Protest Hunger Pizza Hut

Red and black text on a white background.

Pizza Hut is a global chain serving pizza and Italian-American dishes. It was established in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The logo and brick-and-mortar locations are recognizable by their red-roof design. It offers a range of pizzas, as well as pastas, wings, salads, and desserts. There are thousands of restaurants worldwide, making pizza a significant part of American restaurant culture. Although Pizza Hut’s food is popular, its advertising campaigns have been criticized for being controversial and insensitive. 

Hunger strike sit-ins were a powerful protest tactic in the 1960s and 1970s, often used by civil rights, anti-war, labor, feminist, and Indigenous movements. However, Pizza Hut’s “Protest Hunger” campaigns refer to several separate events. One of the most recent was the 2017 Pizza Hut ad incident, where the Israeli branch of Pizza Hut mocked a Palestinian hunger strike and faced widespread boycotts. It also encompasses general examples of using pizza to provide food for protesters, such as with Ian's Pizza during a 2011 protest in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in fundraising and community support efforts for hunger relief.