Brandon Solano never set out to be a Domino’s Pizza pitchman. He was content to work behind the scenes, cooking up new recipes in the chain’s test kitchen. Ditto for Domino’s lawyer Scott Mandel, who was doing just fine working outside the spotlight.

Scott Mandel, left, and Brandon Solano.

image courtesy of Domino's

Both are enjoying national exposure these days thanks to a couple of TV ads for locally based Domino's Pizza, including one that’s been running during the Olympics.

“I’ve been on commercial shoots before but never on camera, which is really nerve-wracking,” said Solano, Domino’s vice president of product development. “I was willing to do anything to help make the new and improved pizza successful, including appear in the ad, but it would not have been my first choice.”

In the commercial, Solano proudly proclaims that Domino’s new hand-tossed pepperoni pizza, sausage pizza and extra-cheese pizza bested rival Papa John's in a taste test. “That's not puffery. Our pizzas taste better,” Solano states in the ad, as lawyer Mandel recites the definition of puffery from a book.

Domino’s Pizza commercial: "Papa John’s puffery"

In another ad, titled “At the door of our harshest critics,” Solano and Domino's chef Sam Fauser hit the road to find out what critics thought of the new pizza recipe, which was rolled out with fanfare earlier this year.

Domino’s Pizza commercial: "Harshest critics"

Solano said his appearance in the ad came about after he made a visit to the Colorado office of Domino’s ad agency, Crispin Porter + Boguski. “I flew to Boulder to let them try our new pizza before it was out; I had the sauce with me, the cheese, the whole thing. I wore my Domino’s uniform, I made the new pizza at one of the local stores, and I took it over to the agency and I let them try the old one and I let them try the new one. I told them ‘This is our best pizza ever (so) you guys have to make our best ad ever.’

“I was speaking passionately about how much better our new product was and I think they were inspired. They said ‘You’re the creator, we’re going to put you in it.’”

Solano was skeptical, but eventually agreed to the plan. The shoot was done partly in Ann Arbor and partly in New Orleans.

“I’m not sure putting my face in the ad was the best foot forward, but they’re the professionals, so I trusted them,” Solano, who claims no previous acting experience, said of the ad agency staff.

Thanks to the exposure, Solano has heard from some old pals and gotten plenty of good-natured ribbing, especially at work, even though he’s not the first Domino’s employee to appear in televised commercials.

“As much as they harass me, there’s enough people around the building that have been in them, (so) I don’t get harassed all by myself,” he said. “My kids, they think it’s fun, they love it.”

Mandel, an Ann Arbor native, has no acting in his background, but he's been in the limelight before. “In college I played football at Michigan so I had some experience being in front of 110,000 people,” he recalled.

“I think they needed a straight man ... They came down to the legal department and did an informal screen test. We had to say a few words into an iPhone and they took a video. I think my selection had a lot more to do with the fact I had less hair than anyone else in the department and what little hair I have is grayer than anyone else. It made me look smarter, maybe a little bit more like your typical lawyer.”

Like Solano, he’s been reconnecting with old acquaintances thanks to the exposure.

“Just today I got e-mail from 6 guys who I went to the University of Michigan with I haven’t spoken to in years who saw the commercial. … My oldest daughter just turned 11, we had her birthday party a couple of weeks ago, someone turned the Olympics on and all of a sudden my commercial came up. She thought that was pretty cool.”

There’s been one other plus for Solano. Thanks to the commercial, he’s realized a dream, albeit indirectly.

“I played hockey at Grand Valley State and it was my dream to be in the Olympics (and) we ran the spot during the Olympics. I never thought I’d be in an ad in it,” he said.

Neither Solano nor Mandel have plans to ditch Domino's for careers as pitchmen. “It was a fun thing to do but a little distracting from my primary mission,” Solano said.

“If Domino’s came along and said they needed a sequel, I would do it,” Mandel added. “Number 1, it was fun. Number 2, it’s a great to be able to do something to help the company. Being in the legal department, you don’t normally get a chance to help drive sales. It was a nice experience.”

Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers entertainment for AnnArbor.com.