Domino's Uses Pizza-Smelling Thermal Ink on Rented DVDs [video] | Hacker News Reader

Domino's Uses Pizza-Smelling Thermal Ink on Rented DVDs [video]

thedenveregotist.com

101 pointsazov32 comments

This sounds very similar to something that Hideo Kojima mentioned wanting to do for a PC game:

"So maybe when you put it [the game] in your disk drive and you're playing for about fifteen minutes, the heat from the disk drive interacts with that chemical and creates a certain smell. It smells like blood or something like that," he said through a translator. "And when you pull it out you see like a dying message on the disk. That was actually an idea I had for the original Snatcher but unfortunately I got yelled at for it and they didn't let me do it."

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/hideo-kojima-recalls-snatc...

"I got yelled at for it and they didn't let me do it."

Sounds like banking corporate culture. :-)

"Pizza-smelling thermal ink" is ink that smells pizza. Which didn't make sense to me until I watched the video and found they meant to say, "Pizza-scented thermal ink", which is ink that smells like pizza.

I was thinking the same thing, and concluded the ink changes color or something in the presence of pizza. Not that far fetched actually and would have been a lot cooler.

not that far fetched? if you made an ink uniquely sensitive to the volatile aromatic compounds in hot pizza there'd be a domino's box on the front cover of Nature

as a non-native english speaker, let me say "thank you!" for pointing out the difference.

On a different note: Even I know you probably wouldn't order at Dominos if you suddenly got an urge for _pizza_.

Wow this is like the next gen of subliminal advertisement and a clever one indeed. Drop in an ad at the beginning of the movie and when the smell starts to release and your cravings for food go up, guess which product and company your subconscious mind is going to pick?

As far as I understand, when you rent the DVD, you have no idea about the thermal ink or the campaign. In the middle of the movie, you are starting to smell pizza scent(creepy). At some point, you are starting to think you have an extreme urge to eat pizza and then deciding to order one. At the end of the movie, you discard the DVD from the player and you will see, everything was a lie and you are cheated.

One of the weirdest marketing campaign I have ever heard of.

Is that even legal. Basically you are shown an advertisement during the whole length of the movie.

Or you assume that someone spilled pizza on the DVD and you are angry at the vendor for providing a dirty dvd

Just be glad that the advertising is for pizza and not diapers.

More (such) instances of subliminal messaging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instances_of_subliminal_message... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_messages_in_popular_...

There is subliminal messaging then there is marketing that slaps you in the face.

Superliminal.

Maybe it would be more subtle if they didn't change the face of the DVD and subtly let you go "Hey, do you smell pizza" to whoever else is in the room?

Warning to all females experiencing nausea gravidarum (morning sickness), and their cohabitants: be VERY careful about where you rent your DVDs from. Or, at the very least, keep a bucket to hand.

Be careful period - The continual vomitting from dawn till dusk caused me to leave the lights off to let my wife rest while I got dressed one AM. I bent over, eye butted the cupboard door, broke my lower orbital floor and bled into my sinus for about 2 weeks. I was 100% sure at the time that I popped my eyeball. Luckily I was wrong.

This is from 6 months ago... Did they ever actually do it, or was it just a stunt.

Sounds like an ad concept from an ad agency.

Most likely an agency concept to win new business. Most pitch ideas are just clever things that never get produced.

I recall hearing about this around 2-3 years ago. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the source.

Based on the last pizza I got from Dominos, the DVD might taste better.

Isn't subliminal message marketing illegal now? I remember a hubbub about Pepsi a while back http://globalelitetv.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/pepsi_sex.j...

Why would pepsi cans spell "sex" tho.? What would they gain from it? If I were going to print subliminal message on pepsi cans they would read "buy pepsi" or "drink pepsi", not "sex".

"Sell pepsi" seems kind of obvious. Sex makes it look like a more attractive deal, even though it's pepsi they're selling in the end. This has been going on for a long time in all kinds of marketing; instead of painting the factual benefits of a product you try to communicate a feeling or a sort of achievement you want to associate the product with. Seems to work.

Wow, ingenious! This is cool, but will my DVD cover go back to Argo once it cools down? If not...all the DVD covers will be pizzas.. We won't be able to differentiate them anymore.

That's far too invasive.

- I could be allergic to certain smells.

- With traditional ads, I can cover my ears/eyes or turn away the channel, turn down the volume. All that's not easy with the nose.

- The smell persists beyond your control.

- Last but not the least, I don't think anyone would want ads for metamucil or norit...

The BBC are gonna call dibs on this one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell-O-Vision

I love this idea. Could totally see redbox pulling something like this and including a coupon for dominos in the sleeve.

I wonder how strong the scent really is.

Thermal inkjet: making shit look cool since 1957.

Hmmmm, pretty interesting and clever marketing technique!

kill me now.

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