Deadspin
OK, it wasn't quite THAT bad. But Papa John's 23-cent pizza promotion in Northeast Ohio on Thursday did draw enormous crowds, and wasn't completely peaceful. Aside from some stores running out of pizzas, there were shoving matches and verbal altercations as people waited in line for discount pies for as long as five hours.
At the University Heights Papa John's, police said a few people tried to jump the line, but they were pulled out and those in line started cheering. A Newsnet5.com viewer e-mailed and said a fight broke out at the Springfield Township location on Waterloo Road in Summit County. Springfield police said a verbal altercation took place between two people in line. No one was hurt and no arrests were made, police said.
There was one serious casualty, as Papa John's mascot Mr. Slice was found in a Toledo alley early this morning severely beaten and stripped of his toppings.
The promotion was hatched, of course, after a Papa John's franchise in Washington, D.C., made T-shirts calling LeBron James a "crybaby" after James' complaints about hard fouls during the Cavaliers' playoff series with the Wizards. To counter the bad publicity, the company offered 23-cent large, one-topping pizzas at their Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Youngstown outlets. The company will also donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.
Papa John's first idea was to discount the pizzas according to LeBron's playoff shooting percentage, but that would have hardly even been worth the trouble.
Papa John's Running Out Of Pizza; Promotion May End By Dinnertime [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
Papa John's Stores Will Close Early If Supplies Run Out [Newsnet 5]
Comments
Undercutters Pizza could beat that price.
Were there riots after the people realized they were actually paying for Papa Johns?
Seriously, that is the most disgusting nationwide chain pizza.
how much is a pizza normally?
how much $ could you make in 5 hours?
listen, i have some yardwork and other odd jobs that need doing (store-runs - I need batteries and lightbulbs, etc) and if you come over and work for me for 3 hours, I will give you a crisp $20 plus lunch and expenses.
Wheeeeeeeeeeen a fist
Hits your eye
As you wait
For your pie
It's... Ohiooooooooooooo
A more appropriate promo would be 6 pizzas for 24 dollars.
It's times like these when you realize just how thin a thread holds our society from spilling out into complete chaos.
It's times like these, time and time again.
@How do you spell retard?: It's just like when people drive all the way across town and sit - with their cars running no less - to save $0.25 a gallon on gas.
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG: +1. Oh, that's a thread winner right there!
extra anchovies on mine, pleez
/bats eyelashes at mcdreamy
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG:
+1.
We are all witnesses to statewide diarrhea.
the line for 23 cent pizzas in downtown cleveland wrapped around an entire city block. past 3 bowling alleys, a liquor store, and a liquor store museum.
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG: simply genius. +1
Ah, fat people.
ohiotucky
But he is a crybaby. When Haywood bitch-slapped him, I saw the lip quiver. Don't lie and say you didn't see that shit.
[microscopiq.com] Goodbye Ohio!
I knew those pictures weren't from Cleveland right away. They were clearly taken in Columbus.
@ltwinslow: They'll never get that Ikea!
Way to stay classy, Cleveland.
In otherwords, a normal Thursday in Ohio.
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG:
+1
@How do you spell retard?: Dominoes and Pizza Hut wholeheartedly disagree.
@Weed Against Speed: Luckily, I live i South Jersey, where we literally have the cheapest gas on the planet.
Papa Johns is even worse than Sbarros.
Of course, those waiting in line had the added bonus of completely missing the game the pizzas were presumably supposed to be eaten during.
@supermike5alive: You assume Ohioans think rationally.
Unsure of what to do once they purchased the pie, customers opened the box, grabbed a slice, and proceeded to have intercourse with themselves and the hot cheese pizza mere feet away from the childrens section.
[www.thescore.ca]
The lead suspect in the Mr. Slice beating.
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG: +1
@BigJimSlade:
Pizza Hut's only good for the breadsticks.
@How do you spell retard?:
Seriously, that is the most disgusting nationwide chain pizza.
Wait, isn't that the pizza that makes Jerry Jones get superfly?!?!
+ Watch video
Unfortunately, after consuming their pizzas, people realized that they still lived in Cleveland.
In some cities, Papa John's pizza is considered a hate crime against Italian Americans.
@supermike5alive: If these people thought like that, they wouldn't have to wait in line for 5 hours for a pizza.
For all you Westside Clevelanders out there: try Capri Pizza FTW. Middleburg Heights and North Olmsted. Cheap and good at the same time.
@ltwinslow: I lol'ed
At the University Heights Papa John's, police said a few people tried to jump the line, but they were pulled out and those in line started cheering.
Is this an Onion article?
Isn't "news" defined as something "new?"
This is what happens when you leave security duties to the Ninja Turtles.
@How do you spell retard?: Hey, I heard Sbarro's is the place to go to get a genuine New York slice!
@Afino: Don't forget the side order of explosive diarrhea... free with every meal!
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG: +1 (not to be redundant, or anything)
There's going to be a rash of pizza throwing incidents at the next Cavs/Celtics game.
Can't we all just get along and eat "Hot n' Ready" pizzas from Little Caesars?
@BigJimSlade:
makes you want to say YUM!
(considering Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are both owned by the same company....coincedence?)
So I guess Roy Williams had the day off?
LBJ "whining" > Jim Carrey "going dark"
@Brazil Thrill's Shot Was Blocked By KG: +1 (plus breadsticks)
Carl Monday is watching your pie.
There was one serious casualty, as Papa John's mascot Mr. Slice was found in a Toledo alley early this morning severely beaten and stripped of his toppings.
Fucking Sussman.
"OK, it wasn't quite THAT bad"
I take it you've never seen Columbus on Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day then, Rick.
I said extra cheese bitch!
Papa John's is almost as bad as The Olive Garden.
+ Watch video
I heard Papa John isn't even a real father.
@Afino: my absolute most guilty pleasure.
Riotting like that should be reserved for first round NHL playoff victories.
"There was one serious casualty, as Papa John's mascot Mr. Slice was found in a Toledo alley early this morning severely beaten and stripped of his toppings."
Now he's sending his brother Kimbo Slice to find the guys that did it and make things right.
OK, it wasn't quite THAT bad.
Not quite as bad as Jim Carrey in The Number 23 ?
The Noid wouldn't have put up with this sort of bullshit, I'll tell you that.
@Le Kangourou de Kataroo bites her thumb in your general dir...: You need to get out of your mother's basement more often.
@Dany Heatley Speedwagon: my boss's basement, actually.
OHIO: No you idiot, it's not a palindrome.
Still, living in Ohio is nothing like the fights that must have been seen outside of this pizza joint.
I still shake my head when I see people waling into Pizza hut or Dominos in NY.
@Weed Against Speed: Dominos is the genuine article*
*not even close to the genuine article.
@Weed Against Speed: I dare say that kind of bullshit would have been avoided...
/goes back to office basement
@Threat Level: Midnight: Co-starring Virginia Madsen! If The Number 23 is the best her agent can get her after appearing in Sideways, someone needs a new agent.