Pizza Hut Melt? Melt Down is More Like It

One of the few times I watch television ads is when it's unavoidable, such as during a live broadcast of a Green Bay Packers game. One of the ads that showed up yesterday was for Pizza Hut's new Melts. If you've seen the ad, you know it looks really good - kind of like a combination pizza and calzone (which is kind of like a pizza anyway). Or it's kind of like a pizza without sauce, folded over with some seasoning on the outside and dipping sauce. 

I was still recovering from my recent bout with the flu or cold or whatever it was, and so nothing sounded that good to eat, but this actually looked appealing, so I thought I would give it a try. I ordered one pepperoni (Jonah's typical order) and one meat lovers. Then I headed down to our local Pizza Hut to pick up our treats (because I'm too cheap to order delivery unless there are very extenuating circumstances).

Our local Pizza Hut, like some other local restaurants, has not resumed in-store dining due to lack of staff following the pandemic, so I got in the line of about seven cars in the parking lot to pick up my order at the window. 

I finally received the order, checked quick to be sure that both were in the single box (as they looked too big on tv to fit in one box). They were there, so I headed home, only to discover that they had given me two pepperoni melts instead of one with meat lovers (maybe they thought I only loved pepperoni?) I get it - mistakes happen. Especially during a dinner rush when they are obviously understaffed, anyway. I would have preferred what I ordered, but I wasn't going to throw a fit over getting pepperoni over meat lovers. (If it had been veggies, we would have had to have a different conversation.)

The reality of what I received (see second picture) verses what was advertised was startling in the contrast. Really, it was just sad. A lot of the insides had melted out of it, and what was left was fairly tasteless. 

Now, I'm used to things not living up to the hype from an ad, but this was pretty bad. Unfortunately, this has become common with Pizza Hut for the past few years (or more?) I used to love Pizza Hut and have great memories of it as a kid, but it really has fallen on hard times, both in terms of product quality and overall service (or lack thereof). 

I still hope Pizza Hut can pull it together, but without a radical reinvention of their main products (and, trust me, the Melt is definitely not it), I fear for their long-term viability as a company. I should have gone with my first impulse and ordered a pizza from Casey's.

Melt grade: D

Pizza Hut grade: C- and dropping.