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Robin Garr

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Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Robin Garr » Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:49 am

I wondered at the time. Now Forbes says PJ's took a serious hit that seems to be clearly related to John's right-wing politics. Remember the party for Mittens Romney out at the Castle?

Papa John's, Applebee's And Others Pay Huge Price For Anti-Obamacare Politicking

It turns out that being a good corporate citizen is as important to selling pizzas as the thinness of the crust or the quality of the cheese.

If you don’t believe it, just ask Papa John CEO, John Schnatter.

As covered—and criticized—in this column in great detail, Mr. Schnatter decided to mix his politics with his pepperoni when suggesting that he would be cutting the work hours for Papa John employees in order to bring them below the 30 hour per week threshold that would require Schnatter to provide his employees with healthcare benefits.

It turns out, the pizza eating public did not approve.

Indeed, so serious was the reaction that Schnatter was forced to publish an op-ed piece where he sought to convince us that he never really intended to cut back worker hours but had simply been speculating on what he might do in response to the legislation.

According to YouGov BrandIndex, a leading marketing survey that measures brand perception in the marketplace (called “Buzz”), Papa John’s had good reason for concern as the pizza chain’s brand identity has plummeted from a high of 32 on election day, to a remarkably low score of 4 among adults who have eaten at causal dining restaurants during the past month.

Ouch.

Click for the full story in Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2 ... liticking/
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Mark R.

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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Mark R. » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:29 pm

Could it be that part of the drop in popularity was due to the fact that people finally realized that his pizza really wasn't that good once they tried something else?
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Rob Coffey » Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:49 pm

Robin Garr wrote:I wondered at the time. Now Forbes says PJ's took a serious hit that seems to be clearly related to John's right-wing politics. Remember the party for Mittens Romney out at the Castle?

Papa John's, Applebee's And Others Pay Huge Price For Anti-Obamacare Politicking

It turns out that being a good corporate citizen is as important to selling pizzas as the thinness of the crust or the quality of the cheese


Criticizing a policy is being a bad corporate citizen?

That makes no sense.

Criticizing government actions that you disagree with is the one and only* sign of a good citizen. Falling in line is the sign of a bad citizen.

*okay, maybe not only. But the most important.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Robin Garr » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:11 pm

Rob Coffey wrote:Criticizing a policy is being a bad corporate citizen?

That makes no sense.

Criticizing government actions that you disagree with is the one and only* sign of a good citizen. Falling in line is the sign of a bad citizen.

*okay, maybe not only. But the most important.

Rob, perhaps you don't keep up with the news, and I understand that. I'm busy, too. But I generally try not to bloviate without checking my facts first.

But what "Papa" did that seems to be pissing people off was threatening to cut his employees' hours so the purported costs of Obamacare* wouldn't have to come out of his huge profits.

(Actually savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Mark R. » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:17 pm

Robin Garr wrote:(Actually savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

You actually believe the Congressional Budget Office?
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by RonnieD » Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:30 pm

Mark R. wrote:Could it be that part of the drop in popularity was due to the fact that people finally realized that his pizza really wasn't that good once they tried something else?



As long as McDonalds stays in business, this statement will continue to inconsistent with reality. Seems the masses don't really care about, or are ignorant of, food quality.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Carla G » Sun Jan 05, 2014 4:06 pm

I keep politics out of my child care business. Period. I will share this -
I've had three different, unrelated families that asked me to order pizza for their kids on weekends. When I ask "whose pizza?" I got
"Any place but Pappa John's"
"Oh! Don't like his pizza huh?"
"Don't like his politics in my pizza."
(Or variations of that conversation.)
I honestly was surprised they even cared but if would seem many did.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Robin Garr » Sun Jan 05, 2014 4:29 pm

Mark R. wrote:
Robin Garr wrote:(Actually savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

You actually believe the Congressional Budget Office?

Yeah, Mark, I pretty much do. Nobody's perfect, and I've covered government as a (recovering) news guy to be well aware that government is no more competent than the private sector, just a wee bit less mendacious. Overall, though, I just don't go around with a Fox News world view that the government of the people is out to screw us.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Robin Garr » Sun Jan 05, 2014 4:30 pm

Robin Garr wrote:
Mark R. wrote:
Robin Garr wrote:(Actually savings, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

You actually believe the Congressional Budget Office?

Yeah, Mark, I pretty much do. Nobody's perfect, and I've covered government more than enough as a (recovering) news guy to be well aware that government is no more competent than the private sector, just a wee bit less mendacious. Overall, though, I just don't go around with a Fox News world view that the government of the people is out to screw us.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by DanB » Sun Jan 05, 2014 6:40 pm

I did check the facts and if you invested in PZZA at the time of John Schnatter's political foray you would have made a massive return. 80 frickin percent in a year and a half. Completely blowing away the return if you had invested in the S&P 500.

John's a very smart guy, and apparently the public is still buying lots of his product.

On edit... he increased his net worth presumably by about a quarter of a billion dollars since his comments.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Robin Garr » Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:06 pm

DanB wrote:I did check the facts

Well, hell, I'll certainly defer to your vast knowledge base, then.

But just out of curiosity, are you asserting that Forbes magazine is lying, or just incompetent? :shock:
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by DanB » Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:28 pm

I don't have a vast knowledge base. Just 30 seconds of Google. The stock is up 80% !!! The investment community is more concerned with things that really count like "sales" and "earnings".

"YouGov BrandIndex" apparently is not yet particularly relevant.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Mark R. » Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:37 pm

Robin Garr wrote:Well, hell, I'll certainly defer to your vast knowledge base, then.

But just out of curiosity, are you asserting that Forbes magazine is lying, or just incompetent? :shock:

Actually the information in the Forbes article was counting Brand Identity. It's possible that even though the brand identity fell that sales and profits rose, there is not always a direct correlation between the 2.
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Carla G » Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:08 pm

Well good! I am thrilled! Now Papa a Johns can afford to pay for health insurance for their employee and poor John won't have to sell his home or go hungry. What a relief!
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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Re: Did anti-Obamacare rants cost "Papa" big-time?

by Mike Hardin » Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:35 pm

DanB wrote:On edit... he increased his net worth presumably by about a quarter of a billion dollars since his comments.


Maybe he could share a pittance with the people who make his money for him.
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