Photo credit: Domino's Facebook page
Now is not the easiest time in Australia to be named Karen. Like it or not, you’re the butt of a great many jokes not of your making.
First we had obnoxious ‘Karen’ at a Melbourne Bunnings refusing to wear and facemask and acting with very little good grace towards staff at the store before she was finally arrested.
Then we had ‘Karen’ acting in much the same manner at an Australia Post outlet.
As the ranting and raving ‘Karens’ went viral on social media and most Australian were united in condemnation of their bizarre actions, ordinary real-life Karens began to feel the brunt of the nation’s barbed humour.
But in someone’s misery there is someone’s opportunity, it seems.
The marketing team at Domino’s Pizza has certainly seen the opportunity in all of this and rapidly rolled out a promotional campaign inviting all those nice, sweet, charming and polite mask-wearing Karens out there to take back their name.
And if they need a bit of comfort food in this age of the anti-Karen, then the chain is offering at least some of them a chance to get some free pizza too.
From now until Friday, 100 true-blue Aussie Karens will be able to go online and enter a competition to win some pizza. All they need do is prove they are named Karen and then write 250 words explaining why they’re one of the ‘nice’ ones.
“Karen the nurse, Karen the teacher, Karen the mum, Karen the neighbour, Karen the mask wearer – we’re all in this together, but a vocal minority who believe rules and laws don’t apply to them have given the name “Karen” a bad rap this year,” the company says on its Facebook page.
“At Domino’s, we know there’s plenty of Australians named Karen that aren’t, well, ‘Karens’.’
It seems the promotion has gone down a treat, with 34 000 ‘likes’, 29 000 ‘comments’ and almost 10 000 ‘shares’ on Facebook alone.
Domino’s also saw another marketing opportunity in the whole saga and, in partnership with Give for Good, delivered a load of free pizza to the staff at Bunnings who had kept their cool in the face of provocation.
Masks are, of course, currently mandatory in Melbourne as Victoria battles the country’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Yes, even if your name’s Karen…