Domino’s Turns Up The Heat

Following up on the Domino’s/Subway sandwich grudge match first reported by Eick a few weeks back, it seems that Domino’s has taken the battle to the next level.  According to this press release,

“Domino’s received a letter from Subway demanding it cease and desist from running advertising featuring the independently researched claim.

The advertising referenced is Domino’s new campaign that cites a national taste test that says people prefer the Domino’s subs two to one over Subway.  In response to this letter, and as you might have witnessed during a recent American Idol episode, the CEO of Domino’s, David Brandon,  was featured in a commercial burning the letter in a sandwich roasting oven. 

Brandon (in his first commercial appearance) justifies this action by saying,

“This is as much fun as a good, old-fashioned school cafeteria food fight … We’re flattered that Subway would consider us a threat, since we’re still new to the sandwich game – but we also thought the best way to respond to their letter was in an irreverent fashion. I think I did what any red-blooded American always wants to do with a letter from a lawyer: burn it to a crisp.”

Further, on Domino’s website, you can see this commercial, and also Bake the Letter where you can hit a button and watch the letter burn. The site claims that over 60k people have burnt the letter so far.

Subtle, this campaign is not.

Now I think that we all know, and as Eick alluded to before, the reason people like Domino’s subs more is likely due to the higher fat content, and thus increased flavor/taste. That said, I have to say I like the way Domino’s has taken on the sandwich king. Now I have no love for Subway for a number of reasons, and I am happy to see a competitor emerge that will stir the pot.  I am also glad that Subway was called on the carpet for their weak response to the initial campaign.  To me, it comes off as pretty sad for someone at Subway to squeal, Call the lawyers, rather than, Let’s take them on!”  What Subway’s response will be from here, we will see. I can’t wait.

h/t to AdWeek for pict.