Because of Him, We Have Pizza Hut! Joint Ventures and the Opening Up of the Soviet Economy under Gorbachev

Gorbachev's 1997 television ad for Pizza Hut, which opened its first restaurants in the Soviet Union in 1990 through a joint venture between parent company PepsiCo, Inc. and the Moscow city soviet, is an important part of his popular image in the West, reflecting the role that capitalist consumerism is often presumed to have played in the Soviet system's collapse. Yet, as this article shows, such joint ventures were supposed to increase the Soviet Union's role not as a consumer, but as a producer, by showcas-ing the benefits of international economic cooperation with it. Joint ventures won Gorbachev powerful allies, including the CEO of Pepsi, Donald H. Kendall, who advo-cated for removing American trade restrictions that stood in the way of the Soviet Union assuming a larger function in world trade. As Gorbachev's economic reforms began to fail, however, the long line in front of Pizza Hut also came to symbolize com-munism's failure to deliver prosperity. Gorbachev used the difficulties of foreign com-panies like Pizza Hut as proof of why the Soviet Union should be given Western aid, to no avail. Ultimately, the policy of joint ventures was a failure and Pizza Hut's presence in the post-Soviet Russian market was short lived: it left during the 1998 ruble crisis only to return under Putin in the early 2000s, only to leave once again after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Automated summary

Gorbachev's Pizza Hut ad showcases the presumed role of capitalist consumerism in the Soviet system's collapse, but joint ventures were originally intended to showcase the benefits of international economic cooperation for Soviet production. Despite initial success in the Soviet market, Pizza Hut's presence later symbolized communism's failure. The policy of joint ventures ultimately failed and Pizza Hut left the post-Soviet Russian market.