Russell Weiner, Domino's

As a marketing veteran himself, Doyle immediately understood how arresting the approach would be, but he couldn’t help but hear alarm bells. “You’re never supposed to repeat the negative,” Doyle said. “We were going to repeat the negative—loudly. As it turns out, it’s what got people’s attention.”

What type of attention though? Initially, late-night talk show hosts and stand-up comedians remarked on the elephant in the room: Why would a company issue such a public mea culpa? Was this brilliant or bone-headed? “It’s like that old saying, ‘There is no one so brave as he who has nothing to lose,'” says Robert Passikoff, president of research firm Brand Keys.