Pizza Hut Introduces ‘Book-It’ Alumni Membership

For Pizza Hut, something old is new again.

Polygon is reporting that Pizza Hut is bringing back its Book-It program, but for alumni only right now. The original concept, which was introduced back in 1984, was you would gain points for reading books, and you would mark your progress either in another book or on a poster. Once either one was filled, you would redeem it for free pizza at your local Pizza Hut. Many people were against rewarding kids reading with pizza, but the program got kids reading more.

This program is a lot different. Gone are the poster and book, and anything you need to read. All an adult needs to do is to provide some personal information at the website (www.bookitprogram.com), and you receive an email with a coupon for a free personal pan pizza you can carry out.

The goal, of course, is to build up the Pizza Hut database with email addresses. It’s a quick, nostalgic way to gain that information so Pizza Hut can send out other offers and discounts, which customers can take advantage of. However, teachers and parents can go to the website and find material that will help create incentives for kids to read.

The Consumerist is reporting that the website asks for the name of your elementary school, but no one seems to be cross-checking to make sure that your school was really part of the Book-It program. They’re using the current professions, cities, and elementary school names of the “alumni” to make a cool map showing all of the impressive things that the program alumni have grown up to become.

Pizza Hut estimates that about 20 percent of all Americans of the proper age have participated in Book-It during the last three decades.

Pizza Hut announced the alumni outreach program earlier this week, and after some issues with the website functioning, all seems to be in order. People are now able to leave their information, and coupons are indeed being generated for customers who leave their information.

Uproxx is reporting that the Book-It program for school kids is still going strong after three decades. The company says they’ve reached 60 million children, and they are the longest-running corporate-supported reading program in the country. Yet they were receiving numerous requests for an adult, or alumni program, as well.

“The number one thing we get asked by any adult who went through the program is can we please develop an adult version of the BOOK IT Program,” said Shelley Morehead, BOOK IT! Program Manager. “With the creation of the BOOK IT! Alumni page, we now have a destination to celebrate the positive memories that so many kids, now adults, have with the program.”

[Image courtesy of Pizza Hut/Uproxx]