Papa Is Tearing Papa John's Apart

In a CNBC story about how Papa John’s third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street’s expectations, it was revealed that the pizza chain franchise owners are divided over what to do about the disgraced Papa, while the company spent millions of dollars just trying to get Papa the fuck away from its pizza.

After the former face of the company, CEO and chairman John Schnatter turned out to be a racist and vindictive boss that and eventually got dropped by Papa John’s along with basically every other entity he ever had a relationship with, launching him into a tailspin which has continued to sully Papa John’s reputation to this day, it’s no surprise Papa John’s is desperate to be rid of him, but some store owners are not so sure. From CNBC:

Papa John’s has been thrown into turmoil since its public feud with former CEO and Chairman John Schnatter broke in July. Sales have tanked, traffic is down and franchisees have been divided, some siding with Schnatter, others with the company and the rest caught between the two.

I guess some people are still fans of the Papa, and perhaps of racism. The company, though, seems determined to go a different way, even if it means spending an ungodly amount of money to do so. From the report:

The company excluded $24.8 million in special charges from its adjusted earnings that included $3.6 million in costs to remove Schnatter’s image from its marketing materials and $9.9 million in financial assistance to its franchise owners.

Taking Schnatter’s face off pizza menus and advertisements is one thing; cleaning up the rest of his mess is another.

The company expects to spend between $25 and $35 million in the fourth quarter on financial assistance for its franchisees, marketing, legal fees and the cost of hiring a consultant to audit the culture at Papa John’s.

As they say, you can take the Papa out of Papa John’s, but you can’t do it without spending millions of dollars and maybe wrecking your pizza company.