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Photographs from the Conover, N.C., Police Department


Mmmmm…mmmmmmm good.  Now wait, that’s Campbells Soup.  And you really probably wouldn’t be saying anything like that if you had been one of the “lucky” ones that caught the now infamous Domino’s kitchen video prank before it was pulled off of the ever popular YouTube site.

Seems like two (now) former employees of Domino’s thought it would just be ever so much fun to record themselves making their own little version of sandwiches.  So, away they go, preparing sandwiches, which they made it appear were for delivery.  Some cheese up the one worker’s nose, then on the sandwich was a highlight.  The other employee was kind enough to narrate it all.

Well, obviously this was violating health code standards in a rather big way.  And as a result, the pair find themselves facing felony charges while the company faces a major public relations problem.

Viewers saw it and were obviously disgusted.  If you ran a Google search for “Domino,” you will be welcomed with plenty of hits about this video.  Twitter is all a buzz with talks about it.  And I realize lots of times you hear how any word of mouth is good for a company.  I can’t say I am positive it is true in this case.  If you are a restaurant, is that really what you want to be known for?

According to YouGov, a research firm which holds online surveys of around 1,000 consumers each day, the perception of its (Domino’s) quality went from positive to negative since last week.  “It’s graphic enough in the video, and it’s created enough of a stir, that it gives people a little bit of pause,” said Ted Marzilli, global managing director for YouGov’s BrandIndex.

Paul Gallagher, managing director and head of the US crisis practice at the PR firm Burson-Marsteller says that what Domino’s is dealing with “is a nightmare.  It’s the toughest situation for a company to face in terms of a digital crisis.”

It was a blogger that alerted owner Mr. McIntyre to the videos on YouTube.  The woman, who identified herself as Kristy, films her co-worker Michael making the sandwiches.  She proudly exclaims in the video “In about five minutes it’ll be sent out on delivery where somebody will be eating these, yes, eating them, and little did they know that cheese was in his nose and that there was some lethal gas that ended up on their salami,” Kristy said. “Now that’s how we roll at Domino’s.”

Commentors from the site Consumerist.com used “clues” in the video to figure out the franchise location in Conover, NC, and contact the owner.  The next day, the franchise owner fired both employees, identified as Kristy Hammonds, 31 and Michael Seltzer, 32.  The franchise brought in the health department, who had him throw out all open food containers. McIntyre said that alone cost hundreds of dollars.

The video was removed from YouTube by Wednesday due to a copyright claim by Hammonds

I said it before and I’ll say it again, people have to realize that what they put out there is actually viewable….it’s the internet people.  Be careful what you say, or do, because you just never know who is watching.  And for pete’s sake, don’t go shoving things up your nose past the age of two.  I mean…what the hell were you thinking?

via: nytimes