Papa John’s, the pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, has been on a mostly bad publicity roller coaster for several weeks. The company’s founder and CEO John Schnatter spoke out against the national anthem protests at NFL games, claiming they were hurting the company’s bottom line.
On November 2nd, Dan Gainor of FOX News reported:
Papa John’s blames NFL anthem protests for taking a multimillion-dollar slice out of its pizza earningsIf you just found out there’s an Official Pizza of the NFL, then you’re too late. Papa John’s, which held that unique title, lost too much money as a result of player protests during the national anthem.As a result, founder and big cheese John Schnatter sacked the NFL’s “poor leadership” and said “the NFL has hurt us.’” He took his popular pizzas and his saucy attitude and went home, pulling his ads associated with the NFL for now.Schnatter lost $70 million, which Forbes described as “Papa John Loses Dough,” after his company’s stock took a dive over bad sales numbers this week. The CEO refused to take a knee (take a knead?) and instead blamed the NFL anthem protests. Schnatter blasted NFL leadership for letting the protests continue and for “not resolving the current debacle.”
That move led to headlines like the one below from Newsweek:
Why Neo-Nazis Love Papa John’s Pizza – And Other ‘Official’ Alt-Right CompaniesWhy do Neo-Nazis and white supremacists keep laying claim to some of America’s most popular brands?Most recently, the far-right website the Daily Stormer decided to name Papa John’s the “official pizza” of the alt-right. The endorsement was soon disavowed by the company, which claimed it doesn’t want neo-Nazis eating its pizza. But by endorsing brands the neo-Nazis succeed in giving the impression that they have mainstream allies who share their vision of an all-white world, experts say.
Yesterday, the official Twitter account for the company released this statement:
What has just played out is already sadly familiar. Objecting to the left can earn you an embrace by the alt-right. The left then feels justified labeling you a white supremacist which plays right into their political narrative.
Featured image via YouTube.
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