Hulu just turned “What’s for dinner?” into a call-to-action. At this year’s Hulu Upfront presentation in New York, the streaming platform unveiled a bold new kind of ad experience in partnership with Pizza Hut, one that lets viewers order food right from the screen they’re watching. No QR codes, no app-switching, no second screen required.
Dubbed an “in-stream purchase unit,” the new format blends commerce and entertainment into a single seamless moment, and it could redefine what an ad break means. Instead of interrupting the viewing experience, it becomes an extension of it. Watch. Crave. Click. Eat.
For Hulu, this is more than a gimmick. It’s part of a larger effort to reimagine advertising for the streaming era, one that keeps viewers engaged and gives brands a direct line from awareness to action. With users spending an average of 50 minutes per session, Hulu’s audience is already leaning in. Now, the platform wants to make that engagement transactional.
The innovation arrives as audiences continue migrating from desktops to mobile devices and connected TVs. Hulu’s strategy anticipates this shift, promising interactive ads that scale across screens and formats. The Pizza Hut partnership is the first slice of that vision — a preview of a streaming future where buying, watching, and craving all happen in one place.
In a world where commerce is everywhere, Hulu and Pizza Hut may have just delivered the next evolution of “shoppable media,” the frictionless intersection of content and consumption.
ACTIONABLE!NSIGHTS
- Mash-up: Hulu × Pizza Hut
- Customer Experience: Contextual and seamless ordering
- Customer Engagement: High dwell-time, content-integrated interaction
- Digital Behavior: From multi-screen consumption to single-screen conversion