According to AdAge.com, “It’s a surprising marketing message: Admit to the world your product was awful, but that you’ve fixed it and they should really try it now.”

“But at least $50 million later, Domino’s strange strategy appears to have worked, at least initially — the pizza chain defied the most bullish expectations last week with a 14.3% increase in first-quarter same-store sales. Now the question is: Was the bump due to the product or simply a big infusion of ad dollars that put the brand top of mind? Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Russell Weiner sees the results as validation that “people really do like the product.” He said sales have trumped the company’s expectations and more than two-thirds of consumers have said they’ll be back. ‘The advertising itself has scored off the charts,’ he said. ‘We’ve never had ads score like this.'”