How Domino’s Demonstrated That Pizza Is a Language Everyone Understands
Ah, Canadian slang. That thing we do where we add ‘eh’ everywhere, ‘about’ apparently sounds like ‘aboot’, and we might call a set of freshly ordered pizzas ‘beauties’.
Really, it just makes sense to operate that way, but for the uninitiated, it might seem like a lot. However, there are just some things that transcend that - like the aforementioned pizza. Regardless of where you are in Canada, or whether or not you’ve been born and raised on Canadian soil, if someone offers you pizza, no matter how that’s phrased, you will understand you’re being offered pizza. It’s a language that everyone here speaks and understands, which is proven within Domino’s’ latest campaign.
Created in partnership with agency LG2, in both English and French, the 15-second spots embrace the national spirit by depicting the spokespeople - naturally dressed in flannel and denim jackets - in a room filled to the brim with stereotypical Canadian Easter eggs. But, it doesn’t just stop there. Rather than discuss the brand’s status as ‘Canada’s Favourite Pizza’, these true Canadians embrace the national spirit of politeness and humility and simply talk about pizza… albeit in heavy slang that requires subtitles for clear translation purposes (and hosers who don’t speak Canadian).
To learn more about how this idea came to pass, and why this was the perfect way to market the brand, LG2’s creative director Rana Chatterjee, senior copywriter Jacob Pacey, senior integrated producer Christine Malacas, senior art director Brendan McMullen, and Domino’s Pizza of Canada’s chief marketing officer Ken Harrison sat down with LBB’s Josh Neufeldt for a chat.
LBB> What was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Ken> Our brief was fairly simple; we wanted to grab the attention of Canadians and reinforce our positioning as ‘Canada’s Favourite Pizza’. We have actually been ‘Canada’s Favourite Pizza’ for some time, so we wanted to be careful not to position it as ‘new news’, but as a claim we know resonates with our customers.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with LG2 as our brand’s creative agency for some time, so working with them was an obvious choice. The team’s ability to distil our key qualities in an authentically Canadian way was going to match up perfectly for this campaign.
Rana> Immediately, our thoughts went to doing something super Canadiana. That said, we realised that ‘Canada-vertising’ was becoming a bit of a trope (you know, the kind of ad where a guy puts on a toque and says ‘eh’ a couple of times), so we had to make sure that if we went there, we really ‘sent it’ and went all in on the comedy.
LBB> Creatively speaking, where did the idea of pizza being a national language come from? And what made it perfect for this campaign?
Jacob> Pizza is really a universal language - it’s a truism. That got us thinking about the relationship between language and pizza in the first place, which then led to us thinking about the language of pizza, the language of Canada, and how to have fun mixing that all together.
Ken> We fell in love with the idea right away. Domino’s is a brand that likes to have fun! (It is pizza after all.) So, showcasing that we are the favourite pizza of all Canadians, even via a character that goes a bit over the top on these well-known Canadian stereotypes, felt like a really fun way to get our message across.
LBB> The use of Canadian slang is really funny! What was the writing process like, for both the English and French versions?
Jacob> When we came up with the concept, we all realised pretty quickly it couldn’t be directly translated between languages, because English-Canadian-style slang is so different from Quebecois-style slang. However, the basic construct and premise was still universal across cultures.
We started out with what the ‘translated’ or subtitled version of the script would be in both languages, and then the copywriters in Toronto and Quebec City worked backwards from there, each writing their own unique ‘slang-ified’ version of the script. It added a couple of extra days to the project, but the results ended up being well worth it. Essentially, it became two different scripts but with one shared concept of a stereotypically Canadian way of speaking.
LBB> The effort seems worth it, as the spots are hilarious! Who directed them, and what made them the perfect person for the job?
Christine> Charles Burroughs of Nova Film directed both spots. We’ve worked with Charles many times on film work in both languages. He has a great understanding of wry humour and comedic timing. English and French humour also have distinct tonalities, even in situations where it’s the same premise and script, but he really had a mastery of that tone in both languages.
LBB> As a whole, what was shooting like? Do you have any anecdotes from set?
Christine> It was great to be back on set and all together in person. We shot on location in Lac-Beauport, just outside of Quebec City. It was a one-day shoot with the day split pretty evenly between the languages. A fun fact about the fireplace in the background is that we didn’t do it in post. It’s a real fire controlled by gas! Keep in mind this was shot in early June… on a cloudless summer day… in a small house… with no air conditioning… and then on top of that the actors were wearing heavy jackets as their wardrobe. We had portable AC units, but they had to be off most of the time because we were rolling sound, so it was extraordinarily hot. We had to have production assistants fanning the talent between takes so their sweat wouldn’t ruin their makeup.
LBB> Noticeable is the sheer number of Canadian stereotype tropes worked into the spot. How did you work with the set designer to integrate these, and are there any you’re particularly proud of?
Brendan> We told the set designer to have a field day. We agreed to tell them if it was too much, but we never got to a point where we felt it was too busy or crowded.
Overall, we’re really proud of carrying the concept all the way through, particularly when there is a call to action at the end to order at dominos.ca and he says, ‘Just send it bud’. Usually, the back end of the commercial is where you might break from the concept and get down to business with an announcer, but we stayed with our character until the very last frame. We think it’s really engaging, and our clients at Domino's deserve kudos for letting us do that.
Ken> It would be hard to pick, because they’re all so well-written and funny. But, the final line of ‘Just send it bud’ also sticks with me. It was an unscripted line that we tried on the day of the shoot, and it just finishes the spot perfectly!
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them, and what lessons did you learn in the process?
Jacob> Like many advertisements, this script went into focus group testing, and we expected that to be a challenge. Focus groups are always a challenge in one way or another. But, the feedback was unanimously positive, which gave us the confidence that we were really on to something.
Ken> We had some challenges getting the first submission of copy approved by the telecasters, which sent the writers back to the drawing board to replace a couple of our favourite lines. But, what they came up with for the final post ended up being even better.
Brendan> A good script, like a good pizza recipe, will only take you so far. A quality final product is all in the execution, and that’s all about the people, so a big thank you to our production partners at Nova Film and our talented actors!
LBB> How have people reacted to this campaign?
Rana> The spot has only been running for a couple of weeks, so we don’t have numbers just yet, but the anecdotal feedback we’ve received so far has been positive. We’re really happy it’s resonating with people!
Ken> The reaction has been very positive! It’s probably the funniest piece of work we have put into market, and I think it’s resonating with customers as a result.
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Domino’s’ plans for 2023 and beyond?
Ken> We’ve still got a few tricks up our sleeve, but I think we’ll stop short of spoiling any future surprises. Let’s just say we are really excited to continue engaging with our fans and celebrating ‘Canada’s Favourite Pizza’.
