Boise’s viral ‘Dan the Pizza Man’ earned a $170K tip. What Domino’s just did
A Boisean’s simple act-of-kindness-gone-viral is now the inspiration for a coupon code coming to Domino’s nationwide.
With a new code rolling out April 30, Domino’s and The Coca-Cola Company are teaming up to honor Dan Simpson, a 68-year-old pizza delivery driver, for going the extra mile on one recent Friday night delivery in Boise.
But as Simpson recalls it, it was really only an extra few hundred feet.
Simpson, who has spent more than a decade delivering for Domino’s part time while working days at the Idaho Department of Agriculture, was grabbing an order of pizza and a pair of Diet Cokes when he realized his local Domino’s was out of the drink.
He called the customer to ask if he could substitute the drink, but got an answering machine, he told the Idaho Statesman in March. Then he thought, “What the heck?”
Simpson ran across the street to a convenience store and bought the soda.
“It took me about three minutes,” he said, brushing off the incident. Nothing to write home about.
Only, the grateful customers at a West Boise home that night — and later millions of viewers on TikTok — didn’t see it that way.
“Last night, something simple turned into something really special, and we can’t stop thinking about it,” wrote Brian Wilson, the recipient of Simpson’s gesture, in a GoFundMe page he started for the driver.
“What Dan didn’t know is that my wife and I are both visually impaired, so running out to the store for a ‘quick’ pickup is not something that is simple or easy for us,” Wilson told the Statesman in a text. “What may have seemed like a tiny inconvenience to solve on his end actually made a huge difference on ours.”
Because Wilson didn’t have cash on hand to tip Simpson extra for the sodas, he decided to take to Tiktok with a Ring camera video of the interaction. Then he started the GoFundMe.
Both took off, and the moniker “Dan the Pizza Man” was soon trending online.
The GoFundMe has since raised nearly $170,000 with over 8,000 donations.
Now, Domino’s and The Coca-Cola Company are launching a new initiative to “pay it forward,” according to an email from Dani Bulger, a Domino’s public relations manager.
From April 30 through May 3, customers can order online at Domino’s stores across the country, punch in the code “DANTHEMAN” and get a free 20 oz. Coca-Cola drink with their orders.
“We believe that sometimes the smallest actions can have the biggest impact, and this is our way of continuing the spirit of generosity, inspired by Dan,” Bulger said.
And if you’re wondering, “Why Dan?,” just know — he is, too.
His reaction when the Statesman first reported on the viral interaction and a then-$17,000 tip: “This can’t be real.”
“I don’t think I work harder than anyone else,” said the seed analyst, who plans to retire from his state job at the end of April, now with a huge boost to his retirement savings. “I guess the message would be, always think about other people. … And I’m not perfect. I don’t think anybody is. But, you know, if you’re doing a job, do as good a job as you can.
“I mean, they say I went the extra mile, but for goodness’ sake, it was no big deal.”
