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© History Oasis
Pizza Hut has used fast food mascots to make pizza feel fun. Each character over the years connected with customers in different ways—from the friendly chef to the tortured slice to the wholesome delivery boy.
1963-1970s
Pizza Pete launched in 1963 as Pizza Hut's first mascot. Artist Edwin T. Pointer drew Pete as an Italian chef with a red checkered shirt, white apron, and mustache. Pete smiled from cups, bags, and restaurant signs. Kids got Pete hand puppets made from printed plastic bags.
Pete helped Pizza Hut grow from one Kansas shop to hundreds of locations. When the company built its famous red-roof restaurants in 1969, Pete was erased from history. The buildings became the Pizza Hut brand.
1993-1997
Walter Williams created Pizza Head after making "Mr. Bill" sketches for Saturday Night Live. Pizza Head was a talking pizza slice with olive eyes and a pepperoni nose. His enemy Steve, a pizza cutter, disguised himself as coaches, chefs, and referees to torture Pizza Head.
Each commercial followed the same pattern: Pizza Head meets "helpful" Steve, sees through the disguise, and gets hurt anyway. Sometimes the model Pizza Hut restaurant exploded, too.
Pizza Head was used to promote Star Wars posters, Marvel comics, and Goosebumps cards. The campaign told kids that Pizza Hut meant "weird fun."
Australia, mid-1990s
Dougie appeared exclusively in Australian Pizza Hut commercials. Actor Diarmid Heidenreich played a pizza delivery boy who brought pizza to his father. The dad always said, "Here's a tip: Be good to your mother."
Dougie showed Pizza Hut's local approach by providing different mascots to each country that matched their culture.
Pizza Pete lives at the Pizza Hut Museum at Wichita State University. Pizza Head vanished in 1997 with no explanation. Dougie faded when Pizza Hut changed its Australian marketing.
Today, Pizza Hut relies on its red roof logo instead of characters. The mascots did their job. They made its pizza memorable.
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