Domino's MY drops cryptic 'keju' teasers ahead of Mac & Cheesy pizza launch

Domino’s Malaysia has officially launched its newest cheesy creation — the Mac & Cheesy Pizza, a bold fusion of two comfort food classics: creamy mac and cheese and Domino’s signature hand-tossed pizza crust.

In the days leading up to the reveal, Domino’s Malaysia rolled out a series of cryptic countdown posts on social media, created in collaboration with Havas Malaysia. Shared across platforms such as Instagram, the brand posted a video series of numbers "3", "2" and "1" made entirely from food ingredients, depicting the number of days leading up to the big reveal. 

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The first teaser video, captioned “Nak kata piza boleh... macaroni pun boleh. Ehhhh?! Konfiusss.” (“Call it pizza? Sure. Macaroni? That works too. Eh? Now I’m confused”), showed a plate filled with cheese sauce. Played in reverse, the sauce is revealed to form the number “3”, a cheeky signal that it’s three days to go before “pizza gets confusing.”

The next post followed a similar format: a squiggle of cheese forming the number “2” is wiped away to mark two more days until everyone is “terKEJUt”, a pun on the Malay word for shocked (terkejut) and keju (cheese). The final countdown video, posted just a day before the launch, featured a sausage arranged in the shape of the number “1”, teasing “One more day until the pizza marries pasta.”

Each of the three teasers leaned heavily on playful wordplay and food visuals to stir curiosity and speculation. The campaign was tied together under the hashtag #PastaJadiPizza (pasta becomes pizza), signalling the unusual but indulgent mash-up soon to come.

This social-first approach played a key role in the lead-up to the brand’s new Mac & Cheesy Pizza launch, which combined two crowd favourites — pasta and pizza — into a single limited-time offering.

The Mac & Cheesy Pizza, available from 22 July, is built on a base of rich cheese sauce and stretchy mozzarella, topped with creamy macaroni and finished with a sprinkle of seaweed for a savoury edge.

The range includes three variants, such as original, mushroom, and spicy beef, each adding a different dimension to the flavour profile while keeping cheese at the heart of the experience. The spicy beef version, for instance, incorporates red chilli sauce and pickled chillies for an extra kick, while the mushroom version leans into a more earthy, umami-forward flavour.

According to Ringo Joannes, region chief executive officer for Domino’s Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia, the Mac & Cheesy Pizza was developed in response to a clear trend: Malaysians’ continued appetite for cheese-led creations. Following the popularity of its previous cheese-centric launches such as the Mega Cheese and Cheese Volcano Pizza, Domino’s saw an opportunity to innovate by merging pasta and pizza into a single product.

“Whether you’re a student or an adult, cheese mashups continue to be a strong trend,” he said. “This is an unconventional twist, and one we’re excited to introduce for a limited time.”

Meanwhile, Donevan Chew, chief creative officer at Havas Malaysia told A+M, "Pasta and pizzas are nothing unusual. But when the two come together, that’s when things get interesting. So, we leaned into that for our campaign. Mystery and surprise were just the right elements to communicate such a unique pizza combo."

To support the launch, Domino’s has rolled out a limited-time promo across its website and mobile app, alongside a broader nationwide campaign aimed at generating digital buzz and engagement.

Earlier in May, Domino’s Pizza Malaysia teamed up with Havas Malaysia for a Mother’s Day giveaway that taps into the viral AI action figure trend, turning mums into the superheroes they already are. The brand invited fans to generate custom AI-generated action figures of their mothers, complete with unique accessories and blister packs that reflect their ‘superpowers’.

Meanwhile, the pizza brand also rolled out a limited-time campaign in May for its Raya festive offering, the 'ShaWAHma' pizza, developed in collaboration with creative agency FCB SHOUT. The campaign was activated across a broad media mix, with visuals spotlighting the pizza’s flame-grilled meat and rich cheese base.

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