Papa John’s pizza condemns white supremacists
“We condemn racism in all forms and any and all hate groups that support it. We do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza.”
Peter Collins Senior director of public relations at Papa John’s
Papa John’s pizza has a new customer, the alt-right.
In the days after a rant by Papa John’s CEO and Louisville resident John Schnatter in which he blamed the NFL and anthem protests for low sales, a white supremacist publication claimed it as its official pizza.
In a blog post at the Daily Stormer, a photo of pizza with pepperonis arranged in a swastika has a caption that reads “Papa John: Official pizza of the alt-right?”
“This might be the first time ever in modern history that a major institution is going to be completely destroyed explicitly because of public outrage over their anti-White agenda,” Daily Stormer writer Adrian Sol said.
Peter Collins, the senior director of public relations at Papa John’s, said the company was taken off-guard by the endorsement.
“We condemn racism in all forms and any and all hate groups that support it,” Collins told The Courier-Journal. “We do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza.”
Papa John’s released third-quarter sales figures last week that show diminished rates of growth at established North American locations: 1.5% this year as opposed to a projected 2% to 4% increase.
In 2016, North American sales increased 5.5% during the same period.
Papa John’s NASDAQ shares fell 8.5% last week and are down 23% on the year as the company lowers its growth expectations.
The company did not return a Couri- er-Journal request for comment.
The Daily Stormer endorsement follows a flood of criticism from other pizza companies as well.
Pizza Hut has said that protests in the NFL have not hurt sales, according to Business Insider.
“We’re not seeing impact on any of that on our business,” Greg Creed, CEO of Pizza Hut’s parent company Yum Brands, said in a call with investors Thursday.
Yum Brands is headquartered in
Louisville.
DiGiorno Pizza’s Twitter account also took aim at the Louisville-based pizza company.
“Better Pizza. Better Sales,” DiGiorno tweeted.