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:''For Domino's Pizza in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Principality of Monaco, see Domino's Pizza Enterprises.''

'Domino's Pizza, LLC' () () is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Tom Monaghan in 1960. As of 2006, it had 8,000 corporate and franchised stores in more than 54 countries^[1]. It was the second-largest pizza chain in the United States when it went public in 2004 for just under $15 a share.

Contents

History

Controversy

Domino's in popular culture

''The Simpsons''

References

See also

External links

History

Domino’s Pizza began in 1960 when Tom Monaghan and his brother James bought "Dominick's Pizza", a small pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The deal was secured by a $75 down payment and the brothers borrowed $500 to pay for the store. Eight months later, James quit the partnership and traded his half of the business to Tom for a used Volkswagen Beetle. With Tom as the sole owner of the company, Dominick's Pizza became Domino's Pizza. In 1968, a fire destroyed the company headquarters and commissary. Although Domino's faced numerous other obstacles in the following years, including a 1975 trademark-infringement lawsuit by Amstar, maker of Domino sugar,^[2] the company expanded, and in 1978, the 200th Domino’s franchise opened. At the prospect of potentially losing the right to use the Domino's Pizza brand name, Tom Monaghan hired Group 243 to create an alternative identity. Later they became agency of record for the company and remained so for over a decade. During that time, the agency, led by president Janet Muhleman and her partner Robert Cotman designed the store interiors, the pizza box, the Indy race car, created and produced all of the advertising, and managed recruitment for the franchise. When hired Domino's had less than 100 units, they marketed the brand until it reached over 5,000. In the 1980s, Domino’s decentralized its operations by opening the first international Domino’s in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In the following years the company expanded even more, and as of September 2006, it has 8,238 stores which totaled US$1.4 billion in gross income.^[3] Monaghan retired in 1998 and sold Domino's Pizza for nearly 1 billion dollars,^[4] but retained a 27 percent non-controlling stake in the company.
The three dots on a Domino's Pizza box represent the first three Domino's stores. Monaghan had planned to add another dot for each new restaurant that opened, but given the rapid rate at which Domino’s opened new stores, that quickly became impractical.
In the 1980s, Domino's Pizza was well known for its advertisements featuring The Noid. That concept was created by Group 243 Inc. who then hired Will Vinton Studios to produce the television commercials that they created. Customers were implored to order from Domino's in order to "avoid the Noid." In 1989, a man, Kenneth Lamar Noid, who thought the ads were a personal attack on him, held two employees of an Atlanta, Georgia, Domino's restaurant hostage for over five hours. After forcing them to make him a pizza, Noid surrendered to police. Noid was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion, and possession of a firearm during a crime, but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Contrary to popular belief, this incident did not cause Domino’s to pull the "Noid" campaign off the air; in reality, Noid creator and owner Will Vinton Studios asked for a larger amount of money for continued use of the Noid character, and Domino’s chose not to renew its contract.
In 2000, Domino’s introduced another advertising mascot for its North American customers, . His objective was to get Domino’s employees to break the rules set down by the company (his most famous was trying to get a worker to use a rolling pin to shape the crust, even resorting to stalking to get him to try it). The slogan that accompanied Andy was "Bad Andy. Good Pizza." It wasn't well received, and lasted only a little over a year.

Until the late 1980s, Domino's kept its menu very simple. Most stores sold only one type of crust (hand-tossed, also referred to as regular crust), in two sizes (large and small), and only one choice of beverage (Coca-Cola Classic). Later, competition from other delivery chains forced Domino’s to add deep-dish and thin crusts, get rid of the small size, and add medium and extra-large sizes, a choice of several beverages, and side orders such as bread sticks and chicken wings (Domino's was the first national pizza chain to sell chicken wings).
Domino’s has also introduced numerous innovations in the pizza industry including the now standard use of corrugated cardboard delivery boxes, the modern belt-driven pizza oven, modern and centralized ingredient logistics, and the "HeatWave," a portable electrical bag system that uses patented magnetic induction technology to keep the pizza hot during delivery.
Over 8,000 stores worldwide now operate under the Domino’s brand, with the opening of a store in Huntley, Illinois as the 8,000th store. All international stores are franchised. The Domino’s Pizza store in Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland, became the first in Domino's history to hit a turnover of $3 million (€2.35 million) a year.

Controversy

Though perhaps best known as one of the founders of Domino's, Tom Monaghan is no longer involved with the running of the corporation, nor does he have a controlling interest. In the past Domino’s has come under fire because of Monaghan's support of pro-life religious and political organizations, such as Operation Rescue and the Thomas More Law Center, which provides financial and legal support to the Intelligent Design movement.

Domino's in popular culture

★ The 1990 blockbuster ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' featured the titular pizza-loving reptiles ordering from Domino's, even commenting that the "pizza dude has 30 seconds" to complete the delivery, in reference to "Domino’s 30 minutes or it's free" policy. In the movie however, the Turtles just get the pizza $3 off for "being two minutes late, dude!" This delivery slogan has been further parodied by the Ninja Burger website, as "Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, or we commit seppuku!"

★ In issue #75 of the first volume of the superhero team comic book ''X-Factor'' (Feb. 1992), the team's speedster, Quicksilver, runs past a group of bystanders, startled by the object rushing past them that they could not even see, causing one to exclaim, "What the heck moves that fast?", to which another responds, "Musta been Federal Express. Or Domino’s."'

★ In the short ''White Power'' by The Lonely Island, Andy answers the phone by saying "Domino’s Pizza!"

★ Domino’s (along with Burger King) is indirectly mentioned in issue #6 of the ''Sonic X'' comic book, when the main characters comment on the food available on Earth.

★ Domino’s pizza was on the dinner table and mentioned in '' (2006) by Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) as he said grace: "This wonderful harvest of Domino’s, KFC, and the always-delicious Taco Bell." (It should be noted that Domino's is the odd one out as KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are owned by the same company, Yum! Brands.)

★ Domino’s has been referenced several times on the tv series ''Yes, Dear''.

★ In the young Japanese Pop star Kawabe Chieco's music video, 'Candy Baby'',' she can be seen eating from a stack of Domino’s pizza boxes, at one point dropping them on the floor.

★ Domino's Pizza is also the Official Pizza of NASCAR. It sponsors the 00 Toyota driven by David Reutimann for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Nextel Cup.

★ At the end of the movie ''The Goonies'' Chunk's mother is carrying a Domino's pizza for him, to which he states "My favorite!"

★ In a ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' episode, Mario is seen eating a Domino's Pizza. Also the whole Mario Bros. Plumbing is covered with Domino's Pizza boxes.

★ In Dave Chapelle film ''Half Baked'', the character Thurgood responds to Kenny's line, "If I'm not back in half an hour, call the police!" with, "If he's not back in half an hour, we're calling Domino's."

★ In the novel ''The Client'' by John Grisham, protagonist Mark Sway - while in jail - orders several large pizzas from every Domino's store in Memphis to be delivered to the rather bulky police sergeant who arrested him earlier that day.

★ In the movie ''Reality Bites'', a character references Domino's connection to Operation Rescue.

★ In the movie ''The Corruptor'', officer Nick Chen rings up a public phone expecting a gang informat to answer. The plan backfires when another suspicious gang member picks up the ringing phone instead. Realizing that the informat did not answer, Chen disguises the call as a wrong number - "err.. is this Domino Pizza?"

★ Domino's sponsored the halftime reports for NFL Live!/NFL on NBC during the 1990s until NBC lost American Football Conference television coverage to CBS.

★ In the sitcom ''The King of Queens'', Arthur suggests that they "try that new pizza place,known as "da-meen-oes".

''The Simpsons''

In the UK, Domino's Pizza has been the sponsor of episodes of ''The Simpsons'' on Sky One since 1998. In 2006, Domino's launched products based on the show such as the "Homers Hot Stuff" pizza, along with TV advertising featuring the characters. Domino's also sponsored ''The Simpsons'' on FOX TV (previously sponsored by Pizza Hut).

★ In "I, D'oh-Bot", Chief Wiggum, fearing what he thinks is a motorcycle gang (but is really Bart and Milhouse on Bart's Bike), disguises his cop car as a pizza delivery car. Passenger Lou then worries that the gang might like pizza and come over to the car to order some, Chief Wiggum then puts a "Dominoes" (as opposed to Domino's) sign on the side of the car. This joke implies that Domino's pizza is so unappetising that the gang won't order anything even if they like pizza. This gag was cut in the UK.

References

1. http://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/contact.nsf/frmIntlLocator
2. Amstar Corp. v. Domino's Pizza, Inc., 615 F.2d 252, 260 (5th Cir. 1980)
3. [1]. Domino’s Pizza news release, July 20 2006.
4. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16250502.htm

See also

★ ''Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald'', 546 U.S. ___ (2006), a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving claims against Domino’s of racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1981

★ Pizza Hut

★ Papa John's

★ Little Caesars

★ List of restaurant chains

★ Avoid the Noid, advertising video game

External links

★ Official website

★ Nutrition information on Domino’s Pizza