Domino’s has a series of ads out supporting local restaurants. Their slant is not just to order from the “mom and pop” shops, but also to skip the delivery apps like UberEats and Door Dash. By the by, Door Dash has a great commercial, check it out here. Take a look at the short Domino’s ad here, and the extended version is at the bottom of this post.
Something about this campaign rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think it’s because I deliver for UberEats from time to time. I just get the vibe there is something else Domino’s actually cares about and it’s not saving customers from the delivery apps. My guess is that somehow this simply helps their bottom line. After all, Domino’s uses the apps to deliver their pizza!
Not to mention, restaurants aren’t forced to use these delivery app brands. I would think getting an order from an UberEats customer is better than that customer not ordering from the restaurant at all, right? I mean, let’s be honest, someone who can order and have it delivered to their doorstep isn’t going to take a more noble route by getting out of bed, getting dressed, driving to a restaurant (dealing with traffic and gas prices), ordering, driving home, changing into comfy clothes, then eating… just to save a few bucks. So these restaurants either get the customer through the apps, or not at all.
Because of that, this Domino’s ad is pointless. Well, I shouldn’t say that… they did a good thing by purchasing the $100 gift cards from the local restaurants, but if they genuinely only cared about the local shops, they would have done the gift card thing without making a whole commercial about how virtuous they are.
Another thing not mentioned, if the apps were to go away, that eliminates income for a lot of people.
How do you feel about the ads? Are you encouraged to buy a Domino’s pizza because of the kindness they showed to other restaurants? I bet they’re betting on you making that choice 🙂
Thanks for stopping by…
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 
That Dominos ad is a disgrace and is no longer running. Ever restaurant make a voluntary decision to use a third part app. And I know from personal experience the fees can be negotiated and a portion. If not all of the fees is cost recovered in a higher menu price. Chick fail a is the master of cost recovery. And ascfsr as fees, Dominos franchises charge a delivery fee right to the customer on every order that they expressly state is not a driver tip. The franchise I order from in Florida charges a $4.99 delivery fee.
So it was clear Dominos intention of the add was to try and stop erosion of their own deliveries going over to third part apps for customers desiring other pizza restaurants or other restaurants in general.
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As the owner of a small restaurant I can tell you all these app delivery businesses have created fictitious online menus for my restaurant. Without my approval. The menus are wrong, wrong prices and even wrong items. My business however takes the criticism from the customer.
I have had them remove my menu and then every few months they put it back out there.
How is this legal? It is unethical at best.
So your statement about us not Having to Use the delivery app is misinformed.
No it is not better for me to get the business from their customers in my situation. Why should we work harder for a third party to get all the profits? On top of that if something goes wrong we catch the blame even though in my situation it’s been mistakes based of the False Menu. Uber Eats menu is so bad it has me selling Curly Quesadillas. The closest thing on my menu to that is curly fries . And once again the price would be wrong if that was the intention.
I have greatly appreciated Dominoes campaign.
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The Domino’s commercial demonizes delivery apps, implying that local restaurants are victims because delivery fees “cut into our bottom lines.” But the local restaurants have options. They can do their own deliveries, pay services to do deliveries for them or not offer deliveries. Do whichever works best for your restaurant to compete, but don’t use delivery services and then complain that they want to be paid to deliver your food.
In the end, consumers will decide whether deliveries are worth the cost.
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I couldn’t figure out what Dominoes was doing. The bought a bunch of gift cards, what did they do with them? I couldn’t figure that out.. so it was really don’t use food delivery service, unless you want Dominoes pizza, then, we can bring it directly to you. It is a confusing ad.
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They claim to be helping out local restaurants. But they could’ve helped them even more by buying the gift cards and just not giving them to anyone. In that scenario, the local restaurants make money and don’t lose any inventory.
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I get that Domino’s wants to help local businesses by encouraging their customers to phone ahead and pick up their order vs. Using a delivery service i e., uber eats, grubhub, etc. And to further encourage this, they bought gift cards to….? Give away or sell to their customers?
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Domino’s is putting out a lot of ads that are ‘anti-app’ because they are problems with delivery apps. They have one that complains about the fees the apps sometimes have.
As the commercial said, these apps take some of the profit from restaurants. The apps know that they can’t pass all the fees (delivery, system maintenance, salaries for the people who work for the app but don’t really do anything to cause food to be able to get from maker to eater) on the the consumer or, yes, people will drive or not order from them, like you said.
The reason restaurants would rather get an order than no order is that food goes bad. It’s like a construction company making a bid that won’t cover the cost, just so they can amortize the equipment. Only here it’s better to break even on a meal than have to toss it because then you can buy more.
The problem is these apps are poorly thought out cost wise. That’s why DoorDash is trying out that ‘unlimited’ plan. But they will probably still take money away from the stores because they can bully their way by saying they’ll drop you.
But to answer your question, it’s because a lot of people, like myself, knew nothing about this. I avoid apps because of how they harm restaurants. If domino’s thinks they have a better way, let’s see it.
Also, if you’re going to write a critical piece like this you might want to check over for typos and more importantly check your facts. Also, have a more impressive opinion on why someone is doing something other than, “it has to help their bottom line somehow”. No it doesn’t. Companies can do good for no reason than they can.
I feel this is important information that you didn’t have before you wrote this so I’m going to yell it: DOMINOS DOESN’T USE ANY THIRD PARTY DELIVERY APPS LIKE UBEREATS, ONLY THEIR OWN.
For transparency: I have never worked for domino’s, eaten at domino’s, been inside a domino’s, or even like pizza. And their food doesn’t look that appetizing.
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Thanks for the comment and catching my typos! We can agree to disagree about 99% of what you said.
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Maybe they are trying to hold onto their drivers
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