On The New Domino's Pizza Recipe: An Extended Taste Test Review From Both Coasts (And an Appreciation of Domino's Exquisite Online User Experience)
I can't say I'm all that moved to try Domino's new pie... their entire ad campaign tries to sell us on the idea that for 20+ years they've been unaware they were putting out shit, then suddenly, in a touching moment of anagnorisis, became embarrassingly aware of the state of their product and choose to redeem themselves. Their vast staff of likable, contrite chefs set sail on a voyage of pizza discovery armed with nothing but dough, tomatoes, and their adorable All-American can-do attitude. And the result of their hard work is a quantifiably superior pizza.
Call me cynical, but I expect they've always known what their pizza tasted like, and I likewise expect that they were in as much financial trouble as a most major corporations. Faced with one or several bad quarters and lukewarm reception of several new products (the sandwich and breadbowl), they came up with a moving story to win our hearts ("let's save the old Domino Theater from the villainous land developer by putting on a talent show!").
In a time when many of these same moribund corporations are trying to slink out of the limelight of their infamy and denying culpability, Domino's sell themselves as honest, approachable joes who are willing to air their contrition publicly and make good. Ain't that America?
I don't dispute the pizza may taste a bit different (Hungry Howie's-inspired crust flavoring, for example), but on the whole, people are buying the pizza to a) see if it really IS different, and; b) support the good guys. Seems a bit sleazy... but then, brilliant marketing often is.
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On 'Lost,' One Week Later
So you spent years of your life watching a show that didn't resolve... does that really detract from the fact that for those many years you teased your brain trying to generate a grand unifying theory for all the mysteries?
I didn't ever get into the Lost, but the discussion here reminds me of the one that followed Twin Peaks' final season. I still love TP, and the fact that the storyline is disjointed and diffuse only makes it better after time... more resonant. (True, they did release a movie to tie up loose ends, but it only made me realize how little the show was about plot.)