Pizza News

Pizza Hut Called Out for Using Another Person’s Content to Create Pizza Meme

Brand marketing nowadays is snarky, savvy, and relatable, especially with the profusion of memes, videos, and gifs. But when Pizza Hut recently repurposed a popular TikTok video to tease a new pizza release, the backlash was swift and strong.

The original TikTok video shows Brittany Tomlinson reacting to kombucha for the first time, and her amusing facial expressions became a meme overnight.

Pizza Hut then repurposed the video on August 21 to tease a possible new pizza next month. However, AdWeek reported that Tomlinson called out the brand, demanding payment for using her material to generate possible revenue.

(Photo credit: Adweek)

Her supporters backed her up.

Pizza Hut deleted the video within hours of posting. However, it raised questions for pizzerias looking to make a name for themselves with “borrowed” content on social media.

Adweek interviewed a lawyer on the subject, and the information can be read here.