The time Mikhail Gorbachev appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial
- Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday aged 91
- In 1997, he appeared in a Pizza Hut TV ad to raise money for his foundation
After the fall of the Soviet Union, former president Mikhail Gorbachev brought the people of Russia a nice, hot pizza from Pizza Hut – despite his wife’s objections.
Gorbachev, who was the last leader of the Soviet Union before it formally dissolved in 1991, died at 91 years old on Tuesday.
Years after the fall of the Soviet Union, as Russia underwent a chaotic economic transition from communism, Gorbachev starred in a 1997 Pizza Hut commercial as Russia opened up to American franchise businesses.
According to Foreign Policy, the ad cost millions of dollars to produce and Gorbachev needed the cash at the time for his newly formed foundation.
Gorbachev had a clause in his contract that he would not eat the pizza in the commercial, according to the Foreign Policy report. The ad has since been turned into an internet meme and included in course material for universities, used to illustrate global economic fluctuations post-Soviet Union.
According to Foreign Policy, Gorbachev defended his participation in the ad from critics including his wife, saying “pizza is for everyone”.