Pizza Hut puts cheesy spin on presidential debate

(NECN/NBC News: Catherine Ross) - Some say Pizza Hut is acting in poor taste by offering "free pizza for life" to whoever asks "sausage or pepperoni?" during an upcoming presidential debate.

The Plano-based pizza chain released a video on its official YouTube channel on Tuesday that offers a lifetime's worth of pizza to whoever quizzes the presidential candidates about their pizza preferences during Thursday's debate.

"The next debate is town hall style -- meaning real people ask real questions. ... If someone asks a question about pizza during the next debate on October 16th, Pizza Hut will provide them with free pizza for life," the video says.

The offer translates to one large pizza per week for 30 years -- reportedly a more than $15,000 value.

But the promotion is rankling voters.

"It's a stupid publicity thing," Udit Mehrotra, of Plano, Texas said.

"This is the time we should be asking serious questions," Ajed Singh, of Richardson agreed.

Lanira Warner called the stunt "silly" but said the financial motivation might inspire someone to stand up and ask, "Pepperoni or sausage?"

Pizza Hut did not return calls or emails for comment.