Pizza Hut is launching a national promotion with location-based service Foursquare to reward the ?mayor? of each restaurant with a free single order of breadsticks.

Mayors can receive their free reward with the purchase of a large pizza. The deal is running through the end of the year.

?We want to give our customers an incentive to return to their favorite Pizza Hut as often as possible,? said Chris Fuller, director of social media at Pizza Hut, Dallas. ?This is a fun, interactive way to fuel customer loyalty.

?Mobile tools and social media have become part of the daily routines of our customers,? he said. ?They get their news, share their stories and, yes, order pizza from their phones without ever placing a call. 

?Teaming up with Foursquare adds to our growing social media presence and gives our customers another reason to choose Pizza Hut over the competition.?

Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that operates more than 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries. It offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes such as pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks and garlic bread.

Foursquare combines friend finder functionality, social city guide elements and game mechanics to reward people for seeking out new experiences.

Mobile mayor
Users who become the "Mayor" of each Pizza Hut location on foursquare must show on their handset that they are the "Mayor" in order to receive the special.

Additionally, the promotion is only valid for dine-in and carry out orders placed at the restaurant.

?With Foursquare, we?re aiming to reach the masses who are using mobile tools to place orders and receive discounts,? Mr. Fuller said. ?There?s certainly a focus on our young, male customers, which make up a large percentage of Foursquare users.

This is not Pizza Hut?s first foray into mobile.

In October, the company?s iPhone application surpassed $1 million in sales after being live in Apple's App Store for three months.

Consumers using the application can order pizza, pasta and wings (see story).

Get your free breadsticks
With the Foursquare promotion, the "Mayor" special can only be redeemed once a day at each participating location, and there can only be one "Mayor" per restaurant per day.

?In addition to our traditional announcement, we?re really counting on the news to spread through Pizza Hut?s existing social media channels,? Mr. Fuller said. ?Our strong presence on Twitter and Facebook gives us direct access to consumers who are most likely to engage the foursquare promotion and become Pizza Hut mayors.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York.