Domino's Posts Customer Reviews on Times Square Billboard

Domino's Pizza is taking transparency to a new level. The nation's largest pizza chain started letting customers post reviews on a Times Square billboard last week, perhaps the most public venue imaginable. Customers who order food using Domino's online Pizza Tracker app can broadcast their opinions on the glowing sign at 44th and Broadway in New York. Unless they're profane or irrelevant. The most interesting part about this campaign is that no comments will be excluded, no matter how negative.

The Times Square ad will run for two hours and 54 minutes per day and show comments at a rate of four per minute. The risky gambit is the latest step in a public reinvention campaign that started at the end of 2009, when Domino's acknowledged its bad reviews and set about changing its pizza recipe.

This move shows tremendous confidence. Domino's learned the hard way how social media can influence public opinion of a brand, when video of its employees abusing customers' food went viral. It will be an interesting case study to see how this goes!

PR Dream for Arizona Diamondbacks: Selfless Young Fan Returns Ball to Upset Boy

The play of the week happened last Thursday night at the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game. A young Arizona fan named Ian easily caught a game ball from Ricki Weeks, of the Brewers - that another younger Brewers fan just missed. He saw on the jumbotron that Nicholas was upset and sad about the ball - to the point of sobbing. Noticing his state of distraught, Ian walked right down and handed the ball over to Nicholas. Amazing.

Of course, Ian was rewarded for his genorsity. He got to visit the announcers booth, tickets to a future game and an autographed bat from his favorite Diamondbacks player, Justin Upton. What a great story to tell and bravo to Ian.

Watch the video here.

Japan win's women's World Cup and helps lift a ravaged nation

Cheers were hear near and far yesterday for Japan's win of the women's World Cup over the US. What a difference from what sadness fell upon them earlier this year after the devastating tsunami and earthquake ravage their nation. Thousands were killed or missing, villages were erased and homes destroyed. The players on Japan's women's World Cup team invoked the slow recovery from the tragedy. True to their word, they brought a gleaming World Cup trophy back on the plane - a sign of hope that can maybe lift some of the gloom for maybe a little while.

"Before we went to the match last night we had some commentary on television and we heard comments on the situation in Japan," coach Norio Sasaki said after Japan upset the Americans for the World Cup title in a riveting final Sunday night, 3-1 on penalty kicks, after coming from behind twice in a 2-2 tie. "We wanted to use this opportunity to thank the people back home for the support has been given."

This was Japan's fist appearance in the final of a major tournament, and it hadn't beaten the Americans in their first 25 meetings, including a pair of 2-0 losses in warm-up games a month before the World Cup. But, the Nadeshiko pushed ahead, playing inspired soccer and hoping their success could provide even a small emotional lift to their nation, where nearly 23,000 people died or were reported missing in the March 11 catastrophe.

Joyous fans wearing Japan jerseys hugged and sang in Tokyo as they watched the players hold the trophy a loft, confetti swirling around them and flecking their hair with gold. Special newspaper editions were printed by the national papers and handed out to pedestrians in Tokyo on Monday morning, while scenes from the game were replayed constantly on television.

It was the first World Cup title won by an Asian country.

Honestly - both Japan and the US are winners. Just one received gold and the other silver. It was a great game, but I'm glad Japan won in the end. I believe sometimes good news can help with healing and will help the Japanese survivors move forward and see there are many good things to hold on to and look forward to.

MN Shutdown Is Tarnishing Image

Right now, the "Minnesota nice" brand is not being upheld.

Not one politician in the Minnesota state legislation lists their primary occupation as advertising or public relations executive. Usually the ad and pr people get a bad rep for spinning the truth or creating an image that is not, but currently I believe our state could really benefit from having one on board. Clearly, current officeholders can't see how deeply damaging the state government shutdown is to MN's brand.

A brand is a set of associations that resides in people's minds. Shutdown stories have been splashed on the front pages of national newspapers. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times opined about it last Wednesday. Cable and network newscasts have routinely run reports and commentary on our dysfunctional democracy. And these-brand damaging stores have been echoed online, as well as on air via local and national talk radio shows.

Adding to the brand insult to injury, Fitch Rating just cut our bond rating from AAA to AA+. And presidential campaign ads from former Governor Tim Pawlenty, boasting that he won in 2005, remind the country that this is our second shutdown in six years.

The job cuts and holds are extremely damaging too as far as trust goes. People may or may not like a brand, but they'll still trust it. An inability for a brand to do its core job at its lowest level is very troubling.

Also, this image projects the idea that Minnesota doesn't have it figured out. We have portrayed this image of having a great quality of life, but this really damages that. Before, people across the country looked to us and thought of our great health care, great education and well balanced living.

Also, the national level may be in a similar situation if they can't resolve its fiscal crises. Wisconsin was similarly used as a framing divide for the national debate over public employee unions when its capitol was convulsed with protests last winter.

In the end, our brand is super important. Beyond the business perceptions, the state's brand is critically important, because it affects tourism and all of the lives in our state. Regardless of what happens to our brand, this entire screw up and inability to negotiate is affecting our state's quality of life. The layoffs will soon affect many more people than just the state workers and they will just need to give in on something. I hope they figure that out soon.

7 Pieces of Good News Not Being Reported

Between watching news of both national and state politics in MN debating budgets and the hearing the verdict of the Casey Anthony case, I've been depressed to turn on the news again. However, some good news isn't being reported. Ever hear the saying, bad news sells? Maybe that's the current case.

#7 The Gulf of Mexico is almost back to it's pre-spill health levels. The Gulf is recovering much faster than anyone expected it to. Further, what was expected to happen didn't.

#6 The good news about AIDS. Today's HIV patients can expect to live a lot longer - even decades past their diagnosis. Further, the the global rate of new HIV infections has declined by 25 percent since 2001.

#5 The Antarctic Ozone hole is shrinking. Despite what you've heard of the Ozone gap growing, the truth is it is actually shrinking every year!

#4 Traffic fatalities are insanely low this now. Despite what you hear on the news each day about car accidents - the truth is that the number of car accidents happen is the lowest it's been since 1949.

#3 Teen pregnancy is actually at a record low. Even with shows like Pregnant and 16 on MTV, just like the news about traffic fatalities - teen pregnancy is the lowest it's been in 70 years.

#2 People get happier as they get older. A recent survey involving 340,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 85 showed that the older you are - the happier you become. The group answered a series of questions about lifestyle and the results were surprising. The older age groups actually reported being happier, less stressed and more in control.

#1 We're all living longer, better. Statistician Hans Rosling has proved that average life expectancy globally has increased greatly since 1810.

For more information on the blog post check out - www.cracked.com for the whole story.