There are many pizza places in the world but very few have achieved the worldwide notoriety of Domino’s Pizza.  So it’s comforting to know that they reward their workers handsomely when outstanding work is done.

In Japan, a manager deemed “excellent” by the corporation gets rewarded a Rolex watch.  Granted the Rolex is engraved with the Domino’s logo in places, but it’s still a Rolex, and it’s worth a pretty penny too according to the pawn shop one was sold to.

The watch is actually pretty good looking, and the logos aren’t very conspicuous at all.  It’s a lower-end Air-King model, but heck, even a lower-end Rolex is still nothing to turn up your nose at.

Apparently this wasn’t good enough for one manager though who decided to pawn his.  When the pawn shop listed the watch on the internet, Domino’s caught wind of it and vented their feelings in a sarcastic-angry-but-maybe-not-so-sarcastic tweet.

From the Domino’s Japan Official Twitter Feed:
This! This goes to our excellent managers! Who sold it(^_^;)

The sentiment of this tweet is a little ambiguous in that the words by themselves would sound angry but the little embarrassed smiley attempts to reel in the contempt.  It’s like if I got a message from my wife saying “I hate you and I’m setting the house on fire! ;)” I wouldn’t really know what to make of it.

Anyways, apparently there’s a woman’s version of this watch too, but the Domino’s logo on the face stands out a little more.  We know this because someone pawned one of those too.  Who knows how many managers are selling off their recognitions of excellence?

The selling price of around 350,000 yen (US$4,400) for men’s and 238,000 yen (US$3,000) for women’s is certainly motivation, but whatever happened to taking pride in being an exceptional Domino’s Pizza manager?  And if those managers are still working there, they might be feeling a little tenser now that the cat’s out of the bag.

Site Selling the Watch: Rakuten – Satin Doll (Japanese)
Domino’s Reaction:  Twitter (Japanese)
Correspondent: Kuzo (Japanese)

▼The original Domino’s reaction Tweet translated above

▼A posting for a ladies’ model Domino’s Rolex also pawned

[ Read in Japanese ]