Mikhail Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial

Mikhail Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial
Mikhail Gorbachev with his granddaughter Anastasia Virganskaya in the commercial
AgencyBBDO[1]
ClientPizza Hut
LanguageRussian with subtitles in English language[2]
Running time1:00[3] or 0:30[4]
Product
Release date(s)January 1, 1998
Slogan
  • "Good friends. Great pizza."[5] or "Have you been to the edge?"[6]
Written byTom Darbyshire[1]
Starring
Country
  • Europe [a]
  • United States

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was featured in a 1998 television advertisement for Pizza Hut. It was filmed in November 1997 on Red Square and in a Pizza Hut restaurant elsewhere in Moscow. It was aired internationally in January 1998, but not in Russia.

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 inside the former Soviet Union.

  1. ^ a b Darbyshire, Madison. "Gorbachev, Pizza Hut — and my dad". Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Khurshudyan, Isabelle (January 31, 2020). "McDonald's made its Soviet debut 30 years ago. Its golden arches were a gateway to Western influence". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Johnson, Greg (December 23, 1997). "Gorbachev Takes Russians to the Edge in New Pizza Hut Commercial". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Giasson, Steve [in French] (February 27, 2016). "Eating a slice of pizza at Pizza Hut. Before taking the first bite, exclaiming: Hail to Gorbachev!". Performances Invisibles. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  6. ^ Mullally, Una. "Is there anything they won't endorse?". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.


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