Donald Trump may have been inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States one week ago today, but — given how well that seems to be going for him so far — when all is said and done and history has been written in the books, his life’s most important achievement might be introducing the world to Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza back in 1995. Yes, stuffed crust pizza, one of Pizza Hut’s most popular menu offerings, was unveiled to the public on March 26, 1995, and just six days later the fast food chain launched a $45 million national ad campaign starring none other than Donald Trump, alongside his ex-wife Ivana Trump.
At the time, the Donald and Ivana had recently gone through a messy tabloid split when he left her for his second wife, Marla Maples, so having the two star in a commercial together was nothing short of scandalous at the time. In the 30 second spot designed to appear as though it was set in the Trump Tower (which you can see above), the mogul says to his ex-wife, “Do you really think this is the right thing for us? It’s wrong, isn’t it?” “But it feels so right,” she says back to him, sexily.
As it turns out, the two weren’t discussing reigniting their romantic flame but eating pizza crust first. (Which of course is a lie because everybody knows that Trump eats his pizza with a knife and fork.) At the end of the ad Ivana asks if she can have the last slice and Trump grabs her wrist, telling her, “Actually, you’re only entitled to half.”
Ha ha ha! It’s funny because he’s a monster.
Given Trump’s current standing, the creative director behind the spot is now selling off the storyboards for the ad, signed by both Donald and Ivana, through the Moments in Time memorabilia website for a cool $15,000. Page Six spoke to the seller, who gave some behind-the-scenes details about what it was like to work with Trump at the time.
“He was pleasant to work with, but you can see that he has to be the one in control,” the anonymous ad man told Moments in Time dealer Gary Zimet of the shoot. “When Trump agreed to do the commercial, he had one stipulation — to arrive at 8 a.m. and leave at 2 p.m. on the dot. His hard-stop rule was nonnegotiable.”
Says the seller: “I have to say that at the time he was a very likable person to work with. In 1995, there was nothing political about him or his brand.”
Best of luck to the guy. At least somebody is benefiting off of Trump’s presidency without destroying the environment in the process. You can see an image of the storyboard here.