The IT Nerd

Over the last 48 hours, the internet has been buzzing about the bizarre AI-generated Pepperoni Hug Spot commercial.

On April 24, Redditor u/PizzaLater posted a 30-second video to subreddit r/midjourney that went so viral that everyone from iconic pizza chains to billionaires took notice. The fake ad utilized artificial intelligence to create an advertisement for an imaginary pizza place called “Pepperoni Hug Spot.” The universal reaction to the commercial has been a joint combination of amazement, horror, and laughter, with several consumers dropping their comments on the 90s nostalgia that the spot brings.

It didn’t take long for Pizza Hut Canada to take notice, as several of the visuals used in the ad ties – including the logo and red roof restaurant – are reminiscent of Pizza Hut and classic dine in moments of times past.

This Saturday, May 6, 2023 – Pizza Hut Canada will excite Torontonians, bringing AI to life with a fun experience for all those pizza lovers out there! You might want to keep an eye on Pizza Hut Canada’s Twitter account for clues as to what is coming.

UPDATE: That didn’t take long. This was just posted to Pizza Hut Canada’s Twitter account:

This is quickly becoming the year of pwnage. The latest pwnage victim is Pizza Hut who not only got pwned, but did a craptastic job of telling the 60K or so who got affected that they were affected:

Pizza Hut told customers by email on Saturday that some of their personal information may have been compromised. Some of those customers are angry that it took almost two weeks for the fast food chain to notify them.

Hey @pizzahut, thanks for telling me you got hacked 2 weeks after you lost my cc number. And a week after someone started using it.#timely

— Ian Paul Freeley (@IanPaulFreeley) October 14, 2017

According to a customer notice emailed from the pizza chain, those who placed an order on its website or mobile app between the morning of Oct. 1 and midday Oct. 2 might have had their information exposed.

The “temporary security intrusion” lasted for about 28 hours, the notice said, and it’s believed that names, billing ZIP codes, delivery addresses, email addresses and payment card information — meaning account number, expiration date and CVV number — were compromised.

The fact that they took that they didn’t disclose the pwnage right away is problematic to say the least. There should be a law that requires companies to immediately disclose that they’ve been pwned. In this case, the hackers who did this have a one week head start on whatever chaos they want to cause using the credit card info they swiped. Hopefully someone on Capitol Hill takes notice of this and asks the top brass at Pizza Hut not to deliver a pizza, but to deliver some answers instead.