Jury Award Slows Down Domino’s
The concept of time saved--perhaps one of the most precious commodities of American culture today--has become a marketing ploy used by everyone from airlines to pizza makers. Now it has come back to haunt one of the companies most closely linked with it.
Domino’s Pizza, the nation’s No. 1 pizza delivery chain--which built its reputation on a 30-minute guarantee--scrapped its quick-delivery promise Tuesday. The move was prompted by a jury award last week of nearly $79 million to a St. Louis woman who suffered severe spinal and head injuries in 1989 after a Domino’s delivery driver ran a red light and hit her car broadside.
Everyone from U.S. presidents to college students pulling all-nighters have come to expect their pizzas delivered in 30 minutes--or less. But given the potentially horrible consequences, companies may now have to rethink that approach.
“People all think they need to do much more in less time,” said Carol Moog, an Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based advertising psychologist. “But no one can control time--not even Domino’s.”
It was not the first time that the pizza chain, which has 5,200 outlets, has been sued for auto accidents or faced costly judgments due to its delivery policy.
Last May, Domino’s agreed to pay $2.8 million to the family of an Indiana woman killed by a pizza driver accused of speeding in a truck to keep the company’s delivery promise. Delivery Service Negligence Group, an association of attorneys who handle cases involving accident injuries, says Domino’s drivers have been involved in many of its cases.
And Domino’s is not the only pizza deliverer to be involved in such accidents. This past Halloween, a delivery driver for an independent pizzeria struck and killed two 9-year-old cousins who were out trick-or-treating in Orange County.
Thomas S. Monaghan, president of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Domino’s, acknowledged Tuesday that the decision to eliminate the 30-minute guarantee was influenced by the St. Louis jury award, which the company plans to appeal.
“That was certainly the thing that put us over the edge,” Monaghan said. But he defended the company’s safety record, saying that “we are the safest delivery company in the world.” All delivery personnel are required to take defensive driving classes, he said.
The jury last week awarded Jean Kinder, the woman who was hurt in the 1989 accident, $750,000 in actual damages and $78 million in punitive damages. An attorney representing Kinder offered cautious praise for Domino’s announcement on Tuesday.
“We are pleased that Domino’s has heeded the message the jury was sending when they spoke as the conscience of the community,” said Paul E. Kovacs of the Missouri law firm Brinker, Doyen & Kovacs. “We only wish it had happened long before our client was injured.”
The announcement sent some Domino’s affiliates scrambling Tuesday.
“We are trying to draft something right now to put on each of our pizza boxes,” said Rick Swisher, president of L.A. Pizza Inc., which operates 13 Domino’s in the Los Angeles area. On the inside flap, the pizza boxes now say “Guaranteed: 30-minute delivery and product satisfaction. Call store for details.”
Domino’s introduced the delivered pizza more than 30 years ago. It added the 30-minute guarantee in 1984. Many franchises initially promised customers that pizzas would be free if they failed to arrive in 30 minutes. But that promise had been scaled back in recent years to give customers $3 refunds on late pizzas. And customers who complained were often mailed $2 discount coupons for their next pizza.
“It was a great gimmick,” said John Correll, a Michigan-based food industry consultant who helped author the manual for Domino’s. “Besides fast delivery, it was also free delivery.”
Although Domino’s may have set the pizza delivery standard, most competitors have been reluctant to follow with the same advertised promise. Pizza Hut, for example, has never guaranteed 30-minute delivery, said William McClave, vice president of marketing at Pizza Hut’s Western division.
But, ironically, Domino’s is dropping its fast-delivery marketing gimmick at a time when a growing number of firms outside the pizza business are embracing it.
“Immediate gratification is a major need in our culture,” said Renee Fraser, advertising psychologist and owner of the Los Angeles ad firm Fraser & Associates. “That need is only being exacerbated by the use of computers and faxes.”
Perhaps no one knows that better than Federal Express. “Time-certain delivery is critical to our business,” said Robert A. Miller, vice president of marketing at the parcel-delivery giant, which has promised overnight delivery to customers for 20 years. “It is our belief that more and more things will be on a time-certain basis.”
In the fast-food business, speed is especially critical, said Cliff Freeman, whose New York ad agency, Cliff Freeman & Partners, creates ads for Little Caesar’s Pizza and formerly for the Wendy’s hamburger chain. Freeman is critical of Domino’s move. “People will see it as a sign of a company in chaos,” he said. “They’re backpedaling on the very promise they built their reputation on.”
On the contrary, said ad psychologist Moog, consumers will appreciate Domino’s move. “It’s got to be perceived as a sensitive action--even if it’s after the fact.”
Indeed, Domino’s decision to eliminate the 30-minute delivery guarantee was supported by People Against Dangerous Delivery, formed in November, 1989, after the death of a delivery boy.
