The Brilliance of Life

On January 30, 1989, Kenneth Lamar Noid, a mentally ill man who believed that the "Avoid the Noid" campaign was personally directed towards him and was antagonizing him, entered a Domino's restaurant in Chamblee, Georgia. Armed with a .357 Magnum, Noid then held two employees hostage for over five hours.[8]

After ranting to the employees that the then-owner of Domino's, Tom Monaghan, was fraudulent and had stolen his name, he first forced them to call the Domino's headquarters to demand $100,000 and a white limousine as getaway transportation for him.[8] After offering to exchange a hostage for a copy of American postmodern author Robert Anton Wilson's 1985 novel The Widow's Son, Noid reneged on his offer when an officer brought him the book.[8] Noid then became hungry and forced the captive employees to make him two pizzas;[8] while Noid ate the pizzas with his gun in his lap, the hostages escaped.[8] Noid surrendered to the police shortly after.[9] Two shots were fired by Noid during the incident.[10]

Noid was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion, and possession of a firearm during a crime. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity.[11][12] Noid subsequently spent time in a mental institution, but died by suicide on February 23, 1995.[13] This incident was widely believed to have caused Domino's Pizza to discontinue advertising using the Noid as their mascot,[14] but this claim has been rejected by the company and their advertisers.[15]