Pizza Hut Made 'Pie Tops,' With a Button on the Tongue to Order Pizza, for March Madness

Pizza chains are way ahead of the curve when it comes to innovative—some might even say goofy—ways to order pizza. Now, Pizza Hut raises the bar for March Madness with "Pie Tops," a set of limited-edition high-tops that use geolocation to allow wearers to get pizza delivered to wherever they are. Just press a special button on the tongue of the sneakers, and they connect with a Pie Tops app (not the regular Pizza Hut app) that orders pizza for you. Ad agency Droga5 came up with the idea, and the sneakers were handmade by the Shoe Surgeon, aka Dominic Chambrone, who's a legend in the custom sneaker business. Grant Hill can explain more in this spot, which will air during March Madness: [kickout id="1"] David Daniels, vp of media and advertising for the Yum Brands chain, tells AdFreak that the client was thrilled with Droga5's idea. "We loved it," he says. "This is one of those ideas that as soon as we saw it, we wanted to buy it. It hit everything we wanted to communicate in this window in a fun, really relevant way. And it was beautifully tied to the thematic of the tournament and the season." The handmade sneakers are extremely limited edition. Only 64 pairs were made, to match the 64-team field in March Madness, and most of them will go to influencers and people in the media, who can amplify the message. But a few lucky Pizza Hut fans are likely to get some pairs, too. The broader point is to emphasize how easy it is to order a pizza from Pizza Hut via multiple digital devices and modes, Daniels says—phone, tablet, laptop, Alexa-enabled devices, Facebook Messenger, Twitter and more. The stunt ties in to a specific Pizza Hut promotion for March and April—$7.99 for a large two-topping, available for carryout or delivery, but must be accessed online. Pizza Hut has other deals running concurrently, but the online nature of this deal made it a good time to focus on the ease of online ordering. "As far as we know, this has never been done before," Daniels says. "We feel it's highly culturally relevant. Sneakers are hot. We've enlisted a really cool professional to design these shoes for us—the Shoe Surgeon out of L.A. These 64 pairs are handmade, and pretty cool." So, the sneakers are great for ordering pizza. How good are they in a game of basketball? Can they get a player to actually wear them on the court? "We haven't gone that far yet," Daniels says with a laugh. "Grant will have a pair, though, and we'll have to get his take on the performance nature of them on the court, versus ordering pizza." CREDITS Client Pizza Hut Campaign: $7.99 2-Topping Pizza Title: March Madness Pie Tops Launch Date: March 6, 2017 —March Madness Pie Tops :: Interactive Credits List Agency Droga5 NY Creative Chairman: David Droga Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer Executive Creative Director: Scott Bell Creative Director: Tara Lawall Associate Creative Director: Ben Bliss Associate Creative Director: Evan Schultz Design Director: Michael Kleinman Associate Design Director: Mark Yoon UX Director: Luis Volante Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale Co-Head of Film Production: Jesse Brihn Co-Head of Film Production: Bryan Litman Broadcast Producer: Scott Sitman Associate Producer: Tony Xie Associate Director, Production Business Affairs: Librado Sanchez Senior Business Affairs Manager: Alesa Blanchard-Nelson Director of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom Executive Producer, Interactive: Tasha Cronin Executive Producer, Interactive: Jenn Mann Interactive Producer: Grace Wang Technical Director: Michael Mosley Director of Art Production: Cliff Lewis Senior Art Producer: Emily Heller Director of Print Services: Rob Lugo Print Producer: Rose Mahan Creative Technology Director: Chris Allick Tech Lead: Cody Landstrom Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer Group Strategy Director: Ramon Jimenez Strategy Director: Ben Brown Strategist: PJ Mongell Communications Strategy Director: Delphine McKinley Communications Strategist: Mariel Milner Data Strategy Director: Lily Ng Data Strategist: Christina Fieni Group Account Director: Ben Myers Account Director: Bradley Allen Account Supervisor: Jordan Cappadocia Account Manager: Victoria Gan Associate Account Manager: Andrew Mullen Senior Project Manager: Andrea Verenes Associate Counsel: Erica M. Palaia Pizza Hut Client Chief Brand & Concept Officer: Jeff Fox Chief Marketing Officer: David Timm VP, Advertising & Media: David Daniels VP, Marketing Zipporah Allen Brand Manager: Antonieta Moreland Senior Associate Manager, Marketing: Amanda West APR Cost Consultant: Ron Hacohen Production Company Biscuit Filmworks Director: Matt Dilmore Executive Producer: Rick Jarjoura Head of Production: Mercedes Allen-Sarria Line Producer: Andrew Denyer Editorial Rock Paper Scissors LA Editor: Carlos Arias Assistant Editors: Anne Laure-D’hooghe Producer: Ashley Bartell Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum Post Production MPC NY Grade: MPC Colorist: James Tillett Executive Producer: Dani Zeitlin Producer: Jenna Gabriel VFX: MPC Senior Producer: Matthew Loranger 2D Lead: Bilali Mack VFX Team: Mazyar Sharifian, Anthony Ricciardi Music Production: Squeak E Clean Productions, Inc. Composer: Justin Hori Executive Producer: Amy Crilly Producer: Christine Billich Mobile Development Company TouchLab Partner: Jeff Namnum President: Kevin Galligan Producer: Justin Mancinelli —March Madness Pie Tops :: Broadcast Credits List Client Pizza Hut Campaign: $7.99 2-Topping Pizza Title: March Madness Pie Tops Launch Date: March 3, 2017 Agency Droga5 NY Creative Chairman: David Droga Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer Executive Creative Director: Scott Bell Creative Director: Tara Lawall Associate Creative Director: Ben Bliss Associate Creative Director: Evan Schultz Associate Design Director: Mark Yoon Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale Co-Director of Film Production: Jesse Brihn Co-Director of Film Production: Bryan Litman Broadcast Producer: Scott Sitman Associate Producer: Tony Xie Associate Director, Production Business Affairs: Librado Sanchez Senior Business Affairs Manager: Alesa Blanchard-Nelson DIrector of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom Head of Art Production: Cliff Lewis Head of Print Services: Rob Lugo Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer Group Strategy Director: Ramon Jimenez Strategy Director: Ben Brown Strategist: Pj Mongell Communications Strategy Director: Delphine McKinley Communications Strategist: Mariel Milner Data Strategy Director: Lily Ng Data Strategist: Christina Fieni Group Account Director: Ben Myers Account Director: Bradley Allen Account Supervisor: Jordan Cappadocia Account Manager: Victoria Gan Associate Account Manager: Andrew Mullen Senior Project Manager: Andrea Verenes Associate Counsel: Erica M. Palaia Pizza Hut Client Chief Brand & Concept Officer: Jeff Fox Chief Marketing Officer: David Timm VP, Advertising & Media: David Daniels Brand Manager: Antonieta Moreland Senior Associate Manager, Marketing: Amanda West APR Cost Consultant: Ron Hacohen Production Company Biscuit Filmworks Director: Matt Dilmore Executive Producer: Rick Jarjoura Head of Production: Mercedes Allen-Sarria Line Producer: Andrew Denyer Editorial Rock Paper Scissors LA Editor: Carlos Arias Assistant Editors: Anne Laure-D’hooghe Producer: Ashley Bartell Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum Post Production MPC NY Grade: MPC Colorist: James Tillett Executive Producer: Dani Zeitlin Producer: Jenna Gabriel VFX: MPC Senior Producer: Matthew Loranger 2D Lead: Bilali Mack VFX Team: Mazyar Sharifian, Anthony Ricciardi Music Production: Squeak E Clean Productions, Inc. Composer: Justin Hori Executive Producer: Amy Crilly Producer: Christine Billich