Pizza Hut® Offers Instant Crowd Support During Holidays With the Launch of Big Dinner Box

DALLAS, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Feeding a crowd this holiday season just got a whole lot easier – and more affordable – thanks to a BIG new menu item at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut has launched the Big Dinner Box, an epic-sized box filled with two medium rectangular one-topping pizzas, eight wings and five breadsticks for only $19.99. The Big Dinner Box from Pizza Hut is one of the pizza category's first ever value boxes offering a combination of pizza and side items in a single package. The Big Dinner Box is available for a limited time at participating Pizza Hut restaurants.

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"More than 50 years ago, Pizza Hut began a journey that brought great tasting, value-driven pizza to a national audience," said Kurt Kane, Chief Marketing Officer at Pizza Hut. "Now we're breaking ground again by offering our first ever pizza value box because we know that our customers need a value-conscious option that can feed a crowd during the holidays. The new Big Dinner Box does just that with an unmatched combo of pizza, wings and breadsticks in one giant box for an unbelievable price."

The Big Dinner Box could not have arrived at a better time, as Pizza Hut restaurants nationwide are prepping for "Red Roof Wednesday," a consumer phenomenon that rivals Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Red Roof Wednesday is the day before Thanksgiving – tomorrow, Nov. 23 this year – when households are packed with hungry college students and out-of-town relatives in search of a quick meal without dirtying the dishes before turkey day.

This year on Red Roof Wednesday, Pizza Hut expects to sell 1 million pizzas. The projection continues a trend that makes the day before Thanksgiving consistently the busiest weekday of the year at Pizza Hut (excluding Fridays).  In addition to the 1 million pizzas sold, Pizza Hut is expecting to receive 275,000 orders for the new Big Dinner Box on Red Roof Wednesday.

To put into perspective the amount of Pizza Hut pizza America will be enjoying on Red Roof Wednesday, the Pizza Hut research team crunched some numbers.

• 2.4 Million: Pounds of Pizza Hut pizza ordered on Red Roof Wednesday – that's equivalent to the weight of 151,000 Thanksgiving turkeys.
• 1.2 Million: Feet of Pizza Hut pizzas sold on Red Roof Wednesday – enough to cover the length of the Mayflower more than 12,000 times.

Big Dinner Box – By Land, Air and Sea

With Red Roof Wednesday just around the corner and the debut of the Big Dinner Box in sight, Pizza Hut generated buzz at a series of events across the country by delivering the Big Dinner Box in three exciting ways: by land, air and sea.

Pizza Hut activated the Big Dinner Box "land" delivery under the stars on Nov. 7 in Los Angeles. The target was hundreds of gamers at a GameStop® retail store waiting to get their hands on the holiday season's hottest video game. The gamers, many of whom had been standing in line for hours, erupted when Pizza Hut delivery personnel poured out of military vehicles carrying Big Dinner Boxes for all.

Four days later, paratroopers in full Pizza Hut uniform dropped from the sky over the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., during the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show. The Nov. 11 "air" delivery was met by the cheers of thousands of surprised spectators and service men and women.

On Sunday, the "sea" delivery was completed when the Hutflower – a replica of the Mayflower made of Big Dinner Boxes – arrived near Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Mass. Big Dinner Boxes were then unloaded from aboard the Hutflower and introduced to America at the birthplace of Thanksgiving.  Families and even a group of pilgrims were on site to sample the Big Dinner Box and give it the official Thanksgiving seal of approval.

Meet the Stars of the Big Dinner Box

The Big Dinner Box features a trio of Pizza Hut favorites: pizza, wings and breadsticks.  To make it even easier to please large crowds, customers can customize their box with their favorite pizza toppings and flavor choices for their wings.

• Pizza: a pair of medium, rectangular, thick-crust-style pizzas with one great-tasting Pizza Hut topping on each; customers can choose different toppings for each to help keep the holiday crowds satisfied
• Wings: eight mouth-watering chicken wings available in all styles and flavors offered at the selected Pizza Hut restaurant; WingStreet locations offer the choice of traditional, bone-out and crispy bone-in styles and the full line of signature WingStreet sauces
• Breadsticks: crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, the famous Pizza Hut breadsticks are no side show in the Big Dinner Box lineup; five are included in each Big Dinner Box along with a marinara dipping sauce

About Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut, America's Favorite Pizza, delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant. The only pizza company to be named a top ten franchise in 2009 by Entrepreneur Magazine, Pizza Hut began more than 50 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, and today operates nearly 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries. Pizza Hut, Inc. is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM). To check out what's new at Pizza Hut visit PizzaHut.com, or keep up with the brand via its social media channels at social.PizzaHut.com.

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Luke DeRouen
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