The above picture was the scene outside a Pizza Hut shop in Chiyoda, Tokyo at 11:00 am on 24 February. The line stretches well around the block on the morning of a weekday with people looking to buy some pizza. The chain has certainly done collaborations with popular franchises before but none have generated this level of attention. So, what has Pizza Hut done to generate this kind of buzz? The answer is kind of painful.
Starting from last Monday, the Kando branch of Pizza Hut has been transformed into the Otonokizaka branch of Pizza Hut. If you’ve never heard of Otonokizaka then you’re probably not a fan of Love Live! School Idol Project like all the people pictured above.
Image: Twitter
Aside from the name change fans are able to take advantage of this collaboration by getting a medium pizza handed to them in a box adorned with the image of the μ’s (“muse”). Lucky anime otaku can also get a limited edition clear plastic folder with the same image and zero grease stains.
Following in the tradition of calling things over-decorated with anime, manga, and/or moe imagery with the prefix ita (lit. “pain”), this ita-Pizza Hut can deliver your ita-pizza in an ita-scooter, all of which bear the ita-signatures of the voice actresses behind the characters.
Image: Twitter
Image: Twitter
If you happen to be one of the millions of people who don’t live in Kando, you can still get an ita-pizza from other participating Pizza Huts across Japan while supplies last and if the line up at the Otonokizaka Pizza Hut is any indication, supplies won’t last long.
The remaining netizens who weren’t standing outside Pizza Hut called the campaign “a good business idea” and “capitalizing on the anime otaku’s love of pizza.” Several netizens also expressed their desire to become a delivery person for the chance to become a “Love Rider.”
This campaign is to promote the new season of Love Live! School Idol Project which starts in April. The show follows a group of high school girls who create an idol unit to help boost enrollment and save their old school, and if you don’t like that then you can take it up with the anime’s biggest fan.
Source: Pizza Hut, Hachima Kiko 1, 2 (Japanese)
Top Image: Twitter
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Origin: Pizza Hut’s ita-campaign has people lining up around the block
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