Would you go offline for an hour for a free pizza?

Pizza Hut’s campaign on Earth Hour awareness wins in the Restaurant category at the Middle East International Business Awards 2021.

As the UAE geared up to join millions of people across the world in raising awareness of the issues facing the planet, Pizza Hut offered customers an alternative way to get involved other than turning off their lights.

With its Offline Hour campaign, Pizza Hut encouraged people to disconnect from the internet during Earth Hour in order to win a free pizza. The campaign ran through a website that only works offline with no data, no WiFi, and a bit of internet sorcery. 

Special code built into the back end allows the site to detect when users have no active internet connection and reveal a 60-minute countdown timer. If users go back online, the timer stops and they will be prompted to go back offline in order to claim a free pizza.

Pizza Hut META Chief Brand Officer Beverley D’Cruz explained Earth Hour typically involves switching off lights between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., which is dinner time for many. This is why they wanted to encourage people to support a great cause in a different, but just as impactful way.

In the US alone, data centres consume 8 billion kWh more annually than household lighting. It is a number that is growing proportionally with people’s reliance on internet-connected devices.

“With this in mind, Pizza Hut urged its customers to disconnect from the internet by turning off WiFi and data to reduce network and data centre load, potentially saving more energy than turning a light switch off,” the company said.

Pizza Hut Offline Hour went live in the UAE and Oman markets on 27 March 2021 during Earth Hour and saw hundreds of participants go offline for a whole hour to get their free pizza. 

This initiative by Pizza Hut has made significant contributions in raising awareness of global issues whilst driving strategic marketing campaigns. This stand-out campaign led to a win in the Restaurant category at the Asian Business Review’s Middle East International Business Awards 2021.