• by Aaron Baar , December 19, 2013

Move over, March 14 -- the “real” National Pie Day is Jan. 23, and the American Pie Council is getting some help from Paramount Pictures to promote it. 

On behalf of its upcoming film, “Labor Day,” which will be opening in theaters on Jan. 30, Paramount has agreed to be the council’s first-ever sponsor of National Pie Day. “Labor Day” is about a 13-year-old boy who works to be the man of the house while caring for his reclusive mother. While on a shopping trip, Henry and his mother meet a man whom they take into their home over the long Labor Day weekend. One of the key scenes in the movie, according to APC executive director Linda Hoskins, centers on pie.

“Pie plays an important role in the movie, [as does] the tradition of passing on recipes from generation to generation,” Hoskins tells Marketing Daily. “It certainly encourages the pie-making process, and we’re very excited to be a part of it.”

The film, directed by Jason Reitman and featuring Kate Winslet, will be tied to the organization’s activities through social and traditional media promotion, as well as recipes, and will be showcased in marketing materials supporting the day. The studio will also have a booth at the 14th Annual APC Great American Pie Festival in April to celebrate the movie’s expected DVD release. 

Although pie has played a significant role in several pop cultural touchstones (the films “American Pie,” “Waitress” and the TV-show “Twin Peaks,” for example) in recent years, this is the first time the American Pie Council has linked with a studio to promote its annual celebration. 

“We encourage people to share pies with other people,” Hoskins says. “With the movie coming out, we’d sure like to encourage people to teach each other how to make pie.”

For those who have been celebrating National Pie Day on March 14 (so named for its reference to the mathematical symbol for pi, 3.14), Hoskins says there’s no reason for them not to continue ... as long as they include Jan. 23 as well. 

“Any good mathematician knows two pie days are better than one,” Hoskins says.