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While it may not have the hippest image in the U.S., Domino’s Pizza has built a fanbase for itself in Japan with a string of unique promotions and weird humor. So we’re sure plenty of people were sad to hear that on October 26, Domino’s Japan is closing down its online store where you can order pizzas for delivery or pickup.

Luckily, this has turned out to be just another one of the chain’s quirky jokes, since it’s also opening a new online store on October 27. In other words, it’s just a website redesign, but in addition to serving up plenty of tongue-in-cheek drama, Domino’s is also offering discounts for customers who play along with the joke and say goodbye in a variety of ways.

This isn’t the first time Domino’s has offered cheap pizzas for meeting weird requirements. In the past, they’ve given 25-percent discounts for customers who wear their hair in pigtails, own parakeets, or rock 1980s fashion. As part of Domino’s “Closing Sale,” for its online shop, it’s thought up five new ways for customers to save a little cash.

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Starting with the most basic, using one of the coupons knocks the price of a small order of French fries from 300 yen (US$2.75) all the way down to just 39 yen. Why 39? Because if you pronounce the digits separately, you get san-kyu, the Japanese words for “three-nine,” but also the local corrupted pronunciation of “thank you.”

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You can get 25 percent off your pizza for telling the deliveryman abayo. One of the many ways to say goodbye in Japanese, abayo is a little more formal than sayonara, with an extra strong air of finality about it, sort of like “farewell.” It’s also got a tough, macho tone to it, so say it in a deep voice and you’ve got a Japanese approximation for “hasta la vista.”

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If words fail you, there’s the Kabe Don discount, which nets you 25 percent off if you pound the wall in frustration over your imminent parting as the Domino’s delivery person hands over your order (there’s no need to make a romantic declaration of love, though).

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But maybe Domino’s online shop “closing” isn’t your first experience with loss. In Japan, there’s an old-school tradition of guys giving a button to the girl they love when they graduate from high school. Specifically, it’s supposed to be the second button from the top on their school uniform jacket. If you were popular enough to get one in your teens, and still have it lying around your house, you can show it to the deliveryman for another 25 percent off.

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Finally, the sweetest deal is reserved for people who come to their local Domino’s branch to pick up their pizza in person. Dubbed the Snatch and Grab Thief Discount, it entitles you to take a second pizza home for no extra charge.

We can’t even criticize Domino’s for just giving a fancy name to a pedestrian “buy one get one free” promotion, since the chain already makes fun of itself right on the coupon.

▼ “Sorry, this is just ‘buy one get one free.’ This isn’t anything unique or special just for the Closing Sale.”

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All of the coupons are available here on Domino’s website. And in the event you’re not craving French fries, too shy to say goodbye, too gentle to pound the wall, and lack both a memento from your high school sweetheart and the time to pick up your pizza? Don’t worry, because it looks like Domino’s is already planning another slew of discounts as part of the Opening Sale of its new website on October 27.

Source, images: Domino’s Pizza Japan
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