Domino’s Ill-Fated “Pasta Dude” Commercial

We’ve already written about Domino’s release of its new Bread Bowl Pasta.  However, what many people might not realize is that these bread bowl pastas are a new spin on the “Pasta Perfecta” product line that Domino’s was testing out last fall.  With the success of Pizza Hut’s Tuscani Pasta, it was clear Domino’s felt the need to enter the market with a pasta product of their own.   They did, with a commercial featuring a character called “Pasta Dude,” a hip, rapping piece of penne.

All of the bread bowl pasta flavors being offered are the exact same flavors that were used when the Pasta Perfecta line was launched in the fall of 2008.  With plenty of people talking about the new bread bowl pastas, why do so few people seem to remember the launch of Pasta Perfecta? And why is Domino’s re-branding their pasta offerings and adding in bread bowls barely 6 months later?

Part of it might have to do with the ill-fated “Pasta Dude” commercial that Domino’s initially selected to advertise the Pasta Perfecta product.  The “Pasta Dude” commercial was pulled in certain markets shortly after it began airing. So why was it pulled?The Mo’Kelly Report suggests the reason is that:

Midway through it looks like he’s either smackin’ it up, flippin’ it and rubbin’ it down…or something else far more vulgar.

A user on Yahoo Answers seems to agree:

there is a piece in the original commercial where the Pasta dude makes a dance gesture like he has someone bent over and is slapping their behind

A commenter on Black Voices provides some confirmation of this:

They haven’t pulled it in my area, they play it like almost 7 times a day, they took out the scene where the little noodle was spanking the air, but that’s it.

Now obviously one blogger, a user on Yahoo Answers and a commenter on Black Voices aren’t the be all end all source of information for why the commercial was pulled, but it sheds some interesting light on the possible reasons. A lot of the original postings of the “Pasta Dude” commercial have been removed from YouTube, but you can still track down the videos in a couple places. Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think about the commercial.