Thursday, April 16, 2009

Domino's disaster

By now I'm sure you've read, and perhaps seen, the cause of one of the biggest PR disasters of the 21st century to date. And, it's yet another example of how the use of today's technology has backfired in a very, very public way.

I'm talking about Domino's, of course, and the YouTube video which two former restaurant employees posted. The video, which earlier today had reached 1 million hits, showed a restaurant employee sticking cheese up his nose, and then on the sandwich, plus other disgusting in-kitchen activities. All of this was narrated by a fellow conspirator, and videographer, who then posted the film.

Domino's quickly fired both employees and is threatening civil action. The CEO of Domino's has posted his own response video...but the sad news for this brand is that this message has received only 22,000 hits.

Building brands takes years but today's example shows that, once again, a simple, random act can quickly tear a brand down. The phenomenon of social networking and constant sharing of video and photographs makes the posting of negative words, pictures and imagery easy, and quick. The impact? More and more examples like today's crisis communications challenge for Domino's...

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