– Adebayo ‘The Beast’ Akinfenwa designs special ‘hands warm up set’ for team members –
– Fergie’s watch-tapping voted football’s most famous hand gesture –
Domino’s, the UK’s favourite pizza has teamed up with footballing legend, Adebayo ‘The Beast’ Akinfenwa to create a previously unseen Domino’s Dab – to help team members get prepped and ready for the day ahead.
The warm up routine has been created to protect the most valuable assets in Domino’s stores nationwide; the hands that skillfully make each and every pizza fresh-to-order, and are the focus of a new TV ad, which just launched this weekend.
The mini workout has been inspired by Wycombe Wanderers striker and the world’s strongest footballer The Beast’s own dabs and secret handshake goal celebrations as well as the wave of others in the Premier League. These include Tottenham teammates, Harry Kane and Dele Alli and Liverpool’s dancing trio of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.
Around 35,000 Domino’s team members across the country will be using The Beast’s special exercise at the start of their working day, serving the nation its favourite pizza, fresh-to-order. To honour the man behind the drill, Domino’s is also introducing special edition pizza legend, The Meat Beast, which is available online and in the striker’s hometown store in South Bromley.
Research carried out as part of the campaign revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson’s wrist tapping is football’s most famous hand gesture, coming ahead of Gary Lineker’s signal to ‘watch’ Gazza in 1990, Gareth Bale’s heart-shaped symbol and record Premier League goalscorer Alan Shearer’s open palm celebration.
FOOTBALL’S MOST FAMOUS GOAL GESTURES
1. Fergie’s wrist tapping to remind referees of the ticking clock
2. Gary Lineker signals to ‘watch’ Gazza in the 1990 World Cup Semi Final
3. Gareth Bale’s heart-shaped symbol
4. Alan Shearer’s open palm celebration
5. Robbie Keane’s guns (after his cartwheel celebration)
6. Bebeto and the Brazilians ‘Baby Cradle’ in the 1994 World Cup
7. Luis Suarez wrist kiss
8. Jimmy Bullard mimics manager Phil Brown by wagging his finger at Hull City teammates
9. Wayne Rooney shadow boxing
10. Harry Kane and Dele Alli’s secret handshake
Adebayo Akinfenwa comments: “The team at Domino’s has some of the most skilled hands in the country, and every winning team need proper training and warm-up exercises to stay the best. Football is about being good with your feet, but a lot of us like to get creative with our goal gestures when we get a chance to celebrate. I’ve had about 20 different dabs over the years, so creating a special routine for Domino’s was great fun and came really naturally.”
Louise Butler at Domino’s comments: “The secret to Domino’s freshly made pizza really is the hands behind it, so what better way to get them prepped for the day ahead than their own warm-up exercise! We’re delighted that Adebayo Akinfenwa has been able to help us create something really unique for our team and have no doubt the new set will be commonplace across our 35,000 team members very soon.”
Watch Adebayo ‘The Beast’ Akinfenwa teach the Domino’s Dab at his local store here https://youtu.be/6HAODt1ymWg
Watch the new Domino’s TV ad here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC-jOiYEbvw
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For more information please contact the Domino’s press office at Shine at The Academy on:
020 7100 7100 / 07850 508 412 or dominos@shinecom.com.
About Domino’s Pizza Group
Domino’s Pizza Group (DPG) is the UK’s leading pizza company with a total of over 1,000 stores and 35,000 colleagues. Headquartered in Milton Keynes, the first UK store opened in Luton in 1985 and the first Irish store opened in 1991.
DPG is a FTSE 250 business and holds the exclusive master franchise rights for the Domino’s brand in the UK and ROI, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Additionally DPG owns a strategic stake in the largest pizza delivery business in Germany, and significant minority interests in the master franchisees for Domino's Pizza in Iceland, Norway and Sweden making it one of the largest international Domino’s franchisees.
Making around 85 million pizzas a year, Domino’s uses only the freshest, highest quality ingredients. DPG constantly invests in technology to make things easier for customers. The Domino’s app has been downloaded almost 12 million times and up to 80 per cent of orders are now placed online.
Founded in 1960, the Domino's brand is owned by Domino's Pizza, Inc, a listed US company.
