Orange did a deal with the cinema chains here so that, if you go to the cinema (“movies”) on a Wednesday, you can claim 2-for-1 entry. Half price.

Nice.

This works quite nicely for the cinema chains because it gives them a good boost during the mid-week lull. And it’s a rather good bonus for many Orange customers. Indeed I’ve met quite a few Orange customers who are *locked in* by the Orange Wednesdays special offers. They’d like an iPhone, for example, but they don’t want to forgo their 2-for-1 ticket offers every Wednesday.

When you look at the various benefits offered by operators — Orange Wednesdays is perhaps the most ubiquitous ‘benefit’ for being with them. Anyone across the UK ca n qualify.

Whereas o2 will offer you priority booking at the o2 — or at a number of smaller venues around the UK — it’s… well I don’t know if it’s as much as a lock-in as 2-for-1 cinema tickets every single week.

Orange has a £7m ad campaign comin’atcha to tell you all about the (enhanced) offerings. The theme they’ve chosen for the ads? The Wizard of Oz. Heh. Nice.

Here’s the Pizza Express news:

Orange has also signed a deal with PizzaExpress to offer Orange Wednesdays customers the chance to get a 2-for-1 deal at PizzaExpress for the next 6 months. All you need to do is simply text ‘film’ to 241 from your Orange mobile to get your cinema tickets, then head to orange.co.uk/orangewednesdays to download your PizzaExpress 2 for 1 meal deal voucher – including a choice of either free garlic bread or dough balls.

Definitely, DEFINITELY go for the free dough balls.

The ad is pretty good — as we’ve come to expect from the creative team at Orange.

Here it is:

Orange’s newest 2-for-1 voucher deal from Mobile Industry Review on Vimeo.