chris Petterson - 06 October 2008

Like or Hate the idea - advertising is "the business of drawing public attention to goods and services" ... with more comments on this thread than the next 2 most commented articles put together it's winning by a mile, I'd say they're way ahead .... as its temporary, of course its a stunt but that doesn't mean it isn't doing as the guys & galls in the Hut intended.

Lucy Barrett - 06 October 2008

Ah, but is this name chnage a credit to advertising or PR?

Gerhard Spangenberg - 06 October 2008

I think its a good idea. I think their pizza is revolting, but maybe the pasta is better?!?

Rollie Fingers - 06 October 2008

The worst thing is that I can't call my fat mate "Pizza The Hut" anymore.

david parish - 06 October 2008

has everyone overlooked the 'temporarily changing its name' bit? They aren't changing their name to this for good, it's just for a bit to get some attention and make people realise they now sell pasta as well.

It seems like a pretty good idea to me, people will walk past the shop and notice a name change a lot more than just a poster, and it wont damage the brand because its only temporary and fits the existing brand.

Mackenziehead - 06 October 2008

Hey kids we're going out for dinner!!

Wow, great, what are we having?

Er, pasta

Hmm, no thanks

Anton Reyniers - 06 October 2008

This has totally made me rethink everything I've ever known about Pizza Hut. I mean the logo and font are all different as is the in store awesome decor. It's like totally different and totally made me wanna go there more. I hate pasta but I just think is amazing. Wish I could meet the people who made this ground breaking decison

Alan Kane - 06 October 2008

This will totally confuse their loyal customers.. People wanting to go out for a good old traditional pizza I assume will now look elsewhere.

James Sandoval - 06 October 2008

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mMOPj6-4nDU

paul rickard - 07 October 2008

Feels like putting a trout pout on a very decent high street catering/leisure brand. And look at how many trout pouts go seriously wrong. The way to get people to 'feel differently' about a brand is through the experience - not playing with logos and fonts.

Tinkering with brand names to fall into line with contemporary values, fads and orthodoxies is dangerous ground. Two words. Carphone Warehouse. Market leader in spite of the term 'carphone' having absolutely no contemporary relevance.

Sophie Bentley - 07 October 2008

I have just tried Pasta Hut and was confused to see much of its menu focus on pizza - pizza is not pasta is it? But what do I know, just went to Boots and couldn't find any shoes at all.

Carlos Rodrigues - 10 October 2008

Pizza Hut definitely needed a revamp and a repositioning as it's been stuck in an eighties timewarp for the past twenty odd years. However, this rebranding is very short sighted and confusing for the consumer. Also why confuse people even more by making it a temporary name change? A very bad decision.

anton rush - 13 October 2008

'Hut' always was and always will be a stupid name regardless of what precedes it.

For that sort of money they should have gone back to the drawing board and come out with something fresh - something other than the pasta that is!

Susann Goerg - 20 October 2008

I totally agree with david \(parish). It's a smart idea to communicate a new wider range of pasta on their menu. Is much more attention grabbing than a regular poster and will be talked about in press as well as in blogs and such alike. Just look at the list of comments written right here \(positive or negative - it's word of mouth)

Sophie Rouse - 23 October 2008

This is ridiculous, what on earth posessed pizza hut to re-position itself as a pasta restaurant? If they feel they are moving towards a healthier image, take a look at their nutritional info on their site - the calories in their pasta dishes may be lower, but the fat content of several pasta dishes exceeds that of an individual Italian pizza or half a medium pizza. And, the quality of the pasta dishes is hardly superior - the lasagne only has 13% beef mince and charge £8 - I'd rather go to Pizza Express for the same price!