Papa John loves you very, very much. He misses you "more than words can express!" Please, take him back, he implores.
Those are the general themes — and the literal words — of "Papa" John Schnatter's newest ad campaign, which reveals the hidden agony of a former pizza maven. With a website and a full-page newspaper ad launched Wednesday, the pizza chain's founder is lobbying you, his beautiful employees and customers, to love him again.
Schnatter understands if you're reluctant to trust him. He did claim NFL protests during the national anthem "hurt Papa John's shareholders" last November, which forced him into stepping down as CEO of Papa John's. And he did say the N-word on a role-playing call aimed at helping him fix his public image, which led to him resigning as chairman July 11 and being subsequently removed from all of the company's branding.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
But Schnatter is "very sorry you all have to go through this," he says on SavePapaJohns.com. "I can only imagine how difficult this entire situation is on you," he writes, adding that you should "know that in every minute of every day you are all in my thoughts and prayers." Dearest pizza lovers, please know the same message appears in a full page ad in Wednesday's Louisville Courier Journal, the newspaper reports.
The Papa John's company released a statement Wednesday confirming it will not take him back, per the Courier Journal. But you, Papa John's beloved children, can still change your mind. Please, he begs, let him be your Papa again.
