Never mind the US economy, what's your favorite pizza?
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
DURING the next US presidential debate, the candidates will be pondering the important questions of our time. But the most controversial may be "sausage or pepperoni?"
Pizza Hut is offering a lifetime of free pizza - one large pie a week for 30 years - or a check for US$15,600 to anyone who poses the question to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate next Tuesday.
However, the proposed stunt threatens to annoy the millions of viewers who are expected to tune in to hear what the candidates have to say about the economy, health care and other serious concerns facing the country.
"It's a terrible waste of time for the presidential candidates, the people who organize the debate and everyone who wants to listen," said Mickey Sheridan, a 43-year-old bartender from New York, who is a Pizza Hut fan. "They should find some other way to advertise."
It's not the first time a question that could be seen as frivolous has been asked of a president or candidate during a live, televised event.
One of the most famous moments in TV history came in 1994 when an audience member asked then-President Bill Clinton whether he wore "boxers or briefs?" Clinton's sheepish response, "usually briefs," became an indelible moment in pop culture.
But such moments don't always end well. During Obama's 2009 State of the Union address, for instance, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson yelled out: "You lie, you lie." Wilson quickly apologized but was widely criticized by members of both parties for the breach of decorum.
It can be even more difficult for marketers to get away with such outbursts. While companies have long used hot political topics to gain publicity for their brands, it can backfire. For example, there was backlash in February 2011 when Kenneth Cole compared the Arab Spring uprisings to a frenzy over the US designer's spring collection. The company later apologized.
Pizza Hut, a unit of Kentucky-based Yum Brands Inc, said there was room for both serious and lighthearted questions in the debate, which will be broadcast on most network and cable news stations.
"We know there are a lot of serious topics that are going to be debated and need to be debated," Pizza Hut spokesman Doug Terfehr said.
But Terfehr said the pizza chain saw this as a way to ask an "everyday question" that people can relate to.
Because of rules governing the debate, Pizza Hut's stunt may not even be possible. The first Town Hall-style presidential debate was in 1992 and there were not many rules, which made for a lively encounter. But since then, campaigns have added many restrictions.
Even if someone attempts to ask the "sausage or pepperoni?" question, it's likely they would be silenced. In 2004, campaigns negotiated a rule that microphones would be cut off if audience members veered from pre-determined questions.
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