In 1984, John Schnatter opened his first pizza joint.
Now, more than three decades later, the man called Papa John is the public face of one
of the biggest restaurant chains in the world.
But what do you really know about the man—or the company—behind the pizza?
Here's a look at the untold truth of Papa John's.
Legal troubles
Papa John's has had more than its fair share of legal problems over the years.
In 2017, for instance, undercover cops in Washington State busted a local franchise
for selling drugs out of the store, conveniently delivered inside a pizza box.
And that wasn't the first time.
In 2013, a Brooklyn delivery man was busted for selling more than $40,000 worth of cocaine
out of a Papa John's.
"A couple of slices and a coke took on a whole new meaning at this Papa John's in Sunset
Park."
Those incidents could be chalked up to rogue franchisees, but the parent company has gotten
in its own kind of trouble thanks to a series of lawsuits.
In 2016, Papa John's settled a class action lawsuit alleging they had illegally collected
taxes on delivery fees, while in 2015, more than 19,000 delivery drivers across six states
were awarded a settlement totaling $12.5 million for being underpaid.
And then there's the weird text message spam lawsuit from 2013, which Papa John's settled
for a cool $16.5 million after causing customers mental anguish by bombarding them with over
a half a million texts alerting them to pizza deals in the middle of the night.
Papa John's apparently hasn't learned its lesson, though, because a similar lawsuit
was brought against the company again in 2017 for excessive text spam.
Just keep that spam on a pizza, Papa John.
Better ingredients?
Better pizza?
You're probably familiar with Papa John's slogan:
"Better ingredients, better pizza…
Papa John's."
It's straightforward enough, but in 1998, Pizza Hut sued them for false advertising,
claiming there was no actual evidence that they used better ingredients, or that their
ingredients led to better pizza.
Papa John's was briefly forced to pull their advertising, but the ruling was overturned
on appeal after Papa John's pointed out that there was no scientific proof that Pizza Hut
had the "best pizzas under one roof" as their ads claimed.
Touche.
The slogan caused more trouble for Papa John' s in 2013, when food journalist Melanie Warner
tried to find out exactly what these so-called better ingredients were and was denied access
to the recipe.
Phone calls and requests for allergen in-formation went unanswered, and when she went to her
local Papa John's locations, it turned out that the employees didn't really know what
was in the food, because they were sent pre-prepared, frozen crusts.
No doubt made by Schnatter himself.
"I had a vision that still holds true today.
To make a better pizza, you have to use better ingredients.
And that's what we do everyday at Papa John's and our customers love it!"
After Warner's expose ran, Papa John's bowed to media pressure and finally posted a list
of ingredients on their website, but that just started a whole new round of problems,
as food bloggers pounced on questionable ingredients containing preservatives, artificial coloring,
MSG, and high levels of trans fats.
Papa John's responded by announcing they were going to spend over $100 million to find healthier
alternatives to 14 ingredients they had determined weren't up to snuff.
As part of that initiative, in 2016 Papa John's became the first nationwide pizza chain to
eliminate high-fructose corn syrup from their pies.
A side order of racism
Companies only have so much control over what their employees say or do, something Papa
John's has found out the hard way.
Beyond that thing where people were selling drugs out of their stores, Papa John's has
also had to deal with multiple high profile accusations of racism against their employees.
In 2013, for instance, Schattner himself issued a public apology after a Papa John's employee
called a customer back and left a racist rant on their voicemail.
And the company has had to apologize numerous times for racist messages written on receipts
and pizza boxes.
Privacy violations
The Twitterverse exploded in 2015 after Iggy Azalea took aim at Papa John's in general
and one of its drivers in particular after she found out he'd shared her phone number
with his family, who then started calling her.
She later told Ryan Seacrest that she had received a formal apology from Papa John's.
But the incident exposed a broader privacy issue with the company, with Vice reporting
that the fine print on the Papa John's website gives them the right to collect your information
when you place an order and then sell that information to other merchants unless you
specifically opt out of the program.
Maybe DiGiorno's response to Iggy's privacy plight was the most astute of all.
"Delivery?
SMH."
Political firestorm
Schnatter is a dedicated political conservative, personally donating $20,000 to the Republican
party in July of 2016 alone.
And his private politics have also filtered down into his corporate agenda.
For instance, Papa John's has teamed up with the right wing Koch Foundation to fund research
centers at several universities to study what they call "the role of free enterprise and
entrepreneurship in advancing society."
This created a political firestorm when it was revealed their deal with Florida State
University gave the Koch Foundation the right to influence not only who was hired, but what
was taught at the school, something particularly troubling given similar deals with the Universities
of Louisville and Kentucky stipulated all details would remain strictly secret.
And in 2012, Schnatter prompted outrage when he publicly spoke against the Affordable Care
Act because it would require him to provide health care for his employees, which could
raise the price of pizzas by a whopping 14 cents.
Schnatter was ripped by customers and the media alike for what was viewed by many as
a cynical and heartless stance.
"I gotta to pay an extra 11 to 14 cents so the guy making my pizza can get antibiotics
to keep him from hacking up lung tissue onto my pizza, Outrageous!"
The buck stops here
Schnatter has a reputation as a perfectionist, to the point where he personally makes surprise
inspections of individual pizza shops to make sure they are up to his standards, tossing
pizzas in the garbage if they don't meet his expectations.
Chris Sternberg, a vice president at Papa John's, told People "John's standards are
so high.
When you meet them you've really done something."
Some felt his standards were actually too high, as the company was once known for having
a high turnover rate at the executive level.
A report by the New York Times revealed that in 1994 and 1995, five high level executives
had quit Papa John's, including the company's president, in protest of Schnatter's managerial
style,.
Marketing expert Jack Trout told USA Today that Schnatter "...walked up and down the
halls like a big cat, stalking.
I said, 'John, you make people nervous.'
For what it's worth, Schnatter says his methods are less harsh these days, with current executives
averaging 12 years with the company.
A not-so-good neighbor
And it's not just his employees that have problems with Schnatter.
His neighbors in Anchorage, Kentucky aren't all huge fans either.
Though Schnatter has gone out of his way to ingratiate himself by sponsoring town beautification
projects, residents weren't particularly pleased when he decided to add a helicopter pad to
the estate outside his 40,000 square foot mansion.
Over a dozen neighbors complained to town officials just in the first few months of
2016 about Schnatter's personal airport disturbing the peace.
Schnatter later met with the town to make his case, which included the assertion that
he needed the helicopter in order to cut his fifteen minute work commute down to five minutes.
Needless to say, residents just laughed at that one.
Now, if he was using the helicopter to deliver pizzas...
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