The Leftovers Pizza

The Challenge

In Taiwan, Pizza Hut has a tradition of using pizzas to convey socially important messages. In support of Taiwan's baseball team, we launched the Baseball Pizza. To advocate for marriage equality, we introduced the LGBTQ Pizza. Recently, Pizza Hut noticed that many children living away from their parents wouldn’t return home for Mother's Day. To speak for moms in Taiwan, we decided to launch a special pizza that brings them home for Mother's Day this year.

The Solution

We created the Leftovers Pizza.

Why leftovers? Taiwanese moms often prepare lavish meals for their children but won’t spare the same effort on their own daily meals when the children are not around. They have an unbreakable habit of reheating leftovers. A survey found that 72% of empty nest mothers in Taiwan eat leftovers almost daily. To give children a taste of their mothers’ everyday lives, we documented a mom's three meals, and turned the leftovers into a "Leftovers Pizza," which we then marketed as a new product.

The video immediately sparked widespread discussion, with KOLs avidly sharing it. We advertised the campaign on the internet, in stores, newspapers, and flyers, all accompanied with a QR code for placing orders. Scanning the QR code didn't lead to the purchase of the Leftovers Pizza, however. Instead, it leads to a transportation ticketing platform for Mother's Day. We know there’s nothing a mother wants more for Mother’s Day than their children returning home.

The Results

The Leftovers Pizza campaign resonated with many people, prompting them to book tickets home and bring pizzas from Pizza Hut for their moms. Though not originally pitched as a sales campaign, the campaign still managed to significantly boost sales and set a record-breaking benchmark for Mother's Day sales in Pizza Hut’s 38-year history in Taiwan.