A company deserves credit when it comes up with a good idea, and Domino’s “Paving for Pizza” marketing campaign is a creative way to both get attention and help its customers.
The Washington Post reported last week that the Michigan-based pizza company has made contributions for street repairs in four cities (in California, Delaware, Georgia and Texas) and will consider offering the same help to others — based on nominations from customers.
What a shame Domino’s didn’t come up with this idea two or three years ago.
Maybe the company would have taken such pity on Hattiesburg that it would have resurfaced half the streets that were in poor condition.
As it turns out, the city has spent millions on the work in the past few years, and although driving conditions are greatly improved in some areas, they’re pitiful in others.
OK, so Domino’s is not going to give any one city a million dollars. But every little bit helps.
Its marketers figured out a clever way to equate a pizza with something fragile and breakable like Waterford crystal.
The Domino’s website proclaimed, “Potholes, cracks and bumps in the road can cause irreversible damage to your pizza during the drive home from Domino’s.”
All chuckles aside, the city manager in Milford, Del., a town of 10,000 people, said Domino’s gave his city $5,000. The money paid to repair of 40 potholes of varying sizes.
In exchange, the city agreed to use spray chalk to apply the Domino’s logo and the phrase “Oh yes we did” next to each pothole. Even though the chalk washed away after the first rain, plenty of drivers and passengers had to notice it.
Milford is signficiantly smaller than Hattiesburg, but the city manager said its annual street repair budget was $30,000 — far less than what the Hub City has spent in recent years on potholes and other patches.
So the $5,000 in Delaware made a difference.
Hattiesburg may have done a lot of resurfacing lately, but potholes aren’t going away on other streets.
So there’s no harm if somebody nominates the city for this program. You can do it by going to the website pavingforpizza.com and entering a zip code.
The Milford city manager said he received some complaints that the donation shows how infrastructure is crumbling and how corporations are taking over. But he properly defended the gift from Domino’s by saying that it’s his job to find money for services wherever he can.
He also thinks the national publicity can only help his city, and he’s probably right about that. The gift really is no different than sponsoring a team in a city recreation league.
The repaired potholes will help all drivers, not just those carrying a pizza.
Hattiesburg is far from the only city in America that has struggled to maintain its streets in recent years.
The cost of resurfacing has increased at a rate higher than municipal tax revenues. Bridges and highways are in even worse shape – especially here in Mississippi.
Domino’s is among few taxpayers willing to put up a little extra for road repairs.
It’s impossible to dislike that idea.
