Leaked bondage-themed Domino's ad shocks the Web

At first glance, a Domino's Pizza ad that hit the Web this week depicting a tongue clad in leather and tied up in chains might look like a parody of the highly anticipated "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie, but it's not.

According to Tim McIntyre, vice president of communications, the ad is real, but it was not approved by the company. McIntyre said the ad was created by an ad agency, who pitched it to a franchisee in Tel Aviv, Israel.

"The Israel franchisee, the owner of the business, didn't know anything about the ad," McIntyre said. "The marketing person saw it and is the one that said no thank you."

The franchisee's marketing manager rejected the ad, which would have been used for magazines and other circulations if it had been accepted. The ad was leaked somehow and began circulating on the internet early this week. The ad has since been linked to the McCann-Erickson ad agency, a global advertising agency network.

McIntyre said all of the franchises outside of the U.S. are owned by independent business owners.

"When I first saw it, I just thought some random person had connected Domino's Pizza with 50 Shades of Grey," he said. "I thought it was clever and silly, but really bizarre. We weren't really happy about it. How it leaked, we don't know."

The ad shows the tongue tied up in BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadomasochism) attire with a whip lying next to it on the ground. At the bottom it says: "You're going to suffer and enjoy every moment. Domino's Sriracha. Super spicy, super tasty."

McIntyre said the ad will never be used by the company.

"This is not appropriate for our brand," McIntyre said. "It has nothing to do with pizza. We're less concerned about the fact it leaked, than the fact it was created in the first place. It was ill-advised and inappropriate. It was almost shocking for shocking sake."

The ad has been circulated and retweeted hundreds of times on Twitter and several national media outlets have picked up stories about it. For McIntyre, the ad has made his work week one he won't forget any time soon.

"It's definitely made for an interesting week," he said.