Cute kids in Pizza Inn TV spot say 'cube steak' but mean 'pizza'

Nation's Restaurant News, Dec 6, 2004 by Gregg Cebrzynski

Cute: That's the way I'd describe a new TV campaign, called "Table Talk," for Pizza Inn. Make that cute as the dickens. A precis follows:

The camera opens on a little girl sitting at the dinner table. "I could eat broccoli every day," she deadpans. Cut to a little boy. "Rump roast is the bomb." Another boy says, "What's better than spinach?" Then it's a girl's turn:"Cube steak? Mom, you're too good to me." And then there's the kicker, a little girl saying, "Dessert? I never touch the stuff."

A voice-over by a grown-up says: "These are not real children. They only play them on TV. For everyone else there's Pizza Inn."

The product pitch follows for the chain's buffet menu of pizza, salad, pasta and dessert. The food shots are pretty standard.

But aren't those kids just cute as a button? See, they're pretending to be conscientious eaters, loving all the food that kids typically loathe. That sets up the contrast between their dull, uninspired meals and the yummy food that Pizza Inn offers.

If those kids actually existed, they easily could win top honors in the annual contest sponsored by the National Society of Sarcasm, if there were such a society. Those kids don't like cube steak and spinach; they like eating pizza and soda. The 30-second spot ends with two of them doing just that.

Launch Agency of Dallas created the campaign for Pizza Inn, based in The Colony, Texas, which has more than 400 units and $170 million in annual sales.

Unlike sex, however, cuteness doesn't always sell. It has to have a point to it, and the commercial has a point: Pizza Inn is a good alternative to the same, boring meals that families eat night after night.

The cuteness in the spot isn't so treacly that the message gets lost.

The agency also created two 60-second radio spots that are airing regionally. The one titled "Table Talk" is similar to the TV spot, containing such lines as "I could eat cabbage for every meal" and "Mmm, beets. Thank you."

The other is "Wheel of Dinner," a spoof of "Wheel of Fortune." It opens with the host welcoming the audience back to the show, which features contestants vying for dinner at Pizza Inn. All they have to do is land on the appropriate part of the wheel. "OK, Amy, it's your spin," the host says. Amy spins the wheel, mimicking contestants on the real "Wheel" by saying "Good dinner, good dinner, something everyone will eat."

She lands on "potted meat and parsnips." Bobby is next. "Quick meal, quick meal," he says, but he fails to win. It's Nancy's turn. "No cooking, no dishes," she says as she takes her spin. "Let's go out. C'mon." Nancy wins. When the host tells her the value of the prize, he hesitates and then says, "Why, it's invaluable!"

This is one of the better radio spots I've heard in years. It's innovative and funny and works in the selling points seamlessly. Those lines about quick meal, no cooking and something that everyone will eat are brand attributes, yet they sound natural as part of the banter game-show contestants use.

It's a well-produced and well-executed spot, so vivid that listeners will be able to "see" the contestants spinning the wheel. Some creative ideas lend themselves only to radio, but I'd love to see this one as a TV commercial.

It would be just as effective in delivering the Pizza Inn message as the "Table Talk" TV spot, because what it lacks in cuteness it makes up for with creativity.