Video: Domino's clip tops the list of the top 5 most damaging viral videos

Paul Boutin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:52:40 -0400

Domino's Pizza will take a long time to recover from the brand damage caused by two not-so-bright employees in North Carolina who filmed themselves taking gross-out revenge on unwitting customers. Like the other clips in our list of the top five most damaging viral videos, it ended up seriously tarnishing the reputation of the company involved:

1. Domino's Pizza (April 2009): This week, the Domino's cheese-up-nose video became the latest entry to the list of clips that have done the most damage. Many mainstream media reports focused on the "Twitter storm" that spread news of the video rapidly. Trivia stat: Michael Setzer and Kristy Hammonds are 32 and 31 years old, respectively. Did they forget to grow up?

2. Cathay Pacific (February 2009): A woman who missed the boarding call for her flight at Hong Kong International Airport became hysterical, tried to rush the gate to the plane, and collapsed to the floor when she was unable to board the aircraft. An employee of Cathay Pacific Airways recorded the event on a cellphone and, stupidly, shared it. The airline apologized to the woman, but Cathay Pacific's peace offering of an upgrade to business class seemed skimpy compared to the damage to her reputation and that of the airline.

3. New York City Police Department (May 2008): A New York City cop, 22-year-old Patrick Pogan, shoved bicyclist Christopher Long off the road during a Critical Mass demonstration ride. A bystander's video recording undermined the police department's claim that Long had "deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground." Pogan was reassigned to desk duty. [Update: Pogan resigned in Februrary 2009.]

4. Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell (February 2007): A Manhattan KFC/Taco Bell franchise was known by locals to be overrun by rats during off hours. The local Fox News affiliate's two-minute report was watched more than a million times after it reached YouTube.

5. Kramer (November 2006): Comedian Michael Richards, best known as Kramer from Jerry Seinfeld's TV show, lost his cool with a heckler during a live performance. Richards' bizarrely racist tirade incited audience members to walk out. TMZ's subtitled clip pulled in hundreds of thousands of viewers, and was replayed to millions more on TV, doing untold damage to the comedian's career. Richards awkwardly tried to explain himself to Dave Letterman, but in the end acknowledged that he had a lot of "personal work" to do.

Video: Domino's clip tops the list of the top 5 most damaging viral videos

Paul Boutin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:52:40 -0400

Video: Domino's clip tops the list of the top 5 most damaging viral videos

Paul Boutin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:52:40 -0400

Video: Domino's clip tops the list of the top 5 most damaging viral videos

Paul Boutin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:52:40 -0400

Video: Domino's clip tops the list of the top 5 most damaging viral videos

Paul Boutin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:52:40 -0400