Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial
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Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was featured in a 1998
television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
for
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
. It was filmed in November 1997 on Red Square and in a Pizza Hut restaurant elsewhere in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. It was aired internationally in January 1998, but not in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. In the commercial, a family inside the Pizza Hut restaurant discusses Gorbachev's political legacy. The younger man and the older man disagree, until the older lady says that Gorbachev gave them Pizza Hut. Gorbachev used the money he earned to finance projects by his foundation. The commercial has been described as illustrative of the victory of
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
inside the former Soviet Union.


Content

The commercial starts with an aerial view of the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskv ...
and Manezhnaya Square from the viewpoint of the
Four Seasons Hotel Moscow The Four Seasons Hotel Moscow is a modern luxury hotel in Manezhnaya Square in the Tverskoy District, central Moscow, Russia. It opened on October 30, 2014, with a facade that replicates the historic Hotel Moskva (russian: Гости́ница ...
after a recent snowfall. Then Gorbachev is walking through the snow with an umbrella, together with his granddaughter Anastasia Virganskaya while
Saint Basil's Cathedral The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed ( rus, Собо́р Васи́лия Блаже́нного, Sobór Vasíliya Blazhénnogo), commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most pop ...
is visible in the background. They enter the Pizza Hut restaurant at Red Square and take a seat at a table in the corner. A family in the restaurant is sitting at a different table. The father (played by Richard Marner) notices Gorbachev and complains, "Because of him we have economic confusion." "Because of him, we have opportunity", the son protests. The claim is followed by counterclaim: "Because of him, we have political instability" – "Because of him, we have freedom" – "Complete chaos" – "Hope!". The mother interjects: "Because of him we have many things... like Pizza Hut." Now the family agrees. They and the whole restaurant rise from their seats, pizza slices in hand, to salute his achievements. The camera cuts to Gorbachev himself, basking in the attention. The voiceover says: "Sometimes, nothing brings people together better than a nice hot pizza from Pizza Hut." The chorus of acclamations is heard even more loudly, as if resonating throughout Moscow. At the end, the
slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
"Good friends. Great pizza." is shown. A different version was made that included the slogan "Have you been to the edge?".


Background

Pizza Hut opened in 1990 in Moscow, a few months after the first McDonald's in Russia opened. It was one of the first foreign-owned restaurants that was able to open in Soviet Russia, thanks in part to Gorbachev's own
perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
policies. The idea for a Pizza Hut in Moscow came from a personal friendship between Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin and
Donald M. Kendall Donald Mcintosh Kendall (March 16, 1921 – September 19, 2020) was an American businessman and political adviser. He served as CEO of Pepsi Cola (which merged with Herman Lay's Frito Lay, Inc. to become PepsiCo in 1965) and as CEO of Peps ...
, CEO of Pizza Hut's parent company
PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
. It was part of the largest deal ever between the Soviet Union and an American corporation. The arrangement flopped after the Soviet Union collapsed, which killed Pizza Hut's supply chain. Pizza Hut had frequently ordered advertisements from BBDO before. BBDO art director Ted Shaine recalled that the company "heard that orbachevwas willing to do something", but others suggest BBDO came up with the idea themselves. It took months to negotiate a deal. Katie O'Neill Bistrian at IMG negotiated for Gorbachev. The long duration was partly to increase the fee for Gorbachev, but also represented real hesitation on his part. His wife
Raisa Gorbacheva Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (russian: link=no, Раи́са Макси́мовна Горбачёва Romanized ''Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova'', , Титаренко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Soviet-Russian activist and phil ...
feared that the ad could harm his reputation. Gorbachev agreed under the conditions that he could give his final approval over the script. He would also not eat pizza, which disappointed Pizza Hut. O'Neill Bistrian suggested that a member of Gorbachev's family would eat the pizza slice, which ended up being his granddaughter. The exact amount that Gorbachev received was never disclosed, although it was argued that it was one of the largest talent fees in history. According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', some reports indicate Gorbachev was paid close to US$1 million (equivalent to about $M in ). Gorbachev said the money would be used for
The Gorbachev Foundation The Gorbachev Foundation (russian: Горбачёв-Фонд, ''Gorbachyov-Fond'') is a non-profit organization headquartered in Moscow, founded by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1991 and began its work in January 1992. ...
, and was quoted in CNN saying:


Production

O'Neill Bistrian, the director Peter Smillie and several others flew to Moscow in November 1997. The preproduction took several days. The
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place over two days. Gorbachev arrived late, in a limousine. Red Square was shut down for a day during the filming. The Pizza Hut shown on Red Square was actually a
jewelry store A jewellery store (American English: jewelry store) is a retail business establishment, that specializes in selling (and also buying) jewellery and watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is des ...
which was changed for the filming. The filming inside was done in an actual Pizza Hut restaurant in Moscow. For taking the shots of Red Square and churches, the crew hefted the film cameras on the Kremlin itself. Some challenges included the weather, which meant a low temperature and low light. The commercial was edited afterward by Clayton Hemmert from the firm Crew Cuts. He played a key role in shaping the ending of the commercial, by adding
reverberation Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
and layering chants over each other. The production costs were estimated to be in the low millions of dollars.


Broadcast and reception

The commercial was broadcast in the United States during the
1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21 ...
football game on January 1, but not in Russia where Gorbachev was widely criticized in the media for taking part in the advertisement. Years after the initial broadcast, the commercial became a
viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...
on multiple occasions. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' listed the commercial in a "Top 10 Embarrassing Celebrity Commercials" list. ''
Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis News ...
'' named it in a 2014 article as one of the 11 most bizarre
celebrity endorsements Celebrity branding or celebrity endorsement is a form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy which uses a celebrity's fame or social status to promote a product, brand or service, or to raise awareness about an issue. Marketers use celebr ...
. In a 2010 interview by the Russian magazine ''Snob'', Gorbachev stated that he received various letters of support.


Analysis

Gorbachev has been described as a bystander to the drama occurring in the commercial. It has been described as a "beautiful film and weird advertisement" and as exploiting the shock value of having a former world leader appear. The ad also played on the fact that Gorbachev was far more popular outside Russia than inside it. The commercial suggested that
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
was better than
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
because it made Pizza Hut possible. In 2012, Nadia Kaneva and Elza Ibroscheva wrote that Gorbachev's appearance in the Pizza Hut ad—as well as his appearance in a 2007
Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
print ad for which he was photographed by Annie Leibovitz—symbolized "the passing of communism and the triumph of the new, capitalist, and consumerist order" with Gorbachev's transformation "into a commercial spokesman for powerful Western brands" and the "co-optation of isiconic status for marketing purposes" serving as an
ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...
symbol of "his irrelevance as a political figure in the
post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...
context."


Further developments

In October 1998, Pizza Hut left Moscow, but they returned in March 2000. Gorbachev has stated to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that he lost his savings due to the
1998 Russian financial crisis The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had s ...
. In 1997 Gorbachev told CNN that he did not plan to participate in advertisements again. In 2000, however, Gorbachev was featured in an advertisement made in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
by Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann for the
ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...
, the Austrian federal railways. The slogan was "
Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
in the ÖBB" and was filmed at the
Wien Floridsdorf railway station Wien Floridsdorf (German for ''Vienna Floridsdorf'') is a railway station located in the Floridsdorf district of Vienna, Austria. Opened in 1961, it is owned and operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), and is served by both regional ...
. The ad was broadcast on
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
for the first time on May 10, 2000. In 2007, Gorbachev was featured in a photograph advertisement taken by Annie Leibovitz for
Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
in a car next to remaining parts of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
. Unlike the Pizza Hut commercial, this advertisement was shown in Russia. Pizza Hut suspended operations of their 50 Russian outlets in response to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. In the hours following Gorbachev's death, Pizza Hut became a trending topic on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.


See also

*
Television in Russia Television is the most popular medium in Russia, with 74% of the population watching national television channels routinely and 59% routinely watching regional channels. There are 3300 television channels in total.Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial
on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Gorbachev and Pizza Hut
on
France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...
{{Portal, Television, 1990s 1990s television commercials American television commercials commercials featuring Mikhail Gorbachev Pizza Hut Viral videos