DALLAS Pizza Hut has reintroduced its heavy-duty P'Zone pizza by giving amateur eaters a chance to challenge world-class glutton Takeru Kobayashi in a Major League Eating-sanctioned contest.
The 12-inch P'Zone pizza weighs a pound and features sauce, cheese and assorted toppings inside a crust. It is available in three versions: Meaty, Pepperoni and Classic (sausage, green pepper and red onion). Prices are $5.99 for one and $10.99 for two.
Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer for Pizza Hut, said: "If you have a big appetite and love the taste of pizza, the P'Zone is a perfect filling meal. The P'Zone is so filling, in fact, that we are creating a contest to dare you to still be hungry after eating just one."
Pizza Hut's "Dare You to Still Be Hungry" contest will feature Kobayashi, the Japanese phenomenon who for six years (2001-2006) easily swallowed the top honors at Nathan's Famous' Coney Island July 4th hot dog-eating contest.
The contest allows consumers to enter for a chance to win a trip to New York to take on Kobayashi in an event sanctioned by the Major League Eating, a sports franchise that oversees competitive eating events. Potential contestants can upload a photo of themselves with a P'Zone at pizzahut.com and write a brief description of why they can compete against Kobayashi. The contest deadline for submitting photos is July 1. The face-off with Kobayashi will be in early July.
Pizza Hut, a division of Yum! Brands Inc., has nearly 6,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 4,000 restaurants in 100 other countries.