The Noid is the villainous mascot of Domino's Pizza. He is a humanoid claymation creature in a red jumpsuit with an "N" insignia on the chest and rabbit-like ears.
The Noid vehemently hates pizza, and makes it his life's mission to ruin pizzas, often in different ways (i.e. making them cold, smashing them, rendering them otherwise inedible, etc.). However, he is never able to successfully do this to Domino's pizzas.
Creation[]
The Noid was created by Will Vinton.[1]
In popular media[]
The commercials were very successful, and the character became something of a cultural icon; he starred in two video games, Avoid the Noid on the Commodore 64, and Yo! Noid on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Yo! Noid was even featured on PlayChoice-10 arcade machines. The Noid also made a cameo in Michael Jackson's 1988 film Moonwalker, where he appears in a group of stop-motion characters chasing Michael, and in two episodes of The Simpsons.
A more recent appearance was in an early episode of Family Guy, where the Noid destroys Mayor Adam West's pizza, but he is then subsequently killed.
In Yo! Noid (an adaptation of another, Japanese-exclusive video game by Capcom, Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru), the Noid becomes a protagonist and is set to defend New York City from the evil Mr. Green, who is a green-wearing duplicate of the Noid.
The Noid appears in an episode of the stop motion Adult Swim series Robot Chicken as part of the skit called The Noid Hostage Situation. Here, the Noid holds up a random Domino's as a parody of the infamous controversy, (see below), demanding his job back.
Controversy[]
On January 30th, 1989, a mentally ill man named Kenneth Lamar Noid believed that the Noid was a personal attack on him, and held two Domino's employees hostage at a location in Chamblee, Georgia for over five hours, demanding $100,000, a copy of The Widow's Son, and forcing them to make him a pizza and a salad. After Kenneth was arrested, the police chief jokingly stated that he was "para-Noid". It was rumored that this incident was why the Noid was discontinued by Domino's, but the company rejects the rumors as the reason.[2]
Post-controversy[]
In the 2000s, the Noid has seen some returns such as The Noid's Super Pizza Shootout, a tribute to Avoid the Noid. Through 2016 and 2017, the Noid appears in some commercials and advertisements.
His latest appearance was in a 2021 commercial where he tries to impede an AI-controlled Nuro delivery car. He also makes a guest appearance as a boss in the mobile game, Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, as part of a cross-brand promotion.
Trivia[]
- The Noid is an allegory for all of the challenges inherent in delivering a pizza to the customer(s) within thirty minutes or less.
- The Noid can be a play on words of "Annoyed", Signifying that the Noid Is very Irritating and Annoying.
- The Noid's appearance somewhat resembles a rabbit.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- The Noid on the Heroes Wiki
References[]
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