Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Is Self-Deprecation The New Formula for Success?

I know there have been a bunch of blog posts about buzzwords for 2010; even though I haven't actually read any I'm pretty sure "authenticity" is one of them. Judging by the amount of kudos Domino's is getting for their new "Pizza Turnaround" campaign, apparently self-deprecation is also a hot trend. Creativity called the campaign "a transparent journey of self discovery;" others applaud the "great effort on their part to bring back a better image." Instead of trying to brush nasty consumer comments under the rug, Domino's took the "we know we suck" approach--you know, authenticity and all that. Works for comedians; must work for advertising, right?



I have to say--it's not really working for me. Where's the line between exposing your vulnerabilities and patting yourself on the back? How many points should a company get for acknowledging that they suck and doing better? Makes me question whether the whole Domino's-workers-putting-boogers-in-the-food video was just a staged part of this "comeback" plot.

I personally loved Domino's old crust...maybe I'm just bitter that they changed it.

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