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THE OSCARS; FIRM GETS A HUGE SLICE OF PUBLICITY
Los Angeles Times
March 4, 2014 Tuesday
Home Edition
Pizza chain hopes to capitalize on buzz from delivery during Academy
Awards.
by: Tiffany Hsu
Burbank pizza chain Big Mama's & Papa's already held a modicum of
fame before Sunday night's Oscar telecast as the home of the largest
pizza commercially available worldwide.
But even a Guinness World Record-holding, 54-square-inch pie (cost:
$200) couldn't hope to provide the surge of recognition bestowed
suddenly on the company mid-telecast by Academy Awards host Ellen
DeGeneres.
The Oscar debut of Big Mama's & Papa's is by now well recounted:
DeGeneres offered to buy pizzas for the assembled A-listers and then
pulled a grinning deliveryman with a stack of three boxes onto the
Dolby Theatre stage.
And grease stains on couture gowns and bespoke tuxes be darned.
Bold-faced names such as Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Jennifer
Lawrence chowed down at their seats.
DeGeneres milked the gag further by soliciting tips from Harvey
Weinstein and other audience members. Best supporting actress Lupita
Nyong'o pitched in some lip balm.
Big Mama's & Papa's employee Hayk Abramyan said in an email that
the Oscar plug caused "definitely a spike in orders," with more than
100,000 visitors to the chain in less than 24 hours.
Consider that Oscar viewership surged to a 10-year high of 43 million
people on average, a 6% boost from last year.
But Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeria Inc. wants more out of the exposure
than wads of $20 bills tossed into singer Pharrell Williams'
telegenic hat.
The chain, which counts a Sunset Boulevard location blocks away from
the awards site among its 20 units, is following up the Oscars with
a publicity rampage.
The franchise chain, owned by Armenia-born Aro Agakhanyan, is now
angling to become the official pizza of the Oscars.
DeGeneres' stunt likely saved Big Mama's & Papa's a fortune in
advertising: Kantar Media pegged the price of commercial slots during
the ceremony at $1.8 million for 30 seconds.
On the pizza company's website, a photo of DeGeneres in her white suit
and scarf dominates the page. The deliveryman, who was identified by
the chain as franchise co-owner Edgar Martirosyan and "not an actor,"
is shown in a red hat and apron serving up a slice to Harrison Ford.
The Big Mama's & Papa's Instagram page now includes shots of Brad Pitt
digging into a piece of pie by Angelina Jolie's side, a befuddled
Dax Shepard and supporting-actor winner Jared Leto accepting pizza
from DeGeneres.
The company's Twitter account noted that DeGeneres' talk show Monday
put in another order, this time out of Big Mama's & Papa's Burbank
location.
As for Martirosyan, the pizza entrepreneur appeared on DeGeneres' show
Monday, where the host said she had collected $600 in tips for him.
She then handed him an additional $400 from her pocket.
Los Angeles Times
March 4, 2014 Tuesday
Home Edition
Pizza chain hopes to capitalize on buzz from delivery during Academy
Awards.
by: Tiffany Hsu
Burbank pizza chain Big Mama's & Papa's already held a modicum of
fame before Sunday night's Oscar telecast as the home of the largest
pizza commercially available worldwide.
But even a Guinness World Record-holding, 54-square-inch pie (cost:
$200) couldn't hope to provide the surge of recognition bestowed
suddenly on the company mid-telecast by Academy Awards host Ellen
DeGeneres.
The Oscar debut of Big Mama's & Papa's is by now well recounted:
DeGeneres offered to buy pizzas for the assembled A-listers and then
pulled a grinning deliveryman with a stack of three boxes onto the
Dolby Theatre stage.
And grease stains on couture gowns and bespoke tuxes be darned.
Bold-faced names such as Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Jennifer
Lawrence chowed down at their seats.
DeGeneres milked the gag further by soliciting tips from Harvey
Weinstein and other audience members. Best supporting actress Lupita
Nyong'o pitched in some lip balm.
Big Mama's & Papa's employee Hayk Abramyan said in an email that
the Oscar plug caused "definitely a spike in orders," with more than
100,000 visitors to the chain in less than 24 hours.
Consider that Oscar viewership surged to a 10-year high of 43 million
people on average, a 6% boost from last year.
But Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeria Inc. wants more out of the exposure
than wads of $20 bills tossed into singer Pharrell Williams'
telegenic hat.
The chain, which counts a Sunset Boulevard location blocks away from
the awards site among its 20 units, is following up the Oscars with
a publicity rampage.
The franchise chain, owned by Armenia-born Aro Agakhanyan, is now
angling to become the official pizza of the Oscars.
DeGeneres' stunt likely saved Big Mama's & Papa's a fortune in
advertising: Kantar Media pegged the price of commercial slots during
the ceremony at $1.8 million for 30 seconds.
On the pizza company's website, a photo of DeGeneres in her white suit
and scarf dominates the page. The deliveryman, who was identified by
the chain as franchise co-owner Edgar Martirosyan and "not an actor,"
is shown in a red hat and apron serving up a slice to Harrison Ford.
The Big Mama's & Papa's Instagram page now includes shots of Brad Pitt
digging into a piece of pie by Angelina Jolie's side, a befuddled
Dax Shepard and supporting-actor winner Jared Leto accepting pizza
from DeGeneres.
The company's Twitter account noted that DeGeneres' talk show Monday
put in another order, this time out of Big Mama's & Papa's Burbank
location.
As for Martirosyan, the pizza entrepreneur appeared on DeGeneres' show
Monday, where the host said she had collected $600 in tips for him.
She then handed him an additional $400 from her pocket.