Chicago?s Home Run Inn Pizza is reaching out to hungry and angry consumers with a Twitter campaign that leverages a new strikethrough hashtag.

Starting today, the Pizza chain is asking consumers to tweet #HANGRY for a chance at receiving coupons for free frozen pizza to help cure them of their hungry, angry feelings. Home Run Inn partnered with R/GA Chicago to run the campaign.

?We?ve done social listening around the #HANGRY conversation, and our analytics prove that pizza is the food #HANGRY people crave most,? said Kevin Sherman, group director of production at R/GA, Chicago.

?Home Run Inn is seizing the opportunity to deliver a quick and all-natural pizza fix straight to these #HANGRY users and make the brand a craveable part of the conversation,? he said. ?We?ll use Twitter to seek out the #HANGRY and help strike it out with a never-before-used hashtag and free Home Run Inn pizza packages.

?The strikethrough hashtag, #HANGRY, is new to the platform and is an innovative way to break the usual Twitter mechanics to communicate the message of our campaign. The strikethrough hashtag can be searched like all hashtags on Twitter, which will allow us to track the number of #HANGRY users Home Run Inn is helping.?

Home Run Inn Pizza has restaurants in the Chicago area and frozen pizza in retail stores throughout 25 states.

#HANGRY consumers
Home Run Inn is trying to reach consumers when they are feeling hungry and angry. They have coined the term ?hangry? to describe moments when consumers are so hungry that it makes them angry.

The pizza chain is trying to cure this with their pizza.

According to Home Run Inn, the chain is the first brand to use the strikethrough hashtag on Twitter.

When consumers tweet with the hashtag #HANGRY, Home Run Inn will respond with fun, digital content such as GIFs or info graphics. Some consumers may also receive a coupon for free frozen pizza to help them stop the hangry feelings.

Home Run Inn decided to use Twitter because of its mobile-friendly qualities. The company wants to be able to respond to the tweets in real-time to provide a quick fix for their hungry feelings, wherever the consumers may be.

Throughout the campaign, Home Run Inn will tweet questions such as "What state is the most #HANGRY?? and ?Who?s hangrier men or women?? to prompt responses and engagement.

Additionally, the company will be setting up frozen pizza giveaway centers at select retailers in Chicago and Indianapolis.

Mobile twitter
A number of brands have used Twitter to engage consumers, particularly because of its real-time qualities and ability to reach consumers wherever and whenever.

For example, Dunkin? Donuts ran a mobile-social campaign through Twitter earlier this year during the awards show season with the hashtag #DDREDCARPET (see story).

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has also been engaging with consumers on Twitter by monitoring tweets about its chain, responding and retweeting (see story).

?#HANGRY can strike at anytime,? Mr. Sherman said. ?Whether it?s at the office, in a meeting or on the commute, people are quick to grab their phones to share when #HANGRY hits.

?Because campaign communications occur primarily on Twitter, our social response lab is built to serve up #HANGRY relief in real-time by sending a quick fix straight to their mobile phones,? he said.

?Every asset is optimized for mobile, allowing Home Run Inn to reach users anytime or anywhere #HANGRY strikes.?

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York