Month: November 2011

I am currently working on a case study assignment about Domino’s Pizza in another course. I found it interesting and particularly relevant to the latter part of our marketing course.

A few years back, two employees at a Domino’s Pizza location thought it would be funny to film themselves doing disgusting things to customers’ orders, and posting the video on YouTube. The video showed them sneezing on pizzas and sandwiches, and performing many other appalling acts. The video quickly went viral, amassing over 500,000 views in a few days.

The same day the video was posted, a blogger contacted Domino’s to inform them of what had happened.Domino’s immediately tracked the employees down and terminated them. They then successfully had the video removed from YouTube. Unfortunately the damage had already been done. People were sharing the video and talking about it all over the internet.

This was certainly a major public relations disaster for the company. Domino’s had the burden of rebuilding its company image and reputation. They quickly created a Twitter account, apologizing to the public, and the president of Domino’s put out a video a few days later expressing his apologies.

Domino’s should not have relied on a third party message by a blogger to inform them of the video. Instead, they should have been thoroughly monitoring social media and the internet. With the widespread use and access of social media nowadays, companies have to be extremely aware of what is happening on the internet. In simply a day, the video spread like wildfire.

I came across Betty Tam’s blog post about UGG boots, and it inspired me to share my own story with these boots. My opinion on Uggs has changed considerably over the years, but I would now say that they have certainly been a life-saver for me these past winters.

I used to be against Uggs. When they first came into popularity in North America, most ladies sported Uggs for aesthetics, and not for functionality. You would see silly girls wear them in the summer with shorts and skirts, because they thought the ensemble looked good. I did not approve of paying ridiculous amounts on boots, just to be categorized as one of these girls who merely wore them because they wanted to be “stylish.” The fact of the matter is, Uggs are not stylish. They are quite unattractive, and yet so many young girls would spend hundreds on Uggs without hesitation to “get the look”. Marketers of these boots clearly knew what they were doing.

Last winter I realized my need for footwear that would keep me warm, so I finally gave in and purchased a pair of these ugly boots. Slowly but surely, I fell in love. I now wear my Uggs nearly everyday, whenever I get the chance. The sole reason being how comfortable and warm they keep my feet. When I must go to school on a dreadful cold morning, the thing I care about the most is comfort. That’s where my Uggs serve their purpose.

The Ugg trend is coming to end. However they will continue to be a staple item for me, and others who truly value their functionality.