Corporations spend millions of dollars in advertising to carefully cultivate a brand and image, yet all that money can be for naught when a couple of trashy employees take it upon themselves to post a video on Youtube showing them deliberately sneezing and farting on the food they are about to serve.
Domino's (NYSE:DPZ), the nation's second largest pizza chain with over 8,700 locations in 60 countries, is suffering such an assault at the moment.
The video is narrated by a young lady who takes obvious delight in ridiculing the company and its customers. One has to wonder what goes through the mind of an employee who, despising the company, continues to take the paycheck rather than move on. It's not as though Domino's is the only low-wage job on the market, even in these hard times.
According to Ad Age, a Domino's spokesperson said that the employees have been identified and will soon be ex-employees. The narrator, Kristi, sent an e-mail apology claiming that food subjected to bodily effluents was never served to customers, but we'll never know for sure.
The video has been viewed by upwards of a million people, and the doubt it plants in customer's minds can kill business. Only time will tell the total dollar cost of the brand damage wrought by just two of 125,000 employees.
Note: the original video was pulled after the perp filed a claim of copyright violation. The following video is from a news report.
Below, a Domino's executive has posted this heartfelt apology, and a felony warrant is out for the arrest of the perps.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
4-17-2009 @ 11:17AM
dude said...
I never eat at Dominos anyway. Maybe they can add boogers and farts to their topping list.
4-17-2009 @ 2:10PM
larrikin said...
YOU BE THE JUDGE... two dice for a logo, whats the two die? a 2 and 1 in Vegas at the tables thats a CRAP out.......
They've been telling you for years what the pizza really is and you still keep buying their CRAP pizza-LOL
4-17-2009 @ 3:34PM
Bamile said...
I eat at Dominos but it really doesn't matter who eats there or not. This was a disgusting prank and I think the guilty party should be heald accountable and made an example of. Every business built on patron trust is kept alive by those patrons. Then when garbage like this happens it can be deteriorate that trust very quickly. Especially with this age of technology we have today. Maybe if those kids had to pay the resturaunt for the store cleanup, and the customer loss the owner received due to this negative publicity that will be payback enough. Jailtime just impacts everyone which is unfortunate with these types of events.
4-17-2009 @ 3:45PM
Karen said...
Those are not dice...it is a domino!!!
Hence the domino name.
Idiots!
4-17-2009 @ 4:45PM
debra said...
oh damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.....
4-17-2009 @ 5:13PM
ishkabibble95 said...
Hahaha Yea... It's a Domino. DERDERDER
4-17-2009 @ 6:33PM
Aja said...
Those were the most disgusting and disrespectful acts in a food environment I've ever seen in my life.
Thank God myself and no one in my family eats Domino's anyways! Nobody should after seeing this filth!!
4-17-2009 @ 7:17PM
bigsissy500 said...
ewwwwwwwwwww this is so gross i am never eating at this place again i mean how can anyone do that ? now i can see a guy doin that in his own home but on the food that they serve to ppl that is so sickning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4-17-2009 @ 7:34PM
tbotu said...
Do you really believe this happens only at Dominos?
4-17-2009 @ 7:39PM
cathyxiii said...
Who is the idiot franchise owner who hired some psychos with criminal records? Probably some cheap ass who wanted to save money!!!!!!!!! Serves you right!!!
4-17-2009 @ 7:42PM
chasthenurse said...
do you think this individual store at this particular franchise is the only time this has ever happened? gentlemen,spike the punch
4-17-2009 @ 7:45PM
margaret said...
UGH I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO EAT THERE EVER EVER EVER WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE - DISGUSTING ACTS WHAT KIND OF CHILDHOOD DID THEY HAVE!!!
4-17-2009 @ 7:52PM
E-Dude said...
Dominos - Pizza 2 dice for!
4-17-2009 @ 7:56PM
timrose20047 said...
Hey people, this kind of thing can and does happen every day by these kind of little punk ass kids and you don't even know it. Can't single out Dominos, think about those criminals wherever you go out to eat. If you didn't make it yourself at home you'd better assume the worst....anywhere.
4-17-2009 @ 8:11PM
dedriamccall said...
This is the one of the main reasons why we say "GRACE" before we eat our food. This is just one of the times that we have been able to view this filth, but you had better believe that with the sickos present in this world, this isn't the first or last time, this has happened. I cook for my kids at least 5 times a week. Looks like it will be 7.
4-17-2009 @ 8:26PM
bree021 said...
After viewing this video, not only does it make me not want to eat @ Dominos' but at any fast food restaurant. I mean let's face it I'm sure this didn't just happen @ Dominos. I'm sure that this has happened at many other places we don't hear about. We know about this incident because these two imature people posted it on the net. Come on it happens more than we think.... I have heard stories b4 but this makes me believe in most of them. All I can say is " Start eating more homemade food."
4-17-2009 @ 8:42PM
NessA said...
Eeew, that's gross! It just shows you can't trust anyone employed at ANY restaurant to cook your food. And it's pretty sad to think that half of that food they made was probably eaten by children...
What a bunch of sickos those 2 are.
And I agree with Dedriamccall.
4-17-2009 @ 8:43PM
utrunner03 said...
...I thought I tasted fart on my double pepperoni the other day
4-17-2009 @ 9:13PM
Bobby said...
thats nasty i would never eat there again even they say there sanatized they may not be so i woudnt trust them again im not
4-17-2009 @ 9:39PM
pmhpms said...
First of all: Larrikin, you are an idiot. It's a domino, as others have pointed out to you. Second: while there are many great people working in fast food restaurants, there are also a lot of village idiots. The great ones will move up through the ranks of life pretty easily. The idiots will likely work the line at fast food for many years to come. So, don't make them mad, because they WILL put boogers in your food. What else do their ridiculously small brains have to entertain themselves? I'm glad this guy will face charges but Dominoes should sue this loser for lost business.