11580: Better Ingredients. Better Ads…?

Advertising Age reported Papa John’s put its creative account into review. Adpeople backing Obamacare need not apply. Ditto supporters of legalizing marijuana.

Papa John’s Launches Creative Review

Move Comes a Month After Bob Kraut Named CMO

By Maureen Morrison

Papa John’s has put its advertising account into review.

The account is currently at ZGroup, a unit of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Zimmerman. The review, which will focus on creative only, was initiated following several months of evaluation of the brand’s advertising needs, according to a press release. Zimmernman has declined to participate in the review. NJS Consulting will handle the review process.

A spokeswoman for ZGroup said “the numbers speak for themselves. We are incredibly proud of our relationship with Papa John’s and wish them the best.”

“As the recognized industry leader in customer happiness and the leader in digital ordering, Papa John’s has built an incredible amount of momentum over the past few years,” said John Schnatter, Papa John’s founder, chairman and CEO. “We feel the timing is right to seek an agency partner that can capitalize on that momentum and help advance our brand to the next level through fresh thinking, brand messaging and more innovative, integrated marketing.”

The move comes a month after the company named former Arby’s marketing exec Bob Kraut its senior VP-CMO. Mr. Kraut replaced Andrew Varga, who left Papa John’s in March to become president at Zimmerman. Mr. Kraut said that the agency “has been an important partner and member of the Papa John’s marketing team for many years. We thank them for their contribution and loyalty to the Papa John’s brand and believe they will continue to serve us well in their media and co-op buying role.”

Papa John’s is the No. 3 pizza chain in the U.S. by systemwide sales, according to Technomic, following category leader Pizza Hut and Domino’s. It has 7.3% market share, with $2.4 billion in U.S. sales in 2012. Pizza Hut has 17.1% market share and Domino’s has a 10.5% share.

Papa John’s spent about $119 million on U.S. measured media in 2012, up 4.8% from $113 million, according to Ad Age DataCenter analysis of Kantar Media data. Pizza Hut spent $239 million in 2012, while Domino’s spent $197.2 million.

10715: Not Better Healthcare At Papa John’s.

From The Huffington Post…

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter Says Company Will Reduce Workers’ Hours In Response To Obamacare

The Huffington Post | By Harry Bradford

In the wake of President Obama’s reelection, one CEO is doubling down on his criticisms of Obamacare.

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter said he plans on passing the costs of health care reform to his business onto his workers. Schnatter said he will likely reduce workers’ hours, as a result of President Obama’s reelection, the Naples News reports. Schnatter made headlines over the summer when he told shareholders that the cost of a Papa John’s pizza will increase by between 11 and 14 cents due to Obamacare.

“I got in a bunch of trouble for this,” he said, referring to the comments he made in August, according to Naples News. “That’s what you do, is you pass on costs. Unfortunately, I don’t think people know what they’re going to pay for this.”

Schnatter went on to say he’s neither in support of, nor against the Affordable Care Act, even admitting that “the good news is 100 percent of the population is going to have health insurance.” But he’s not the only one in the chain restaurant industry to admit that workers hours may be reduced, since Obamacare mandates that only employees that work more than 30 hours per week are covered under their employers health insurance plan. For example, Darden restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, has already experimented with reducing workers hours in anticipation of the legislation.

Others have responded to the added costs of Obamacare more harshly, including Applebee’s franchisee owner Zane Tankel who said his company won’t hire new workers because of the law. Just this week, a Georgia business owner also claimed he cut employees due to Obamacare and in fact had specifically laid off those who he thought had voted for President Obama.