What’s in this article:

• Pizza Hut is offering an AR-enabled box for a limited time to allow customers to relive the fun of playing an arcade game
• The “Newstalgia” campaign has been created to provide customers with that nostalgic childhood feeling with its $10 Tastemaker pizza

When using nostalgia for marketing, you can apply modern day tech today to recreate the joyful experience of the past. That’s what Pizza Hut is doing with its ‘Newstalgia’ campaign.

Yutaka Fuse, Head of Licensing and Branding at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., explained why pizza and PAC-MAN really are a perfect pairing: “PAC-MAN’s design and creation was inspired by the shape of a pizza with a slice taken out of it, making this partnership so appropriate for the PAC-MAN brand.”

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But it’s not just about what fits but what brings back fond memories. “Newstalgia” as a concept includes quite a bit of nostalgia:

Remember going to Pizza Hut as a kid? The glorious aroma of pizza enveloped you as you were led to a classic red booth decked out in a red and white checkered tablecloth under the cozy glow of a stained-glass Tiffany-style lamp. You’d score some quarters to play an arcade game as you waited for your Personal Pan Pizza®, served hot in a cast iron skillet. Life was good.

That checkered tablecloth is recreated as a tracksuit that’s custom-made for Craig Robinson in the video spot showing the AR in action. In an interview with Uproxx, the actor revealed, that the checkered fabric was, indeed, a tablecloth at Pizza Hut.

The video focuses on how much he enjoys playing PAC-MAN while eating a $10 Tastemaker™ pizza. Instead of feeding quarters in a machine and manipulating a joystick to play, he uses his smartphone to control the game that appears on the augmented reality box.

For those who dream of playing in a real arcade, the campaign includes the lure of winning one. Anyone who buys a large pizza from Pizza Hut, scans the QR code on the limited-edition PAC-MAN box, and then shares the score with @PizzaHut on Twitter using #PizzaHutARcade #Sweepstakes will gain an entry into the sweepstakes.

There will only be one winner of the arcade game selected on April 3rd. But everyone can feel like a winner as they enjoy the experience of playing a game they associate with the carefree days of their youth.

But they’re not just looking to sell to those of us of a certain age. Fuse sees this campaign as having appeal for younger people, as well: “PAC-MAN games and Pizza Hut pizzas occupy a special place in many people’s memories; we’re excited to have the opportunity to create fun memories for a new generation of PAC-MAN and Pizza Hut fans through this collaboration.”

After all, pizza appeals to just about everyone, as does fun. Retro style also happens to be fashionable among many in Gen-Z who have embrace vinyl records, Polaroid cameras, and other blasts from the past. No doubt a vintage kind of arcade game would be welcome, too, particularly if it comes free with something they’d buy anyway.

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