The online hubbub and furor caused by two Domino’s employees in Conover, N.C., last week reached stratospheric levels, as the use of social media has become both the source of evil and good.
It started when the two employees posted YouTube videos of themselves engaging in a number of public health law violations: putting cheese in the nose, blowing mucous on a sandwich and putting a sponge, used to wash dishes, between the buttocks. The videos went viral online, viewed by millions of people. They were identified by YouTube viewers, who alerted Domino’s officials. The pranksters were promptly arrested.
Domino’s, a pizza chain based in Ann Arbor, Mich., faced a crisis not of its own making, but its response was telling of how to manage such crises today. Already, a new national study conducted by HCD Research using its Media Curves Web site found 65% of respondents who would previously visit or order Domino’s Pizza were less likely to do so after viewing the offending video.
