Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Domino’s President Gets HIS Turn on YouTube

This guy hasn’t slept much this week, I can assure you of that. Here’s the president of Domino’s, Patrick Doyle, addressing those disgusting YouTube vids that his employees made.

This story fascinates me to no end. It’s just a really, really neat example of brand management and crisis PR, and one that’ll probably end up being a case study in business schools around the world pretty soon. They’re breaking ground here — it’s only been in the past few years that a couple of no-name employees in a no-name town in North Carolina could to this level of damage to an international business giant like Domino’s. It’s just fascinating to watch it all unfold. There’s no textbook on how you handle something like this, and there are very few cases in the past to study for clues. It’s a totally Web 2.0 situation, and I’m just so interested to watch it play out. So, ya know, when I’m interested in something, you guys get subjected to it endlessly, so we’re gonna be following this saga as it plays out.

17 CommentsLeave a comment

    • You crack me up!

      When I first saw the video, I thought these geniuses were in their early twenties. And I didn’t watch the whole thing because I was grossed out. But to look at their mug shots and see that these idiots are in their 30’s was mind boggling, I hope Domino’s falls on them like a rotting tenement.

  • Hats off to Patrick for doing exactly what he should have done in this situation. I know my consumer trust in Domino’s has been almost entirely restored and I hope those 2 brainiacs are forced to pay for at least part of the damages that they caused to what I think is an excellent chain.

  • Well played. They’ve done a great job at restoring their image.

    I’m embarrassed to share the same name as that weird Domino’s girl!

  • Auditors everywhere? Re-evaluating hiring practices? Total re-sanitization? I made up that word I am sure.

    That’s an insane amount of work for any company to do for any reason. I’m glad they jumped on it, and if I ever ate Dominoes I would totally still be eating there.

  • Everything about this video looks so squeeky clean! Unfortunately kids do stuff like this all the time in food service. It makes me want to eat at home.

  • This is probably the SAFEST time to eat Dominos!

    They’ve probably never been so clean! Bring on the Brooklyn style – I’m hungry for dinner!

    • Ahhhh that’s exactly the meme I expect Domino’s to push. Remember that Jack-in-the-Box catastrophe years ago when the hamburgers were found to be making people sick? They spun that problem right around beautifully. It’s the “now that we know about the dirty problem, we are cleaner than ever–even cleaner than our competitors right now–come eat!” argument. It makes good sense to the public and it seems to work particularly well for the restaurant industry. I call it the “Jack-in-the-Box phenomenon.”

      • i worked there not long after that. i was 17. we used to bring videos and watch them, it was so slow. once people were trying to park in the parking lot because of an event and my boss went out to tell them to move, and people were calling her a baby killer. people are jackasses. but it is a good example of how devastating these situations can be to a business. jack in the box has some of the best advertising on the market, and PR people too. they know where to put their money. i’m surprised wendy’s didnt suffer too much even though the chili finger was fake.

  • They really do need to hang these punks out to dry. It should go beyond just termination or even criminal punishment — I mean like go after them through civil action, as well. Yeah, I know they probably neither of them have a dime to their names, but make it so that any money they earn in the future has to be paid back in reparations to Domino’s. There will probably be a long term psychological impact to the consumer which could be catastrophic to this company and might end up costing them millions of dollars over the long haul. While a most people will understand that this is most likely an isolated situation, still, it’s just the idea that’s been put into their heads when they’re considering ordering some food. (“Hey dude, how ’bout Domino’s?” “Nah man. Just hearing that news story — can’t say I have an appetite for them tonight.”) The good news: With proper marketing and PR, Domino’s will eventually recover from this — and this video is a great start — best of luck to ya, Mr. Doyle. Anybody remember the rumor about Corona beer back in the ’80’s? Oh, right — I’m probably the only one on here who was old enough to drink back then.