Two weeks ago Papa John's CEO John Schnatter blamed the league’s bosses for their “poor leadership” in resolving football players’ national anthem protests, which he claimed were “polarizing the customer, polarizing the country” and having a negative impact on pizza sales.
The company’s COO, Steve Ritchie, also said the protests were hurting NFL ratings and limiting the exposure of the pizza chain’s marketing, and said there was a “significant negative consumer sentiment” in the company’s association with the league.
That clearly didn’t go down well as, in a series of tweets Tuesday, Papa John’s apologized to “anyone that thought [the statements] were divisive.”
The pizza brand clarified it believed in the right to protest inequality, but also that Americans should honor the anthem.
The brand punctuated its three-tweet thread by saying it is open to ideas to find a positive way forward, “Except neo-nazis--*middle finger emoji* those guys.”
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