Domino’s to give away 10,001 pizzas
DOMINO’S tried giving away 10,001 free pizzas to promote the launch of its new premium range on Wednesday, but it didn’t go exactly to plan.
On Domino’s Australia’s Facebook page, the nation’s largest pizza chain announced “10,001 FREE PIZZAS* AVAILABLE NOW” before urging those interested to “Head to our 10,001 Free Pizzas’ tab to grab one before they run out!”
The problem, highlighted quickly by disgruntled would-be customers, was that the link was not working.
When news.com.au tried to click through the link shortly after 4pm it displayed the following error message.
In the comments below the post, users expressed their displeasure.
“After 27 minutes of refreshing, I get various combinations of ‘this page is not published’ or ‘there has been an error’,” Emily Shortall wrote. “The closest I got was ‘this item could not be rendered’.”
“Go time? For what, a 405 error message? Good job Domino’s Australia, get us all hyped up but don’t account for the extra traffic. Epic fail,” Chris Whiting wrote.
“Ok for Dominos to say keep trying but how many different error messages can you get. This is a total social media promotion fail,” Sandi Faddi wrote.
Others called the promotion “BS” and said Domino’s had “lost us as customers”.
“We’ll never buy from you again, fully rigged,” Jodie Bleeze wrote.
A Domino’s spokeswoman told news.com.au: “We had unprecedented demand from our fans, and 10,000 +1 lucky people have received a free premium pizza tonight.
“We look forward to feedback on our new menu. We do apologise that it took multiple attempts for some customers to receive their voucher. Our fans are so hungry for our new menu, and free pizza, that they almost broke the internet. To the lucky 10,000 + 1, enjoy your free pizzas!”
The promotion comes a week after a stay-of-execution was offered to the beloved Margherita.
Domino’s was last week forced to backflip after sparking outrage with the announcement that the classic pizza would be “deleted” in the latest menu overhaul — news that prompted rival Pizza Hut to give away 10,000 free Margheritas.
The Domino’s vouchers are valid until Sunday.
“Domino’s new Quality Fresh range includes the launch of 20 tasty new pizzas and sides over 20 weeks,” Domino’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive Nick Knight said in a statement.
“We are giving 10,001 customers the chance to find their new favourite pizza by trying one of our new premium pizzas for free.
“We are really proud of every one of our new premium pizzas, which is why we’re giving customers the opportunity to try any of our new premium range — they are larger and have noticeably more toppings, making them fantastic value for a premium product.”
He also took a stab at Pizza Hut’s offer, which required customers to collect their free pizza in-store. “You don’t have to queue up outside our stores to be able to receive your free pizza,” he said. “Domino’s likes to make our customer’s lives easier, so without leaving the comfort of your own home, you can download a code online to enjoy this giveaway.”
New premium pizzas include the Loaded Supreme, Cheesy Bacon Hawaiian, Mega Meatlovers, Four Cheese Deluxe, Grand Italian and Chicken and Camembert.
Domino’s, with more than 700 stores, has about 25 per cent market share of the $3.7 billion industry, with Pizza Hut lagging behind at 10.7 per cent, according to market research firm IBISWorld.
Last year, private equity fund Chester Moynihan bought the Pizza Hut master franchise from US-based Yum! Brands, subsequently snapping up 50 of 100 the failed Eagle Boys stores, bringing its store network to around 320.
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Originally published as Domino’s 10,001 free pizza ‘fail’
