Pizza Hut has enlisted Keith Lee, one of the top influencers in the restaurant industry, in a new campaign featuring a Lee-crafted specialty pizza and donations to a pair of underserved public schools that Lee and his wife, Ronni, attended as kids.
Lee, an MMA fighter and leading TikTok personality based in Las Vegas, has become famous for his laid-back, no-nonsense and often funny video reviews of all types of restaurants, including independent pizzerias, and the transformative effect that his positive appraisals can have on struggling or lesser-known eateries.
Pizza Hut doesn’t need that kind of help, but the Lees’ alma maters, Southfield A&T in Southfield, Michigan, and Oak Hills High School in Oak Hills, California, could use a financial boost. And they’ll get it with donations of $50,000 apiece from Pizza Hut as part of the brand’s ongoing 12ANY campaign.
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Meanwhile, the country’s No. 2 pizza chain also gets Lee and his family, which includes his two young children, as brand ambassadors with blockbuster appeal to the younger TikTok generation.
Pizza Hut’s limited-time 12ANY promotion offers a hand-tossed, thin-crust or pan-crust pizza with up to 10 toppings for $12.
For Lee and his brood, two toppings—pepperoni and bacon—on a hand-tossed crust does the trick just fine. It’s their favorite topping combo, and Pizza Hut has enshrined it as the FamiLEE Community Pizza and included it in the 12ANY campaign. In a press release, the company said the FamiLEE Community Pizza “promises to redefine the pizza experience with its unique blend of flavors and community spirit.”
“I am blessed to team up with Pizza Hut for the FamiLEE Community Pizza, and I’m excited to support causes that hit close to home,” Lee said. “This partnership is all about sharing love through food, bringing communities together, and doing what we truly feel is supposed to be done within our space. Pizza Hut has been there during big moments in life with my family, and I’m grateful to be a part of this journey together, and I can only be thankful in advance that this pizza will encourage others to do the same.”
Lee has been named the NAACP Outstanding Social Media Personality and made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2024.
Along with Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, he’s an influencer with enormous reach, thanks to more than 16 million followers on TikTok. In January 2023, he made a then-floundering pizza shop—Frankensons Pizzeria in Las Vegas—world-famous with a glowing appraisal of its pizzas, sandwiches, wings and garlic knots. The effect on Frankensons’ business was transformative, leading to lines stretching well outside the door just as the restaurant had been in danger of closing due to a lack of marketing power.
In December 2023, Lee paid a visit to the Black-owned Bruckner Pizza in New York City at the urging of fellow TikTok creator Paulie Mars of the Bronx. For that shop’s Dominican-inspired pizza, the Pernil, he awarded a score of 9 out of 10, while rating its cheese pie an 8.5. As with Frankensons, business at Bruckner Pizza soared overnight. “Since he came on Monday night, everything has changed,” co-owner Oscar Amoro said at the time. “The Keith Lee Effect is real!”
You can count Pizza Hut CMO Lindsay Morgan among Lee’s fans. “Keith Lee is a creator who has really been shaping the food industry and one I have been an avid follower of for a long time,” Morgan said. “His TikTok reviews are authentic, and he celebrates community and family. We felt his personal brand was a perfect fit for Pizza Hut, so together we created the FamiLEE Community Pizza so guests can try Keith’s recipe and be a part of giving back to his community.”
