Back in early ’08, to promote their new line of pasta primavera items, Domino’s rolled out a screechy-voiced CGI rigatoni that raps about the joys of oven-baked pasta, reports SoGood. “Pasta Dude” some rhymes, then he busts out some dance moves that look like he’s bending over an imaginary dance partner and slapping them across the rear. This, apparently, was cause for controversy.

In another version with a different voice, presumably the “sanitized” one, he just places his out, palms down and parallel, and thrusts his hips. The word is that the commercials got pulled, not because they’re horrible, but because some viewers found Pasta Dude’s moves to be vulgar. However, the ads still aired for a while time in in L.A. and the West Coast, a nod to its rich history of people, with varying degrees of success and skill, trying to be rappers.

But judging by the campaign’s short life, it seems the rhymin’ rigatoni’s final cries of “Pasta playa hata” were prescient. At least now we finally know what happened to The Noid; he knocked up a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese.

TRANSCRIPT

Mom: Why can’t we ever agree on what to eat?
Pasta Dude: Check it, y’all, with the hip hops to perfecta from Domino’s!
(screams)
Dad: What are you?
Pasta Dude: Five varieties of oven-fresh yum, the whole family’s down, we’re all gettin’ some!
Kid: This is tight.
Pasta Dude: Pasta dude, uh! Pasta Dude, yeah!
(Mom yells)
Kid: Mom….!
Pasta Dude: Pasta playa hata…

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Domino’s Ill-Fated “Pasta Dude” Commercial [SoGood]

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