Editors note: Every now and then at Lube, we like to get have a post that doesn’t deal with poop or something of like nature, so….
Thursday, in North Eastern Ohio, 86 Papa John’s Pizza stores decided to sell 23-cent pizzas as a truce after they agreed to offer a franchise in Washington D.C. t-shirts calling LeBron James a “CRYBABY.” This was in response to the Cleveland Cavaliers star complaining about hard fouls during a NBA playoff series that was with the Washington Wizards (Which Cleveland won, of course).
The idea of the 23-cent pizza was a way to make up with the Cleveland area fans and honor James by selling pizza for the same price as LaBron’s jersey number, 23. Papa John’s planned on selling more the 75,000 pizzas.
The promotion had crowds standing for hours in extremely long lines waiting, hours reportedly, for the 23-cent pepperoni pizza. While everything went off without a lot of pandemonium, there were scores of complaints about the wait and line cutting.
The good that came out of this promotion is that all the money went to the LeBron James Family Foundation.
What are your thoughts?
Do you think this was a good idea?
Do you think Papa John’s saved face or were people just taking advantage of a deal?
In your opinion, will this charade have any long effect for Papa John’s?
Was this just another marketing gimmick based on controversy?
In my humble opinion, and in true Lube fashion, Papa John’s can suck my balls.
Stay Classy.
May 12, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
May 12, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I think it was a good idea by papa johns. People that got pissed about long lines are fucking ridiculous. I think the long term impact on the company will be minimal.
May 13, 2008 at 6:34 am
I guess they’re getting lots of press, especially from sports sites like ESPN and SI, where an article about it was posted on the home page. Hard not to be happy about hitting those demographics “free” of charge.
In the end, the pizza still tastes like balls.
May 13, 2008 at 7:22 am
It’s a good thing they did this before Lebron’s mommy ran out on the court last night. I think Papa John’s and the DC fans have a good argument in calling him a “crybaby”.
To answer the question though, good marketing in both cities.
May 13, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Was that his mom? I couldn’t figure out who he was yelling at, thought it was Pierce’s wife or something.