Papa John Kneels For Trump

Papa John's CEO & Trump fan John Schnatter 

Now if you're one of the millions of people tuning in to an NFL game on network television (or radio) today, it's likely you'll see or hear at least one commercial for Papa John's Pizza.

A company that enjoys an exclusive licensing deal that allows it to call itself "the official pizza of the NFL" or some such thing.

As if the NFL are arbiters of good pizza, or branding Papa John's the official pizza of the NFL somehow makes it tastier.

When my sister or mother, friends, or any of the acquaintances at my local tavern decide we want to order a pizza, we usually pull out the menus to decide which place we're in the mood for - and we always choose local spots that we know from experience make a good pie. 

Nothing against a franchise or anything, I enjoy Popeye's, McDonald's or Wendy's every now and then if I'm in the mood.

But pizza is a much more complex and delicate creature, and the quality of a franchise can depend on who owns it, who's managing it and who's actually making the pies when you call up and order.

Honestly, ask yourself: what's the likelihood that a family or group of friends gathered together to watch a Sunday NFL game in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Hamilton, NJ (or any place with good local pizza joints) is going to order pizza from Papa John's?

Nothing against any of the thousands of local Papa John's franchise owners around the country (and overseas) but my guess is not so likely - 80 - 20 depending on where you live and what's around.

Corporate bros? Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
and Papa John's Pizza CEO John Schnatter

Particularly if those family members or friends are supporters of the right of NFL players to peacefully and non-violently exercise their First Amendment right to free speech by choosing to kneel during the playing of the national anthem before kickoff to bring attention to the disparate use of excessive and deadly force against people of color in the United States by some members of law enforcement. 

As Hannah Withiam observed in an article for the conservative-leaning New York Post, the highly-visible founder and CEO of Papa John's Pizza, John Schnatter, made media headlines last week after he publicly tried to blame the NFL for a weak third-quarter earnings report released on Tuesday.


Some are speculating that it's actually Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (who happens to own 120 Papa John's Pizza franchises...) who was behind Schnatter's controversial public comments blaming the NFL for "poor leadership" over the issue of players kneeling before games that is behind Papa John's lower-than-expected third-quarter performance.

"NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders...this should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago." Schnatter told analysts during a conference call last Wednesday, referring to  the national anthem protests that started with former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.

While Schnatter seemed quick to pin his company's missed sales performance figures on NFL players calling attention to the way some members of law enforcement treat black Americans, it's not really clear what he meant by "nipping it in the bud" given that Kaepernick has ostensibly been blacklisted from the League.

And despite Schnatter's call for some kind of crackdown, even the NFL owners recognize that banning players from expressing themselves freely would be an unmitigated PR disaster for a league that is already trying to deal with declining ratings in an era when audiences are already unplugging from cable because of the vast array or entertainment options made available through OTT streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, HBO Go, Showtime Anytime and Hulu.

Members of the San Francisco 49'ers kneeling
earlier this season

As a long-time NFL fan and former NFL player, personally I think the drop in ratings is a combination of there simply being more things for people to watch, the explosion of the Internet, and the fact there are now simply too many NFL games on broadcast television.

There was a time in this country when "NFL Sunday" and Monday Night Football used to be must-see television events for millions of Americans.


But the gradual addition of games on Sunday night, and then Thursday night has simply made sitting there for three-plus hours being saturated by commercials less of an "event".

I think a lot of NFL owners and executives are not fully understanding the fact that millions of people who have unplugged from cable, like myself, simply don't want to watch commercials and are willing pay for other content (Netlflix, Amazon etc.) to do so - the NFL hasn't quite gotten that yet.

But to get back to the point, as CBS News MoneyWatch reported on Wednesday, Papa John's reported a 1 % increase in sales in the third quarter, but that increase was lower than expected, and much lower than the 5.5% increase in sales in the franchise reported in the third quarter in 2016.

So I think John Schnatter was expressing disappointment over his company's performance, and also venting the same frustration felt by large cable providers and a number of business owners who spend millions to advertise their company's products and services during NFL broadcasts, or associate their brands with the League's.

But in the case of Schnatter's public comments last week, my sense is that because he and Jerry Jones have a shared interest in the stock price and sales performance of Papa John's Pizza, as well as the popularity of the NFL, Jones may well have privately encouraged Schnatter to use the lackluster third-quarter earnings report and sales forecast to take a swipe at Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell talking during a
break between NFL owners meetings

Last Sunday, ESPN reported that Jones was allegedly the ringleader of 17 NFL owners who are pushing to block Commissioner Roger Goodell's pending contract extension, largely over displeasure over the way the NFL's front office has handled the national anthem protests

As ESPN quoted one unnamed NFL owner as saying of Goodell's contract extension, "If not for Jerry this deal would be done."

So this issue is about much more than the quality of the pizza Papa John's bakes and delivers, and how they're faring against their competition - which is questionable.

In the wake of Schnatter's comments last week, a number of spokesman for other restaurant franchises that depend on NFL games for significant portions of their revenue have pushed back against his claims that the national anthem protests are to blame for poor earnings - Buffalo Wild Wings said publicly that sagging NFL audience ratings were not expected to affect their sales targets.

In a conference call last week, Greg Creed, the CEO of YUM Foods which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, said, "We're not seeing any impact of any of that on our business." 

Last Wednesday the Twitter account for frozen pizza brand DiGiorno responded to Schnatter's comments by spoofing Papa John's Pizza tagline "Better ingredients. Better Pizza" by tweeting, "Better pizza. Better sales." 

Ouch.

Some have speculated that Schnatter's conservative political views are to blame for his opposition to the national anthem protests given that he is an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump.

To be clear, the same First Amendment to the Constitution that gives NFL players the right to silently kneel during the playing of the national anthem gives John Schnatter the right to express an opinion for, or against their actions - or support the political candidate he wants to.

John Schnatter in one of the many Papa John's
ads in which he personally appears

But the fact is that Schnatter himself made the decision to build the brand of his business around himself and his own image, so his decision to weigh into the ongoing debate about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem is inextricably tied to people's perception of the Papa John's Pizza brand.

Many people, including many of his own shareholders, were not pleased with his comments - as Forbes reported last Wednesday, the value of Papa John's shares dropped by 11%.

That was just within 24 hours of his comments, and since Schnatter owns about 25% of the company, his personal net worth dropped by $70 million in less than a day.

There's no question that John Schnatter is a successful American CEO who built his business from the ground up.

He was making pizzas at age 16 when he was working two jobs, and famously built Papa John's Pizza after purchasing an old bar and installing an oven in the space where a closet used to be.

He's a hands-on guy known to show up at one of his franchises without warning and give employees and managers an earful if things are not up to his standards - by all accounts he's also generous with his money to friends, strangers and charities.

VP Mike Pence with Schnatter 

But he made a serious error in tying the brand he owns with his own personal conservative political views, because a lot of Papa John's Pizza customers, franchise owners and employees do not agree with his support of Trump.

He has a right to support Trump, but only about 30% of the U.S. population supports the most unpopular president in modern history - and clearly the business strategy of Papa John's Pizza is not to target a mere 30% of American consumers.

In 2012, Schnatter threatened to reduce his employees hours in response to the Affordable Care Act.

So he's got a history of linking his personal conservative views to his business whether intended or not - which, as he's learning, is not necessarily a good thing.

As Mediaite.com reported on Monday, neo-Nazi website the DailyStormer quickly threw their racist hat into the ring and embraced Papa John's Pizza as the "official pizza of the alt-right".

To their credit, Papa John's quickly released a statement condemning racism and bigotry in all forms and made clear that they "do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza." - but the damage is already done and frankly Schnatter should have thought about the broader repercussions of putting his company brand into the awkward position of criticizing those who are speaking out against unjustified police brutality.

In an op-ed in the September 27th issue of The Hollywood Reporter, writer and former NBA All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar expressed the hope that athletes, entertainers and other high-profile Americans may be represent the most effective way to push back against the divisiveness, bigotry and repressive ideology of the Trump White House - and the advisers, cabinet members and politicians who seek to make his repugnant views and regressive policies a political reality.

As Abdul-Jabbar observed, "What makes this uprising of moral indignation and political zeal so significant is that those speaking out do so with the full realization that they have something to lose. Players risk their entire futures, jobs as well as endorsement deals. Clearly, they are motivated by something more important that profits: patriotism."

The cumulative effect of "Papa John" Schnatter having criticized NFL players for peacefully and silently protesting the glaring disparity with which some members of law enforcement use excessive physical force, or deadly force, against people of color, as far as the views of the vast majority of Americans are concerned, is that he failed to stand up for what is intrinsically, right.

He ostensibly kneeled for Trump.

Because of that, regardless of his right to express his personal political views, when a lot of people open that drawer to pull out the pizza menus, they're not going to be choosing Papa John's.

For reasons that have nothing to do with the taste and quality of the Pizza.