Pizza Hut HK takes a jab at Italy with pineapple giveaway campaign

Pizza Hut Hong Kong is giving away free pineapple toppings for pizza orders as a playful jab at the Italians, after Italian Fencing Federation protested against Hong Kong athlete Edgar Cheung’s gold medal win at the Paris Olympics. 

The post came with a statement that Pizza Hut Hong Kong is offering extra pineapple toppings for any dine-in purchases of the Hawaiian Paradise Pizza. 

“From today until 31 July, customers can get extra pineapple toppings for free when they order specific pizza items at all Pizza Hut stores in Hong Kong,” the post reads.  

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Pizza Hut said it aims to celebrate the achievements of Hong Kong athletes with the people of Hong Kong. "We believe that people of Hong Kong will eagerly celebrate these joyous moments together. Pizza Hut restaurants are simply the happy place for people to come together and savour these historical moments that make us all proud."

The Hawaiian Paradise Pizza with pineapple toppings has been one of Pizza Hut Hong Kong’s signature offerings which is popular in the city, said the spokesperson.

"The round shape of pineapples also resembles the circular shape of the medals. The offer of free pineapple topping seeks to entice Pizza Hut fans to celebrate the achievements of Hong Kong athletes at our restaurants," added the spokesperson. 

"We are very excited about the achievements of Hong Kong athletes. Pizza Hut restaurants are great venues for families and friends to gather and share joy. We hope that the delight of enjoying our delicious pizzas together will enhance the fun and create lasting memories of the celebration," the spokesperson said. 

According to an official statement on Monday, the Italian fencing body said it will file a formal protest with the International Fencing Federation (FIE) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the “unacceptable refereeing” of the Olympic final between French fencer Filippo Macchi and Cheung.  

The federal president of the Italian fencing body Paolo Azzi , expressed his anger at the end of the match: “I have never seen anything like it.  Macchi is the real winner and he was denied a gold medal he deserved. The draw for the referees is a problem but the level of refereeing was below the great final we saw”. 

The Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago also said there was a fundamental error as two judges came from Taiwan and South Korea.  

"They told us that they were drawn by lot and even more so after the first one, the second president of the jury had to be changed," Malago added. "In no advert is there a referee 'bordering' an athlete.” 

On the other hand, Macchi gave his perspective on the incident, saying that his silver medal deserves joy and happiness, "so let’s get rid of the disappointment, which is a lot, and enjoy what it was. There will be time to go back to understand the mistakes I made and try to improve even more." The post has garnered over 25k likes, with many netizens from Hong Kong showing respect to the Italian athlete. 

Media intelligence CARMA observed over 20,000 mentions related to the incident in the past two days. Of these mentions, 36.7% carried a negative sentiment, while 9.2% were positive. 

The majority of mentions were generated on Instagram, particularly from Cheung and Macchi’s personal Instagram pages. Most negative mentions came from fans criticising the opposing party, said Charles Cheung, CARMA’s HK GM.  

Macchi’s supporters flooded Cheung’s Instagram page, claiming that he did not deserve the gold medal, asserting that the match was unfair and that Macchi was the real winner, he said.

"Conversely, Cheung’s fans retaliated on Macchi’s Instagram, accusing the Italian team of habitual complaining and aggression after losses. Many also posted humorous comments about pineapple on pizza as a playful jab at the Italians," he added. 

Meanwhile, social monitoring firm Meltwater also saw a total of 20.3k mentions over the past two days, with 27.2 positive, 58.5% neutral and 14.3% negative sentiments.

Keywords associated with the incident include "Edgar Cheung", "Hong Kong", "Paris Olympics", "Hong Kong athlete", "freedom", "Cheung stealing the gold medal" and "Taiwan".

Cheung's Instagram post featuring himself receiving the gold medal also drew mixed reactions from netizens, with some Italian supporters saying that Cheung did not deserve the gold medal, while some Hong Kong netizens congratulated Cheung for the win, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw. 

On the other hand, local brands such as IKEA Hong Kong and Genki Sushi Hong Kong also trendjacked Cheung winning Hong Kong's second Olympic gold. 

IKEA Hong Kong has trendjacked Cheung winning the second Olympic gold for Hong Kong with a post featuring a fluffy dog toy sticking out his tongue, resembling Cheung showing his cheeky face with his tongue out of his mouth after winning the match on Monday. 

Meanwhile, Genki Sushi also rolled out a limited-time promotion on its shrimp sushi dishes, where customers can enjoy a 20% discount on every shrimp sushi dish on 30 July. 

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