To make up for the “Crybaby” t-shirt incident, Papa John’s apologized and offered Cleveland area residents $.23 pizza on Thursday. The company stated that the discount was limited to carry-out orders only, and one pizza per person. But apparently for some Papa John’s franchises, kids don’t count as people:
Columbus Dispatch:
Jennifer Gunn, a West Side homemaker, [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Marketing'
Papa John’s to Customers: Kids are Not People
May 9th, 2008 · 6 Comments
Tags: Marketing · News · Pizza
Whither the Mento’s Kiss Cam?
May 9th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Sometimes, a viral marketing campaign dies before you even know it exists. That could be the case with the Mentos Kiss Cam. What is the Mentos Kiss Cam? My peeps at Endless Simmer break it down for you:
The concept of the Mentos Kiss Cam is pretty bizarre: a busty blond in a skimpy [...]
Tags: Advertising · Bizarre · Candy · Marketing · YouTube
Chaos in Cleveland?
May 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment
In my last post I predicted we’d see news stories tomorrow about fights breaking out or other incidents occurring with people waiting in line for pizza. That didn’t take long. Cleveland Online writes:
There are reports of 3 hour waits, stores not answering their phones, thousands of people in line, line jumpers, fights, arrests, [...]
Tags: Comedy · Marketing · News · Pizza · YouTube
Will Papa John’s Promotion Succeed or Backfire?
May 8th, 2008 · 2 Comments
I tracked down a couple more clips on YouTube of people waiting in line for pizza in Cleveland. It appears the lines are enormous at all the stores offering the promotion. While it is quite likely that this promotion will endear Papa John’s to Cleveland residents (who doesn’t love cheap pizza?) the chaos of the [...]
Tags: Marketing · News · Pizza · YouTube
Papa John’s $.23 Pizza Causing Huge Lines
May 8th, 2008 · 3 Comments
All day I’ve been receiving reports from my readers about the ongoing Papa John’s $.23 pizza promotion in the Cleveland area. Many are expressing frustration with busy phones and extremely long lines. Newsnet5 reports that the stores will close early if they run out of supplies. They also write:
Some customers are waiting as long as [...]
Tags: Marketing · News · Pizza · Sports
“Crybaby” Shirts Hitting ebay, craigslist
May 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment
It looks like the fervor over the Papa John’s “Crybaby” t-shirts has reached both Craigs List and ebay.
There appear to be at least 3 postings on the Washington, DC craigslist site requesting one of the shirts if anyone has one they are willing to sell. Additionally, there appear to be one or two dozen shirts [...]
Tags: Marketing · News · Pizza · Sports
Examiner Covers So Good’s Role in “Crybaby” Story
May 6th, 2008 · 3 Comments
The Washington Examiner has an article today called “A King’s Feast” talking about the role So Good played in breaking the “Crybaby” t-shirt story. Below are a few excerpts from the original article:
Here’s how the story unfolded — and it might not have gone anywhere if not for local blogger Jon Eick of sogoodblog.com — [...]
Tags: Marketing · News · Pizza · Sports
So Good Featured on Cleveland News
May 5th, 2008 · 15 Comments
The segment from WJW Fox 8 about the “Crybaby” t-shirt incident has been posted online. It provides a good overview of the whole story. It features some coverage of So Good breaking the story, and they used two segements from my phone interview with them. Unlike the story I was cited in by the Cleveland [...]
Tags: Marketing · Meta · News · Pizza · Sports · Television · YouTube
Papa John’s Apologizes for “Crybaby” T-Shirts
May 4th, 2008 · 31 Comments
Behind the Lens is reporting that the Fox 8 segment I was interviewed for just aired. As part of the segment, they announced that Papa John’s has issued a formal apology for the “Crybaby” T-shirt situation.
Behind the Lens writes:
They are donating $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund, and this Thursday all PJ’s Cleveland locations will [...]
Tags: Marketing · Pizza · Sports
Is a Papa John’s Mea Culpa Imminent?
May 4th, 2008 · 4 Comments
The following comment was left on my original post about the Papa John’s “Crybaby” t-shirt incident. It came from a Papa John’s corporate e-mail address and may be an early indication of how the corporate office is reacting. It confirms what we’ve been hearing about these shirts being sponsored by “rogue” franchise owners in DC [...]
Tags: Marketing · Pizza · Sports
Papa John’s “Crybaby” Sunday Afternoon Update
May 4th, 2008 · 7 Comments
For those of you just starting to follow this story, to get some background you can read my original post and follow-up coverage about the “Crybaby” t-shirts that were at the Wizards-Cavs Game 6 and featured a Papa John’s logo on them.
One quick note for those of you contacting me for information related to a [...]
Tags: Marketing · Pizza · Sports
Papa John’s “Crybaby” T-Shirt Story Continues
May 4th, 2008 · 25 Comments
My previous post, reporting on shirts sponsored by Papa John’s declaring Lebron James a “Crybaby”, had become cluttered with so many updates, I decided to summarize them in a new post. Since I first posted the story a little less than 24 hours ago, the news has really taken off, with coverage from the [...]
Tags: Marketing · Pizza · Sports
Does Papa John’s Pizza Hate the State of Ohio?
May 3rd, 2008 · 109 Comments
Update: I have received word that Papa John’s has formally apologized for the incident. Click over to So Good’s front page to read about the apology and other updates on the story from the past 24 hours. My original post about the “Crybaby” T-shirts appears below:
Earlier tonight I attended the Washington Wizards and Cleveland [...]
Tags: Marketing · Pizza · Sports
Daughter Busts Burger King VP for Being an Internet Troll, Mother Furious at Reporter
April 28th, 2008 · 2 Comments
This is a strange and interesting story, which says a lot about why corporate executives need to leave online messaging and PR to companies or individuals that fully understand the medium.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is delivering petitions to Burger King headquarters today, to protest the company’s refusal to increase wages for tomato [...]
Tags: Fast Food · Marketing · News · Politics
Dr. Pepper Delivers on Chinese Democracy?
April 14th, 2008 · No Comments
A little over two weeks ago, So Good wrote about Dr. Pepper’s challenge to Axl Rose: finally release Chinese Democracy, and we’ll give a free can of Dr. Pepper to everyone in America. Shockingly, there are now several reports that Chinese Democracy has been completed by Axl and has finally been sent to his record [...]
Tags: Marketing · Soft Drinks
McDonald’s Does Not Use “Leftover Parts”
April 9th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Yeah that’s right. McDonald’s uses real food, not “leftover parts” and they want you to know about it. That’s why they’ve set up a new area on their website called “Quality Food.” The goal is to help dispel myths about the quality of McDonald’s food. According to a recent AdAge article:
Some of the [...]
Tags: Fast Food · Health · Marketing
White Gold is the New Spinal Tap
April 8th, 2008 · 2 Comments
The California Milk Processor Board has a new internet heavy marketing campaign that features a band called White Gold. The brain child of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, White Gold, like any modern band, has a MySpace page, Facebook group and a website.
However, unlike most modern bands, White Gold features a hilariously self-absorbed front man who [...]
Tags: Advertising · Marketing · Web Sites · YouTube
Dr. Pepper is Jonesing to Hear Chinese Democracy
March 27th, 2008 · 5 Comments
Yesterday, Dr. Pepper put out a press release announcing that if Axl Rose finally releases his 17 years-in-the-making Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, during 2008, they will give everyone in America a free can of Dr. Pepper (except Slash & Buckethead).
(Photo of Axl from Elle Blog)
From the press release:
“It took a little patience [...]
Tags: Marketing · Soft Drinks · celebrities
Jones Soda Teaming up with Lolcats
March 26th, 2008 · 4 Comments
Jones Soda company has decided to put a lolcat image on one of their Jones Soda bottles and have joined forces with the website i can has cheezburger. The site has set up a contest where users can submit their lolz, and visitors to the site can rate them. The Top 5 rated lolz will [...]
Tags: Marketing · Soft Drinks · Web Sites
2008: When Even Dogs are Ideologues
March 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Petlane is now offering doggie treats in the shape of either elephants or donkeys, so now your dog can make a political statement every time he/she eats.
Petlane even offers a list to help determine if your dog is a Republican or Democrat:
Republican pets
They bark at passing neighbors and traffic; home security is very important [...]








