Pizza gets political: The Papa John's vs. Pizza Hut war heats up

Explore2025-04-27 06:09:47Read times

Even shitty fast food pizza isn't immune from getting political in 2017.

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter blamed the NFL and recent protests surrounding the national anthem for its slumping sales. The company said that it's the NFL's largest sponsor, but people really didn't buy the excuse.

While plenty of people piled on to remind Papa John's that its so-called "pizza" is astronomically inferior to other options, others noted that it's not just their product that's doing the brand damage, considering Schnatter is a vocal Trump supporter and has a history of PR nightmares. But what happened next was quite extraordinary.

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During a conference call with investors on Thursday, Greg Creed, CEO of Pizza Hut's parent company Yum Brands, said that the protests weren't having any impact on business, and that it benefits from live sporting events, according to Business Insider. (It should be noted that Pizza Hut has no current affiliation with the NFL.)

While probably unintentional, the comment basically politicized pizza, with supporters on the right backing Papa John's, and liberals on the left rallying behind Pizza Hut.

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The excuse from Papa John's has also drummed up some attention from other pizza brands, like DiGiorno.

Papa John's fired back, adding "Frozen pizza = the pizza equivalent of a participation trophy" to its Twitter bio, and solidified its position as an angry, Republican dad.

Additionally, the move has resurfaced a story from earlier this year which revealed Little Caesars founder Mike Ilitch quietly paid for Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks' apartment in Detroit for "more than a decade," according to CNN.

Still, some noted that this whole thing is a bit ridiculous, and is yet another distraction from Colin Kaepernick's original point in the protest.

Regardless, pizza has now been politicized, for angry people reacting on Twitter, at least.

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