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© History Oasis
The Noid transformed from Domino’s most successful food mascot into corporate America’s strangest cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of marketing campaigns.
1986
In the late ’80s, Domino’s faced a perception problem. Customers started noticing their pizza arrive cold, soggy, and late.It was a PR disaster, and Domino’s needed a marketing solution. Fast. So they came up with a thirty-minute delivery promise and owned up to their delivery issues.
They then tasked Group 243, Domino’s advertising agency based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to develop a new campaign. They came up with an unusual approach. Creative director Ernie Perich and his team proposed creating a mascot for the brand. But with a twist. They thought it would be interesting to create an antagonist rather than a traditional mascot. Writer Matt Thornton suggested the name “Noid,” playing on the word “annoyed.” The concept was simple. Have a mischievous character that would personify everything that could go wrong during pizza delivery.
Will Vinton Studios brought the character to life through claymation animation. Vinton, already famous for creating the California Raisins, designed the Noid as a grotesque figure in a skin-tight red jumpsuit with rabbit ears and buck teeth. They drew a black “N” in a white circle on his chest. The Noid would become the enemy of efficient pizza delivery.
In the Domino’s commercials, the Noid was tasked with destroying pizzas through any means necessary. He would freeze them, crush them, or delay their delivery past the thirty-minute guarantee. But Domino’s pizzas proved “Noid-proof,”always reaching customers hot and fresh despite his schemes.
The campaign worked brilliantly. Domino’s was able to turn lemons into lemonade. They used the Noid to acknowledge customers’ concerns and successfully show their new commitment to on-time delivery with fresh pizza.
The advertising campaign launched with the slogan “Avoid the Noid,” creating an immediate connection between the character and the company’s core promise of delivering within 30 minutes.
1987-1988
The Noid was an unexpected mainstream success. He would go on to appear in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker film and counter Pizza Hut with a $75 million campaign.
CBS even planned a Saturday morning cartoon series featuring the character, but canceled it after criticism that it was an advertising ploy by the pizza chain.
January 30, 1989
But by 1989, things got ugly.
Sean Burnsed arrived for his morning shift at the Domino’s restaurant on Buford Highway in Chamblee, Georgia. The twenty-one-year-old pizzamaker opened the door for what appeared to be the day’s first customer. Kenneth Lamar Noid, a tall twenty-two-year-old man, entered and approached the counter to place his order.
Then Noid drew a .357 Magnum revolver.
Kenneth Noid suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. For months, he had watched Domino’s television commercials telling viewers to “Avoid the Noid.” The shared surname convinced him that Tom Monaghan, Domino’s founder, had created the campaign specifically to mock and humiliate him. The advertising felt like a personal attack broadcast nationwide.
Noid forced Burnsed and another employee behind the counter at gunpoint.
He demanded they call Domino’s headquarters and request one hundred thousand dollars and a white limousine for his escape. When headquarters didn’t take the call seriously, Noid fired two warning shots into the ceiling.
The situation escalated. It was a hostage crisis.
During the five-hour standoff, Noid’s demands shifted repeatedly. He requested a copy of Robert Anton Wilson’s novel “The Widow’s Son,” offering to release one hostage in exchange. When police delivered the book, he refused the trade. He then got hungry and he forced the employees to prepare two pizzas with extra meat and vegetables.
As Noid ate with the gun in his lap, Burnsed and his colleague seized their chance. They escaped when police opened the door to deliver supplies.
Noid surrendered shortly afterward without further violence.
The legal system found Noid not guilty by reason of insanity.
He spent three months at the Georgia Mental Health Institute before release. The incident created a new public relations nightmare for Domino’s.
It linked the mascot to mental illness and soiled the brand.
1990
After the incident, Domino’s rebranded the Noid through the “Yo! Domino’s” campaign. They transformed him from a pizza destroyer to a playful competitor racing children to food.
Domino’s also partnered up with Capcom and released Yo! Noid for Nintendo Entertainment System, selling 500,000 copies. The move brought in significant merchandise revenue for Domino’s.
1991-1995
Domino’s ended its relationship with Group 243 and phased out the thirty-minute delivery promise after safety concerns emerged.
The Noid’s popularity waned until Kenneth Lamar Noid’s death in February 1995 effectively ended the character’s original run as Domino’s primary marketing symbol.
2009-2011
But Domino’s brought the Noid back for a limited time in 2009. Domino’s produced 1,000 limited-edition Noid t-shirts and celebrated the character’s 25th anniversary with a Facebook game called The Noid’s Super Pizza Shootout.
These efforts tested public appetite for the mascot’s return without committing to a full-scale marketing resurrection campaign.
2021
Most recently, the Noid returned in Domino’s campaign promoting autonomous delivery vehicles, marking his first major advertising presence in decades.
The character also appeared in Crash Bandicoot mobile game partnerships while maintaining his original mission of threatening pizza delivery through modern technological challenges.
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