Tui sings pizza ad jingle (+audio)

MIKE SCOTT/Taranaki Daily News

ONLY IN INGLEWOOD: Danny and Lila Maxwell point to the local tui that sings part of the Pizza Hut advertising jingle from five in the morning till late at night.

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Fast food advertising has gone to the birds.

An Inglewood neighbourhood has a resident tui obsessed with singing part of the Pizza Hut jingle.

Matai St residents Danny and Lila Maxwell were coy about coming forward at first, lest people think they were mad, but are now certain the tui sings the first four digits of the chain's well known phone number jingle.

"You honestly hear it going `oh-eight-hundred' and then you sing 83, 83, 83," Mrs Maxwell said.

"We spent a couple of months working out what it was. We never thought it would be a tui singing a pizza ad," said Mr Maxwell.

Mrs Maxwell said they could not work out whether the bird was asking for pizza, lost and looking for a Pizza Hut, or trying to manipulate their own fast food buying decisions.

Either way she said she often woke up with pizza on her mind and an accompanying desire for a Tui beer.

Although the tui tune may put them in the mood for cheesy baked goods, the same cannot be said for neighbour Pixie Lewis, in whose trees the bird sings.

"I don't do cheese," she says. "Me and my husband have been laughing for months saying `that sounds like the pizza ad.' It's been practising that song for about two years and now it has perfected it. It is more noticeable this summer than last."

Pizza Hut chief operating officer Rod de Vries denied the tui was employed by the pizza company but said the songbird certainly provided competition to the current jingle singers. When asked about the impact the tui had on pizza sales in the area, he acknowledged they had increased although was reluctant to attribute it all to the chirping of one bird.

Despite the marketing leg-up the tui provides he said there were no plans to open an Inglewood store.

"But we would certainly review that if local livestock start heeding the tui's advice and phoning in orders, although they may be a little disappointed to find hay and flax flowers aren't on the topping list," he said.

What's the tui singing? Comment below:

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Oldest First

Kat   #90   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Our Tui sing Down to the Well by The Pixies

DevoTed   #89   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

To orbdrv, they were forced to published it?

Tristan   #88   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

We once had a tui that sang like our phone. They're very smart birds with spectacular voice boxes. Orbdrv is obviously a refugee from some European wasteland where birdlife is dumb.

chris   #87   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

If I'm not mistaken, the "O Eight Hundred" part of the Pizza Hut jingle is the same tune as "Hallelujah" from Handel's "Messiah". Which came first? I know which one gets more airplay...

Luke   #86   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Close.... but not nearly close enough.

Foundation for Correct English   #85   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

What is Coin Science? Cock a doodle doo

Carl   #84   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Lame story.

Alroy   #83   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Tuis mimick, not only words and music but tones as well. I visited a sanctuary in Ngaio recently which has a Tui that mimicks radio announcers, music and it's owner. They are simply amazing and I don't doubt the Tui in question may have heard the jingle at some point and has mimicked it

Rob   #82   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

What would it order?

Bugs and berries on a cheesy crust, thank you!

Jody   #81   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Perhaps it's not that the tui is singing the pizza ad, it may be that the pizza ad jingle has been ripped off from the birds natural call. Hopefully the tui will get royalties now that the truth has been exposed! Pay up Pizza Hut!

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