I didn’t know about his politics either and they currently have an offer going that whenever the Orlando Magic wins a game you get 50% off their online orders, tried it once after years of not having Papa Johns and it was absolutely horrible.
I’ve tried Papa John’s pizza once in my life. Once was plenty. That was long before I knew what a douchebag the owner was.
It’s tomato soup poured over cardboard.
I occasionally get PJ’s pizza mainly because it’s cheap and it’s a couple blocks from work. If I had to have it delivered or there was another pizza place close by, I don’t think I would ever get it. The only redeeming quality is the garlic butter dipping sauce.
An interesting subtext to all this is the admission that Papa John’s pizza sales are so dependent on ongoing advertising and promotional campaigns. It suggests that too much of the customer base needs to be reminded and incentivized before they will buy it. If this dip in NFL viewership has had a notable effect on their bottom line, it’s because not enough customers like their pizza enough to make it a habit.
In contrast, I have been ordering from the same local pizza joint for years and years. If I want a pizza, I don’t think about where I’m going to get it from. I just call them. Even if I get the idea for having pizza from a TV ad for some other pizza, I still order it from the same local joint. Why? Because it’s become habitual. It became habitual because it’s excellent pizza. They don’t need to advertise because their pizza sells itself.
Now, of course a bunch of people are about to say “but I order Papa John’s over and over again.” I’m sure that’s true of a lot of people. But apparently not ENOUGH people are brand loyal ENOUGH to keep buying pizza without being reminded by ads.
Another alternative to Papa John’s is Papa John! Less pizza, more Blues.
Ditto. 100%. Dislike Chick-Fil-A politics but will still eat it because it is delicious.
Dislike PJ’s politics but dislike their piece of shit pizza even more. It should go directly from the oven to the landfill.
When I was younger I would shovel in 3 day old bad pizza and stale donuts. But I’m now to the point in my life where I have to justify the calories I intake. PJ is a lot of bad calories so I elect not to eat them.
We get it, it was a dark depressing time, and you weren’t really in your right mind. We all do things we later regret.
But tasting the asshole was intentional. 
Pizza Hut’s third quarter earnings are higher than forecast. And NFL viewership has been decreasing for quite some time, according to this Fortune article.
Of course, Pizza Hut is not an official sponsor of the NFL, and likely doesn’t have the ad presence Papa John’s has, which brings us to this: NFL ad prices have gone up yet again. With viewership down again and ad dollars increasing even further, putting so many pizzas in that one basket may be a mistake.
Little Caesars pizza might not be the greatest (it’s better than Papa Johns) but their Crazy Bread is bar none. And I love their cheese bread. It’s basically white pizza, which I adore.
Wouldn’t surprise me. Jones is one of the biggest sleazebags in the NFL.
There you go, Schnatter. All the publicity you could want.
There were similar comments about Chick-fil-A when they were in the news for their owner’s political beliefs. Their sandwiches were terrible and they and overpriced as a similar meal at another restaurant would cost you much less.
Papa Johns is usually my first choice for pizza where I live. What are my other choices? Unless I want to go out of my way it’s Little Caesar’s, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s. And while I have a preference for PJs over the others I can’t really claim it stands head and shoulders above the others. If PJ isn’t as profitable as those other three I can’t for the life of me think it’s because of the quality of their product. Those other pizza places really aren’t any better.
I had a Chick-Fil-A sandwich once, before I knew the owner’s political beliefs.
It was boring. I could get the same from AM/PM.
Chick-Fil-A also has the only “spicy” chicken sandwich that is remotely spicy. (Yes, even compared with Wendy’s). For that, they win alone. I’ve yet to discover a place that makes a better simple chicken sandwich.
Papa Johns relies so heavily on discounting that I’m wondering if the better economy has actually hurt them. People have more money to spend on better pizza than during the recession, there’s no need for a buy one get one free pizza accompanied by a 12 pack of cheap beer when unemployment is at 4.1%
I’m wondering the same thing for dominos… they have the 2 for 5.99 deal
its actually 2 topping med pizza and bread chicken pasta dessert salads you can mix and match
But they’ve had the same deal for at least 6 or 7 years and unless you need a bigger pizza or a specialty pizza its their most popular pizza deal
I know at some point its a loss leader but they cant get rid of it with out losing a ton customers
Do how do you encourage people to move on to something that makes you money ?
Restaurant CEOs always grab at dubious excuses to explain less than stellar sales. Weather, holidays falling on the wrong day of a month, etc. This feels to me to be more than a little motivated by politics.
I just saw that myself on Reddit (/r/nottheonion: For news articles [or, at least, titles] which sound like parody).
Sometimes I wonder if these are 4chan-style racists who are actually trying to tank the company in question.
Update on the Official White Supremacy Pizza Chain:
Papa John’s has now been forced to tell racists not to eat its pizza