In the mid-1980s, pizza restaurants across the country were engaged in a fierce battle to attract customers. When the national chain Domino’s started boasting that their pizzas were delivered hot and fresh in under 30 minutes, a feat most competing establishments couldn’t guarantee, some customers were skeptical. 

To help sell their narrative that hot, delicious pizza could also be delivered quickly, Domino’s enlisted a new cartoon mascot called “The Noid.” They hired the same studio behind the ultra-popular California Raisins to dream up their bizarre pizza spokesperson. 

‘Avoid the Noid’

Resembling a grotesque goblin dressed in a red bunny suit, The Noid embodied every obstacle that could turn a good quality pizza bad, like slow delivery or cold, squished food. A menace to pizzas everywhere, the Noid was relentless in his quest to smash, crush, or jackhammer his way into pizza boxes and ruin their contents. 

Commercials advised viewers to “Avoid the Noid” by ordering from Domino’s. Their pizzas were Noid-proof and came with that remarkable 30-minute delivery deal.

The Noid was a hit

The new commercials began airing in 1986, with the “Avoid the Noid” slogan catching on quickly with consumers. The character was an instant hit, soon appearing on toys and other merchandise and in two different video games

One man in Georgia viewed The Noid as more than an annoying commercial cartoon character, however. He felt personally threatened by the mascot, with dire repercussions.

The ‘Real Noid’

A 22-year-old Georgia resident named Kenneth Lamar Noid, who had a history of mental illness,  took a special interest in the pizza mascot. Noid became convinced that Domino’s was targeting him with their commercials, and thought the company had stolen his (admittedly unique) name.

Noid’s personal obsession took a dangerous turn on January 30, 1989. Armed with a .357 Magnum, Noid went to a Domino’s location in Chamblee, Georgia, and took the store’s two employees hostage. 

Harrowing hostage situation

Kenneth Noid told the two unlucky workers about his grievances with the Noid character, claiming that Domino’s was using his name without permission and specifically targeting him with their anti-Noid commercials. 

Wielding his weapon, which he shot at least once during the ordeal, he made demands of the employees. Noid instructed them to call their corporate headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to request $100,000 and a white limousine he could use as a “getaway car.”  

During the six-hour-long nightmare, Noid spoke on the phone with law enforcement and told them to stay away or he’d harm the employees. Police Chief Reed Miller said Noid was alternately rational and irrational during the calls, and that he asked for a book called The Widow’s Son in exchange for one of the hostages. 

When an officer arrived with a copy, however, Noid changed his mind about the trade. 

An ‘ongoing feud in his mind’

It was hunger that led to the end of Noid’s standoff. He asked the Domino’s employees to make him two large pizzas, and they were able to run while he ate. Noid surrendered not long after their escape. 

An uncle said relatives knew Noid was upset by the commercials, but “didn’t think it would rise to this.” He also said Noid believed that the mascot sometimes went into his apartment to “look around.” Investigators characterized Noid as having “an ongoing feud in his mind” with Tom Monaghan, the owner of Domino’s Pizza.

Kenneth Noid’s sad death, and Domino’s reaction

After his surrender, Noid was charged with multiple crimes, including kidnapping and extortion. He was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Noid was placed in state custody at the Georgia Mental Health Institute.

Sadly, Kenneth Noid’s delusions about the Domino’s mascot continued. He took his own life at home in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1995. 

Although Domino’s continued to use the Noid in commercials after the hostage situation, the mascot vanished from their marketing campaigns soon after Kenneth Noid’s death. The company has denied that the Noid’s disappearance has anything to with the tragedy.

In the ensuing years, however, the character has periodically reemerged in social media ads, on merchandise, and in video games.

Ronald McDonald and other mascots have also been ‘retired’

Domino’s is certainly not the only major restaurant chain to pull a mascot after it became controversial. McDonald’s quietly moved its famous spokesclown, Ronald McDonald, into the background amid changing public attitudes. Parents and health advocates criticized the mascot as a symbol of marketing junk food to children. 

The 2016 “creepy clown” craze further damaged his image, prompting McDonald’s to pull Ronald from public appearances. The company issued a statement: “[We] are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful with respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events for the time being.” 

Although framed as temporary, the company never brought him back in any major capacity afterward and focuses much of its current marketing on lifestyle messaging and nostalgia campaigns.