I voted for the first option, which is the closest to my opinion, but if I could reword it I would say, “We sometimes get their pizza even though it isn’t the greatest, and before now I didn’t even know about the CEO’s politics.”
There’s several places near me who have far superior pizza. None of them offer two medium two-topping pizzas for $8.99 each or similar deals. When I want good pizza, I go to the good places, when I want cheap convenience food delivered to my door and consumed by a 15 year old son, I go with the chains. the good stuff is “Let’s order a big pizza and all watch a movie” food, the cheap stuff is “Mom’s out and I don’t feel like cooking” food.
That makes sense. I do the same with frozen or ready-to-bake pizza, as I like it better than the economy pizza joints. But it does require you to do the baking.
Bad pizza isn’t like bad sex, where bad pizza is still better than no pizza. Bad pizza is just bad pizza. Fortunately, in my neck of the concrete jungle, the mom-and-pop pizza shops all compete on price so prices are reasonable, and they all deliver.
There’s no option for me. I think the pizza is okay. Nothing special. I don’t buy them because every time I see Papa John in a commercial my douchebag detector goes nuts. I don’t know the first thing about his politics.
I would pay good money to sit ringside at the Papa John vs. Trivago Guy fight.
Stop dyeing your hair, Papa John! Put on a belt, Trivago Guy!
Don’t eat it cause it sucks. The local place is even worse. I’m stuck with Dominos.
He’s just creepy. Flat, dead eyes. Wooden delivery. Fake smile.
You’re thinking of Pinocchio’s Pizza.
Eh, I’d call them all mediocre pizza. Not much different from fast food burgers or fast food burritos, etc. Perfectly fine when you’re just looking to be fed or to feed others on the relative cheap. Main difference is someone will bring it to my door. Or maybe I just don’t care as much about my pizza as you.
We used to eat it, and my younger son liked it a lot. I thought it was just OK, but since there was always a deal on, I went for it mainly because it was cheap. I liked that I didn’t even have to have a coupon; I’d just always call and ask what their deal was, and would go for that.
When the owner came out attacking Obamacare and saying he’d make sure his staff didn’t get enough hours for him to have to pay for their healthcare, though, I walked away for good. I do feel for his franchisees, since he has really reduced the value of their franchises by shooting his mouth off, but I just feel happier knowing that I’m not lining the SOB’s pockets any more.
Must be my Sicilian roots, or my native NY upbringing, or a combo of both. But then, I can’t stomach fast food burgers either (though I do like Chipotle burritos).
I don’t have a problem with what he said. The health coverage issue I have a problem with, if they actually went. (From what I can see, they do have coverage so that’s a non-issue)
Local pizza is sometimes actually worse than the national chains. I’ve branched out and gone local and regretted it, when a Dominos would have been better. If I’m in a strange city and haven’t gotten any good recommendations (and nothing on Yelp is nearby or something), and need something delivered quickly to a hotel room… I’ll go with Papa Johns or similar.
I disagree with his politics but I think it’s ridiculous and hypocritical to not shop somewhere because of what a CEO or other high ranking person thinks. All you are doing is punishing people who are honest about the opinions, publicly. Pretty much every corporation you shop from has conservatives, idiots, douchebags and assholes who directly profit from your every purchase. Just because you learn about one of them doesn’t mean you have to stop shopping there.
I can see the argument for “it doesn’t make a difference anyway” but I don’t see where it’s hypocritical. And while most companies may have someone working there who I’d disagree with, that someone usually isn’t the person directing company policy on healthcare benefits. Not patronizing a business where the owner is a dink is a lot different from not patronizing one where a cashier is a dink.
I think you don’t understand the meaning of the word “hypocrisy.”
I would never insist or advocate that others boycott Papa Johns because of what the owner said. It’s up to each individual to decide whether they agree with him or not, or whether his opinions matter to them or not to make them change their actions. I look at his statements and decide that he’s a schmuck, and I don’t want a penny of my money going to support him. Are there other corporate owners equally or more odious than him? More than likely, but they haven’t made a public statement trying to sway public and political opinion against something I believe in.
I don’t get the outrage over people complaining when others decide to boycott a business. No one is under obligation to make purchases from Papa Johns or Chick-fil-A. There are myriad reasons why I may choose not to patronize a business. It may be that the’re too far away, or I don’t like the taste that much, or that I have a hard time making a left turn out of their parking lot. Ultimately, it’s my decision on where I choose to spend my money.
This is a recipe for Workers who do the bare minimum not to get fired and don’t give a crap and owners who treat their workers like they are cogs in a machine that can be swapped out rather than people. I like to think if you treat people with dignity you get respect in return and everyone benefits.
As far as Papa Johns goes, I don’t eat Pizza very often anymore (changed my diet this year) but live in NJ where you literally have local Pizza place on every corner (literally) and 80% are at least good. Even given that I sometimes would order from chains. I order Dominoes because I like their Plain wings and their Pizza had a particular taste I would sometimes crave (like the way McDonald has a particular taste that isn’t exactly a hamburger). When PJs came out east I ordered them a few times because I remembered their Pizza from when I lived in the Midwest and every single time I had issues with delivery so was always hesitant to try them again. Then when the owners comments about workers and Obamacare came to light I decided not to give them any more chances.
I am a big believer in voting with my dollars (in a capitalistic society it is one of the few intrinsic rights you have) and if I know my money will eventually end up in the hands of someone I don’t agree with I will avoid it if at all possible (for example I avoided Dominoes for years when I learned the owners at the time donated their profits to anti abortion causes and I avoid Wal Mart because I think the owners are greedy jerks and their business practices suck).
Just curious though, for people who say they only care about the food and politics doesn’t matter. Is there a threshold for when they do matter? Is it the particular issue PJ’s owner is known for that doesn’t matter but there would be one that would matter?
It’s hypocritical in the sense that you are saying you will never support people you disagree with politically, but you can’t buy anything in a capitalist society without supporting people who disagree with you. Just because some of them are honest about their opinions is a stupid reason to stop buying their stuff.
And if you went to a restaurant that kicked you out for your sexual orientation, it isn’t you who’s choosing not to do business with them, it’s them.
Guess I’m the lone wolf who supports their politics. 
You can’t buy anything in a capitalist society without supporting people you disagree with, much like people who shout ‘Buy American!’ can’t help shopping at Wal-Mart for their Chinese-made consumer items. The point is that most of the people you don’t disagree with don’t publicly advocate causes someone might disagree with. There is a difference between ‘I am supporting someone, somewhere, whose name I don’t know, whose views I disagree with’, and ‘I am supporting a specific person with whom I disagree who has made a point to let everyone know his views and is actively working against the principles I believe in.’ The former is not hypocrisy. If the CEO of Company X holds views with which I disagree, and if he operates his business according to those views, and I buy his product anyway, that’s hypocritical.
I reject people who complain they are being boycotted/shunned/criticised for ‘just being honest’. I’ve heard too many people say ‘It isn’t prejudice if it’s true!’ to justify their dislike of certain groups.
If you’re a capitalist, people have the right to vote with their dollars in The Free Market [sup][angelic choir][/sup]. Unless people are voting with their dollars by not buying your product. Then it’s the Socialists trying to stifle your right of free speech.