„My persona resonates with the consumer because it’s authentic, it’s genuine and it’s the truth.“<\/b>
\nNEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The founder of Papa John\u2019s says the pizza chain does well with him as its public face, and that it was a mistake for the company to scrub him from its marketing materials after he acknowledged using a racial slur last month.
John Schnatter said in an interview with The Associated Press that he believes he can return to TV and radio ads once the public understands the context of his comments.
\u201cMy persona resonates with the consumer because it\u2019s authentic, it\u2019s genuine and it\u2019s the truth,\u201d Schnatter said in a phone interview late Wednesday, with his lawyer and representative present.
A representative for Papa John\u2019s International Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has said it appointed a special committee to oversee an external audit of its diversity practices.
Schnatter has been under fire after Forbes reported last month that he used the N-word during a media training conference call in May.
He apologized for using the word, but said it was taken out of context and that he didn\u2019t use it as an epithet. He resigned as chairman quickly after the report was published, but subsequently called the decision a \u201cmistake.\u201d
Since then, Schnatter has criticized Papa John\u2019s handling of the matter, saying it acted hastily without investigating what happened.
He also criticized the company\u2019s failure to clarify his comments last year blaming disappointing pizza sales on the NFL leadership\u2019s handling of player protests during the national anthem.
Those comments were seen as insensitive to players, and prompted Schnatter stepping down as CEO last year.
Schnatter said the remarks were aimed at the league\u2019s leadership, not its players.
Keith Hollingsworth, a professor of business at Morehouse College, said it would be best for the company if Schnatter kept a low profile for the near term, regardless.
\u201cEven if everything he\u2019s saying is true, I\u2019m not sure you can convince people of that,\u201d Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth said he thinks Schnatter can eventually return in a public role, but that he needs to give it some time.
Even before the backlash to Schnatter\u2019s NFL remarks, a key sales figure had been slowing partly because of competitive pressures, noted Alexander Slagle, an analyst for Jefferies.
Slagle said he believes the negative publicity will continue to be \u201cpainful\u201d for the company, but that \u201cthe brand will survive.\u201d
Since the NFL remarks last year, Schnatter said he didn\u2019t feel comfortable appearing in TV and radio ads. His image remained on a logo that was all over Papa John\u2019s website an on its pizza boxes, but the company began removing those too after the latest controversy.
Papa John\u2019s had been testing his return to TV and radio ads before the latest controversy, he said. Schnatter said the tests came back with \u201cvirtually no negativity\u201d toward him.
Though Papa John\u2019s may blame its poor performance on him, Schnatter said the company is suffering because it moved away from its \u201croots\u201d and made too many marketing changes at once.
In addition to his disappearance from ads, he said Papa John\u2019s stopped focusing on its \u201cbetter ingredients\u201d mantra and made misguided changes, such as tweaking the red and green in the logo \u201cto cater to the millennials.\u201d
Schnatter remains a board member and owns nearly 30 percent of Papa John\u2019s stock. Following the Forbes report, Papa John\u2019s adopted a \u201cpoison pill\u201d plan to prevent him from mounting a takeover.
Papa John\u2019s reports its quarterly results next week, and Wall Street analysts expect a key sales figure in North America to decline for the third quarter in a row.
Schnatter has requested documents from the company relating to its actions following the Forbes report, and believe they will help vindicate him.
\u201cOnce the public actually grasps what the board and what the management did to cause the problem and the truth gets out, of course I can be back in the ads,\u201d he said.
Papa John\u2019s, which is based in Louisville, Kentucky, began operations in 1984 and has more than 5,200 locations globally.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

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