Pizza Hut takes down Vegemite ad after Mondelez complaint

Pizza Hut has removed an advert mentioning Vegemite after a complaint by the maker of the Australian spread said the company did not gain permission to use its trademark.

The ad, which was broadcast on Australian TV and posted on Pizza Hut’s official social media websites, was removed after Mondelez International complained. The company formed in 2012 when Kraft Foods split into two businesses.

In the ad, travellers from across the world are shown trying a new pizza that has vegemite stuffed in the crust. The ad shows the crust cut open with the word ‘Vegemite’ labelled next to it.

Responses from those eating the pizza range from “it’s disgusting” to it tastes like “fish jam” and “petrol”. The ad concludes with two Australian men eating the pizza and saying they enjoyed it, with the tagline ‘Made For Australia’.

The ad also shows a logo saying ‘Mitey Stuffed Crust’—the name of the pizza—inside a diamond with rounded corners. That logo has also been removed from the Pizza Hut sites, although the pizza is still being sold by the company.

The diamond used by Pizza Hut is similar to the Vegemite logo, a diamond with rounded corners containing the word ‘Vegemite’ inside against a red background.

In its request to remove the advert, Mondelez said Pizza Hut did not gain permission to use the Vegemite brand name in the ad.

Mondelez did not respond to a request for comment, but it told Australian news website Mumbrella that “while we can’t comment on specific matters, as the custodians of one of Australia’s most loved and iconic brands, Vegemite, we take brand protection extremely seriously.

“We take all appropriate action and work diligently to protect our intellectual property when the need arises,” it added.

Mondelez registered the ‘ Vegemite’ trademark in 1923. It is due for renewal in 2017.

Pizza Hut did not respond to a request for comment.