Domino's Pizza revives 'the Noid' on cartoon character's 25th birthday
Domino's Pizza created a Facebook game to feature the NOID, a long-eared red cartoon character featured in the company's advertising in the 1980s.
Photo courtesy of Domino's Pizza
The Ann Arbor Township-based pizza chain said today that it would feature the NOID in a one-week promotion through its Facebook page.
The mascot was "a cartoon character of indeterminate species, never really talking but always laughing wickedly as he sent thunderstorms to bedevil Domino’s pizza deliverers or bounced around on a pogo stick to try to flatten a cheese pie," the Associated Press reported.
Domino's said in a statement that the promotion, called "Avoid the NOID," would give fans a chance to play an 8-bit-style Facebook game for a chance to win a gift card.
The NOID, it turns out, was created in 1986 — making 2011 its 25th anniversary.
"Or is it his?" Domino's asks, coyly, in its press release.
“Being 25 is pretty cool. I believe I can legally rent a car now,” the NOID "said" in a statement. “While I am old enough that some people consider me ‘vintage’ — I’ve still got skills, and proved it by stealing 10,080 free pizza gift cards from Domino’s.”
It's the latest in a series of nontraditional marketing campaigns for Domino's, which has had huge success with commercials acknowledging that its previous pizza wasn't good enough, prompting a total redesign.
For a history lesson, watch this commercial from 1988 in which the NOID tries to destroy a Domino's pizza with liquid nitrogen.
Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.
Comments
superhappyfunbrett
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 3:03 p.m.
Hey I have an idea... LIGHTEN UP, DEBBIE DOWNERS! You're hating on a cartoon character... lol A lot of folks prefer news to be balanced out by occasional entertaining and/or silly happenings... if you want to be macabre and dismal, look for different headlines and comment on those. It's pretty simple... YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF WHAT YOU READ.
superhappyfunbrett
Wed, Aug 10, 2011 : 8 p.m.
Maybe you're reading the wrong news then? Try "Black Helicopters Weekly" perhaps? :-) I don't thin a Noid story is a big enemy in way you're concerned. And yes, you did in fact click on this story. Your hand motion controlled your reading fate. Just sayin'...
shadow wilson
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 3:39 p.m.
Um it seems reasonable to complain about something so insignificant as.."the noid".. being foisted upon us as news. And when it is on the front of the web page then someone else is controlling what we read.
RoboLogic
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 2:03 p.m.
Avoid the Noid!
lisasimpson
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 6:50 a.m.
Best memory of my mom, hands down, is when she agreed to dress up as the Noid and pass out coupons at our local heritage festival. I had to accompany her because she couldn't actually hand out anything, in fact all communication was completely out the window with that getup. As I passed out coupons, my mom had to suffer through countless kids knocking on the costume's head. I was maybe 12 at the time. Best mom memory ever for sure.
microtini
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 3:34 a.m.
Not only is this an advertisement, the poll is a marketing-research tool for Domino's. I wonder how much Domino's paid aa.com to compromise their journalistic principles. Oh, wait. They threw those away years ago. Never mind.
John B.
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 9:44 p.m.
Tee hee... Sorry, couldn't entirely contain myself. Carry on (you are correct).
Roadman
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 2:45 a.m.
22 years ago there was a bizarre twist to the "Noid" character. In Atlanta, a young man, one Kenneth Lamar Noid, made national news by entering a Domino's Pizza shop and holding employees hostage demanding to speak to Tom Monaghan for allegedly misappropriating the use of his name. After a five-hour tense stadoff with police, the employees escaped after Mr. Noid became preoccupied with eating pizza that the hostage empoyees made for him. Noid was eventually tried by a court on kidnapping and related charges, but Noid was found not guilty by reason of insanity. See <a href="http://www.lonelysandwich.com/post/35568766/kenneth-lamar-noidin-1989-kenneth-lamar-noid-a" rel='nofollow'>www.lonelysandwich.com/post/35568766/kenneth-lamar-noidin-1989-kenneth-lamar-noid-a</a>
shadow wilson
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 1:45 a.m.
For heavens sakes this is a joke! The noid? yessir the noid right up there with Speedy Alkaseltzer and Mr Clean.....it was a dumb campaign back then and hardly worth mentioning now and certainly not news.
auntiemmmm
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 10:35 p.m.
In the decadent '80s I was living in Greensboro NC and I had a "friend" who dressed as the Noid for Halloween. He evidently attended a rather wild party celebrating the evening and had a bit too much of whatever. He awoke the next morning in the bushes of the public library to one of Greensboro's finest saying "wake-up NOID!" The costume must have been stellar!
KJMClark
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 9:08 p.m.
Hey, the Noid was much better than Burger King's "Where's Herb" promotion from the same era.
jns131
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 8:37 p.m.
Thank you from the bottom of our Noids heart. We ended up carrying one of these giant things home from Cedar Point one year. Ended up becoming our child's favorite toy. We also have their Noid toys as well. Thanks for the memories. That was a blast from the past.
Townie
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:46 p.m.
Thanks Nathan for this important business news. I would have been totally misinformed if I hadn't read this. How about a story about SPARK and the latest installment of millions in taxpayer dollars and how they absolutely, positively won't account for any of it -- where it went nor if it produced any jobs at all? Opps, sorry that's not really business news is it?
lumberg48108
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 8:50 p.m.
@ townie read much? <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ann-arbor-spark-announces-2010-results-122658263.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ann-arbor-spark-announces-2010-results-122658263.html</a> ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ann Arbor SPARK's efforts yielded measureable results in 2010. In collaboration with state and regional partners, Ann Arbor SPARK helped 29 businesses expand in the region and attracted 13 new companies. These efforts resulted in $151 million in new investment commitments and the creation of over 1,400 new jobs. More than 250 companies in the region worked with Ann Arbor SPARK's business retention team who helped them address risk factors and identify growth opportunities. "A regional collaboration between the private, public and academic sectors, Ann Arbor SPARK is achieving sustainable growth for Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County," said Paul Krutko, president and CEO. "Over the past five years, the region benefitted from Ann Arbor SPARK's efforts to attract and grow business across all sectors, creating a diverse and growing economy. The economic progress and success of the region is directly, positively impacted by the efforts of Ann Arbor SPARK working with our open source partners." etc
pegret
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:29 p.m.
This isn't a news story, it's an advertisement.
John B.
Tue, Aug 9, 2011 : 9:42 p.m.
...and what else is new at AA.com?
Terry Star21
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 6:57 p.m.
I miss Tom Monaghan, he did so much for our community, the Tigers, Architecture, etc. - what a great person !
Townie
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:48 p.m.
Another religious nutcase who wanted to control our democracy with his millions. Now he's in FL trying to do the same thing and getting the same reaction he got here in MI.
Top Cat
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:29 p.m.
I still see him now and then in the Dominos Farms office complex. A very pleasant and unassuming fellow.
pegret
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:27 p.m.
Gag.
Arbuckle
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:59 p.m.
Why do people only have negative things to say about a profitable company based in Ann Arbor? This is not only news, but good news. You'd all be complaining if Domino's tanked and everybody lost their jobs. Just can't win I guess.
bunnyabbot
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 8:17 p.m.
probably has to do with the history of dominos
Terry Star21
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 6:59 p.m.
Very good post !
Top Cat
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:43 p.m.
And this sells pizza ?
redwingshero
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:12 p.m.
Chances are, it will. God Bless the American consumer...
81wolverine
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:17 p.m.
Why? Everyone's bad memories had just started to fade away.
redwingshero
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:10 p.m.
Yeah, it's interesting to see throw-backs coming full circle.
tommy_t
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:09 p.m.
They definitely improved their product from the 80's tomato paste covered cardboard model.
aatom
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 4:03 p.m.
I believe that's "long-eared" not "long-earned".
Townie
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 7:58 p.m.
There you go again - insisting on editing and proof reading. Please just accept the fact that there isn't any on AA.com (but lots of comment censorship) and forget about all the errors and omissions you see constantly.
Nathan Bomey
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 4:08 p.m.
Yes, fixed the typo in the caption, thanks!
shadow wilson
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 4:02 p.m.
this is news?
lumberg48108
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 6:20 p.m.
Is this news? No! Is it a feature/human interest story? Yes ... the limitations of a website keep us from differentiating those categories long deflined in a newspaper by its sections. Sports, Life, Business etc That is why we often read news briefs/police blotter as hard news stories with headlines ... its a limitation but one that can be addressed better by annarbor.com
Roy Munson
Mon, Aug 8, 2011 : 5:01 p.m.
It is a nice change of pace from the norm on this site - break-ins, robberies, etc. Oh, and stories about the police force being cut so we can all live in a paradise filled with art. It is better reading that the NOID is back stealing from people rather than hearing about the real thing.