Pizza Hut's cute bear/dark superhero campaigns

All images are from Pizza Hut Japan's web site.

Pizza Hut Japan is offering something for two very different demographics. The question you have to ask yourself is "cute cartoon bear" or "raspy-voiced superhero?" This question is slightly complicated by the fact that neither looks particularly happy, though I'm guessing one would be marginally less creepy to invite to dinner than the other. The choice of which is the less savory number to share your pizza with really sort of depends on the kind of person you are. I'm sure that such a choice would yield some insight into the soul of the chooser, but that is between you and your mental health professional.

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If you choose from column A, you'll have to buy a bowl of overpriced soup. With the purchase of  corn potage or minestrone soup, you can get yourself a "free" Rilakkuma bowl. The soup is 420 en ($4.91), and the bowl is made of plastic and not particularly exciting. The site says that the bowls are only available while supplies last and, NO, you cannot choose the color you want. Take what they give you and shut up.

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For those who choose column B, you can get what look like Dark Knight (aka Batman) paraphernalia which looks like it has been worn for several years by someone else. The hat is torn around the edges and the shirts look like someone slept in them for the last 6 months and ran them through the washer several times. Note that getting these items (including a blu-ray disc of the movie or a "journal") requires one to collect points, not merely purchase a food item. Clearly, Batman plays a lot harder to get than Rilakkuma, but then again he does have crimes to fight and can't just sit around being your "relax bear" toy.

Finally, Pizza Hut seems to be riding the iberico ham bandwagon which was in full swing while I was in Japan earlier last year. It's supposed to be monumentally popular, which goes to show that some food fads really don't die fast and easy, but linger on well over a year. At the very least, it'll give the three puppets in the Pizza Hut ads work for a few more months.