We’re living through peak 90s nostalgia. If you’re watching prime time television, lots of ads nod to the golden era of Pizza Hut (If you’re watching the NBA Finals, it seems like there’s a Pizza Hut ad every commercial break). The pizza chain knows this, their current ad campaign with Craig Robinson leans into the past. Domino’s is doing it too, bringing back The Noid in their current commercials.

It makes financial sense for Pizza Hut to remind people of decade’s past. Their market share went from 25 percent in 1995 to 14.3 percent in 2016. Domino’s is winning and has been winning for years. But it’s not because of the pizza. Domino’s is not better. It’s about the same. Ditto Little Caesars and Papa Johns. They’re all about the same quality.

The reason Domino’s took Pizza Hut’s title as the go-to pizza chain for the majority of Americans is because Domino’s was and is easier to order. That’s it. Though Pizza Hut has a larger footprint than Domino’s, it’s not as popular because people would rather eat chain pizza at home instead of in restaurant. And no amount of Craig Robinson* ads will change that.

But there is a nod to the chain’s heyday that could get me inside a Pizza Hut. And Craig Robinson is wearing an instantly recognizable button in one of the ads.

BOOK IT!, Pizza Hut’s much beloved children’s reading program, is what will bring adults back to Pizza Hut. That’s about it.

Kids ages 4 to 12 can still earn a personal pan pizza for participating in the BOOK IT! program. But the program should expand to adults if they want more of that big pizza market share.

Pizza Hut knows BOOK IT! works. They’re still participating in the program and nodding to it in this campaign. Earlier this year they even sold BOOK IT! t-shirts for adults. It was a success, the shirts sold-out.

Pizza Hut made their money as a sit down restaurant. BOOK IT! may be the only thing that makes me want to eat inside a Pizza Hut, maybe with my kid, maybe with their own BOOK IT! earned personal pan pizza.

I’m 38 and still have my BOOK IT! pin. I’ve had the same pin for 30 years. I do not own a Pizza Hut pin. I have many fond memories of BOOK IT!, which all happened to take place inside Pizza Hut. If Pizza Hut really wants adults with fond memories of the pizza chain from the 80s and 90s to eat inside their restaurants, they need to offer the same program to those former kids**.

*I like Craig Robinson. This is in no way blaming Craig Robinson for not making me want to order Pizza Hut delivery.

**If you’re a Pizza Hut higher up and worried people will scam the BOOK IT! program, readers are rule followers.

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