LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL and Super Bowl LI, Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA), is launching a new brand campaign, “WE’RE MORE THAN A PIZZA COMPANY, WE’RE A PIZZA FAMILY,” the week of Super Bowl LI (51), inviting Team Members, sports fans and pizza lovers around the world to further engage with the brand and learn about its history. An evolution of the BETTER INGREDIENTS. BETTER PIZZA. promise, Papa John’s Pizza Family campaign highlights one of its most important ingredients – its people.
“Super Bowl Sunday is our number one sales and delivery day, so it seemed fitting to unveil our new ‘Pizza Family’ brand campaign ahead of our biggest day of the year,” said “Papa” John Schnatter, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Papa John’s International. “With the recent opening of our 5,000th store location, it’s the right moment to reflect on our success and to celebrate those who have made it happen – from our pizza makers and delivery drivers to our trusted ingredient suppliers and our loyal customers around the world – this is the Pizza Family that makes it all possible.”
Onsite Super Bowl LI Activations
Papa John’s is kicking off the Pizza Family campaign in Houston at Super Bowl LI by bringing to life the brand’s inspiring story of one man’s dream to make a better pizza. From a broom closet to 5,000 stores worldwide, Papa John’s has built more than a pizza company, they’ve built a pizza family.
Today, Schnatter – joined by football legend and Papa John’s extended family member, Archie Manning along with 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship winning QB Deshaun Watson – will take fans back to his very first pizza-making days at Mick’s Lounge with a dough toss and pizza sampling. At NFLX, fans will face off against each other in Papa’s Touchdown Trivia and test not only their NFL knowledge, but also Papa John’s history. Winning teams will receive a free Papa John’s pizza and those (18+) are entered to win a trip to Super Bowl LII, as well as fans who use the hashtag #PizzaFamily on social media.
TV Creative
On Sunday, February 5, Papa John’s will air a 60-second TV ad on FOX, just hours ahead of Super Bowl LI. In the ad, Schnatter, joined by Papa John’s Team Members, tell the story of how the brand built its Pizza Family. Additionally, Papa John’s is launching a new logo, which for the first time in the brand’s history, features current Papa John’s Team Members alongside “Papa” John Schnatter. The new logo will appear on a redesigned pizza box and will maintain the signature red and black color scheme.
Papa’s Halftime Heroes
As a part of the Pizza Family brand campaign, Schnatter will also announce the launch of Papa John’s Halftime Heroes program, which recognizes Team Members who go above and beyond to embody Papa John’s core values. The inaugural winner for this year’s Halftime Heroes program is Lance Tyler, the Florida-based delivery driver who made national headlines during Hurricane Matthew when he verified the safety and well-being of 87-year-old Claire Olsen after her grandson, Eric, became concerned when he was unable to contact his grandmother for three days.
Eric decided to order a Papa John’s pizza to his grandmother’s house with special instructions for the delivery driver to call him upon arrival. His plan worked. Lance delivered the pizza, checked on grandma, and connected her to Eric. At this year’s Super Bowl, Papa John’s is uniting Lance with Eric, giving Eric a chance to thank Lance in person and giving both men the opportunity of lifetime to attend this year’s game and experience the Pepsi Zero Sugar Halftime Show from the sidelines. Experience more of Lance and Eric’s story at www.papajohnspizzafamily.com.
PAPA: The Story of Papa John’s Pizza
Schnatter further tells the story of building the Papa John’s Pizza Family in his memoir, Papa: The Story of Papa John’s Pizza, which recently released in hard cover and e-book formats and is available to order at www.papajohns.com. A portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the Papa Fund, an internal resource available to help Papa John’s Team Members in need.
About Papa John’s
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third-largest pizza delivery company. For 15 of the past 17 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and the Official Pizza of Major League Baseball. For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com. Also visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PapaJohns, Twitter at http://twitter.com/PapaJohns, YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/papajohns, Instagram at instagram.com/papajohns, and Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/papajohnspizza. Looking to be a part of something Better? Join the Papa John’s Pizza Family at www.papajohns.com/careers/ and www.papajohns.com/franchise.
