Pizza Hut Commercial

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fishnugget

25+ Posts
Seriously? What a terrible commercial. I saw this on TV last night, and had to look it up.
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As a Mathematician, maybe I’m not being objective enough, but why is it “cool” to not understand Math? People don’t brag about not being able to, say, read. And why would a company make such a generalization about *all* people, especially a negative one? To me, this seems stupid from both a personal and a business standpoint. I was surprised to see it on the air.
 
Let me clarify that I don't think everyone needs to be an expert in advanced mathematics, but people often seem so turned off by basic arithmetic, which is a tool that should be used daily throughout all sorts of activities without a second thought.

I think they could have gotten away with something like "People don't want to do math when they're hungry!"

I don't know. Maybe I'm alone in thinking this bigger picture problem is a big deal.
 
My 8th grade algebra teacher refused to help me with some math problems, announced to the entire class that I was stupid, and told me to go get help from my best friend, who happened to be very good at math.

Some wounds just don't heal.

And Pizza Hut pizza is the ****, and I don't mean that in a good way.
 
I'm a former math major, was in the UT Math Honors program as a freshman, and spend a large part of my waking life juggling numbers I see on license plates, signs, etc. I see nothing wrong with someone who is selling things to advertise they have rounded off prices. They're charging an extra penny or nickel, so the funny thing is that . . .well, they're charging the extra penny or nickel and BRAGGING ABOUT IT!

That's genius.
 
It makes sense. Who came up with idea? Advertising and marketing majors. Who sucks at math? Advertising and marketing majors. Who exhibits a hate and fear of math and science because they sucked at it and couldn't master it? A growing percentage of the entire population.
 
lol, I guess I did overreact a bit. I think the commercial brought up feelings of a growing frustration that I've had for a while. Maybe I put this in the wrong forum
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Bragging about ignorance is something that’s started to slowly creep into our culture and is just disturbing. Math is a particular victim of this. Most unfortunate since math literacy informs so much of our ability to appreciate our world, and basic math should be able to be used second-nature.

This extends well beyond ordering pizzas.
 
I'm with fishnugget, and I'm not a math major. Or an engineering major, for that matter.

It's sad that there's a perception of "Ew, yuck, math sucks" when it's one of the most useful things you can ever learn. And like fishnugget said, there would never be a commercial that said "You don't have to be able to READ to buy our stuff!" Longhorny makes a good point about advertising and marketing majors though.

And I can definitely see how in general, making things simple for people is appreciated. I like it when something costs, for example, $6.00 INCLUDING taxes. Yeah, maybe it coulda been $5.50 + tax, and that would come out a little cheaper, but it's kind of appealing when things are simple. I guess that's what Pizza Hut is going for, but they did so by saying, "Math sucks! Don't do math!"
 
Pizza Hut's target demographic is chiefly composed of mouth breathing troglodytes, so if you assume that they are addressing that group, the statement is accurate and there is not problem.

Does that help?
 
I did vocational evaluations at one time and always asked people what their favorite and least favorite subjects were in school. I'd guess 90% of responders listed math as their least favorite.

It should be noted that this was a skewed sample of unemployed and physically handicapped individuals. No random sample or control group was used in this analysis. Any conclusions reached using this data would be subject to debate. No animals were injured during the collection of this data.
 
how can people not like math? it's black and white, cut and dry, as opposed to english where we consider feelings and analyze motives and such. then again, i am an engineer so, my opinion might be biased.
 
Pizza Hut really dumbed down their place in the market.

Call me a nerd- this is offensive. And yes I studied Engineering. I don't care- I am pissed off anyone could do something so stupid and pay to put it on tv.

They may as well say they hate books and that recess is their favorite class.
 
It's just a commercial but it is indicative of a problem in our society. Not being able to do math is a form of illiteracy and is a growing problem for this country, but somehow it's OK to suck at it. It really isn't OK and that message needs to be made more clear. I had a bad math teacher in junior high myself but thrived in spite of the bastard.
 
This is eerily reminiscent of McDonald's coffee marketing campaign in which they said "You mean I don't have to read books?" as a way to steal market share from Starbucks.

I guess there is a part of the population that prides itself on being "dumb".
 
well, you don't have to read books to buy coffee at least. i for one would never step into a starbucks and would prefer mcdonalds, but that's cause im not a hipster
 
Ok, I took this commercial in a VASTLY different way.

As I remember you used to be able to order 3 different types of crusts at Pizza Hut...thin, hand tossed, and deep dish. They varied in price with deep dish being more expensive than the other two. Then there is the matter of toppings. Meat toppings costing more than veggies, and I think that anchovies cost even more. So in order to figure out your pizza price you were literally flipping back and forth and adding up various crust options, then topping options....

So if any medium pizza with up to 3 toppings (I am assuming MOST pizza orders have less than 3) is the same price, there isn't the flipping back and forth through the menu through the menu trying to think out much that will be.
Before you call, you know that your pizza is $12 or whatever the price is. It seems like a good marketing scheme for simplification. People like iphones because they are simple to use. I don't why ordering pizza should be unnecessarily complex. That is the issue to me. I don't mind dealing with complex issues, and I often have to for work. (admittedly NOT math problems), but that doesn't mean I want to really work to figure out how much a pizza might cost.
I really see this as similar to Subway's $5 footlong. You know how much your meal will cost before you go and no matter which sandwich you get. It is about simplifying, not about being anti math.
 
I have no qualm with the simplification. My issue is with the last person actually saying "People Hate Math. People Love Pizza."

They could have said a multitude of other things and gotten the same point across.
 
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