Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by Dan and Frank Carney in Wichita, Kansas. It was named Pizza Hut because they wanted the word "pizza" in the title and because there were only three spaces left after "Pizza" in the sign, and the facility was shaped like a hut. The company gained national recognition in its first-ever advertising campaign, called "Putt Putt to Pizza Hut" which first debuted on American television in 1965. That first TV commercial was directed by Randall Parker. The company was purchased by PepsiCo, Inc. in 1977 for 1.2 billion.Pizza Hut was spun-off from Pepsi Cola, in October 1997, into Tricon Global Restaurants , which has been renamed Yum! Brands, Inc. The most distinct symbol of Pizza Hut is the trademarked design of the restaurant's roof, which is a red painted Mansard roof; It is incorporated into the logo. The current design was adopted in 1969, and updated in 1999.Pizza Hut has recently entered the Italian restaurant market through its chain of Pizza Hut Italian Bistro restaurants. These restaurants serve pizza as well as pastas, and also toasted sandwiches. This chain has only developed recently and has been growing in number across the United States. Another new chain called Pizza Hut Wing Street has a menu consisting primarily of buffalo wings.In 2001 Pizza Hut started taking online orders in 3 markets and as of autumn 2006 has online ordering available in over 3000 US locations and Canada. Pizza Hut contracted with the e-commerce company Pizza Hut Online Ordering to provide online ordering.
