Papa John's has a new papa.
The pizza chain has announced that Shaquille O'Neal is joining its board of directors, also becoming a brand ambassador for the company and investing in nine Atlanta locations, per CNN.
Papa John's is no doubt hoping to revive its brand after a series of scandals involving its founder, John Schnatter, who resigned as chairman after admitting he used the N-word during a conference call. He had previously resigned as CEO in 2017 after criticizing the National Football League's handling of players kneeling during the national anthem and suggesting this resulted in lower sales for the company.
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Since then, Papa John's has found a new chairman in Jeff Smith, and it stopped using images of Schnatter in its advertising. It appears Shaq will now serve as the public face of the company, as under the deal, Papa John's gets to use his "name, nickname, autograph, voice, video or film portrayals" in its advertisements, reports Yahoo's Daniel Roberts.
O'Neal told CNBC on Friday that he was the one to approach Papa John's about this idea, calling Schnatter's use of the N-word "not acceptable" and saying that now, "We want to get this thing back on track."
