Pizza Hut and Droga5 are all set to kick off this year’s March Madness NCAA championships with a new iteration of its unique Pizza-ordering shoes – formally known as Pie Tops. For those who may not recall, the concept of Pie Tops started last year with the shoes being given out to select media members in the promotion of the championship and Pizza Hut’s food. Although not available to the general public – despite a substantial amount of demand – the shoes were very interesting. A simple press of the Pizza Hut button on the tongue of the red and white shoes would effectively result in the wearer placing an order for whatever pizza deal the company was currently offering. It would accomplish that through a connected smartphone and the Pizza Hut mobile application. This year, the shoes are returning as Pie Top II, with new colors and new functionality. Better still, unlike last year, it’s actually going to be possible for a few lucky people to snag a pair.
For starters, this year’s Pie Tops 2.0 comes in either a striking red color with white accents or a more subdued “wheat” color with red accents. As is to be expected, the tech-enabled high-tops bear several Pizza Hut reference logos and even spell out “Pizza Hut” in the mesh on the side of the shoes. The functionality of the on-tongue button still includes the ability to order the current pizza-based deal but has been updated to include a pause feature. That means that users can click that button during the March Madness games to effectively pause playback so they don’t miss a play while they’re answering the door to collect their food. Unfortunately, the feature has only been built to work with Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports, in conjunction with Turner and CBS, so it will only work with those services. That won’t necessarily be a problem since only 50 people are going to be able to get their hands on the Dominic Chambrone-designed kicks.
The company has teamed up with HBX.com to sell 50 pairs during the week of March 19 and 50 more will be given away on social media by Pizza Hut. An unspecified number of the shoes are also set to be raffled off during the Final Four Fan Fest in San Antonio. With that said, anybody interested in grabbing a pair is going to want to keep on eye on the company’s social media pages for more information because they’re going to go fast. In the meantime, the company has started two ad campaigns associated with the designer shoes. The videos highlight both the style and the functionality. Those are included below for anybody who may want to check the wearables out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpjOBxBMOKA
