With its new "Go Deep" campaign, Papa John's
Let's put this promotion in context: Through 39 Super Bowl games, no one has ever snagged a reception that long. When teams are stuck deep on their own side of the field, logic dictates that they either run the ball or go for short pass plays to nickel and dime their way out of poor field position. You also happen to have a pair of pretty stingy defenses on squads that relied on their running attacks to get them this far.
So I'm not going out on a limb by saying that you're not getting a free pizza on Feb. 5. This is one of those shoot-the-basketball-from-half-court-to-win-a-cool-million contests that hinges on the unlikely occurrence of a total fluke. It's more about style than probability. Papa John's realizes as much, and that's why it will still award all entrants with free soft drink coupons if the unlikely doesn't happen.
However, it's still a brilliant move by Papa John's. By getting pizza lovers to go online, it helps illustrate the biggest contrast of all between the nearly 3,000-unit chain and its larger rival Domino's
It's alarming to see Domino's so far behind on this front. Even Yum! Brands'
I know I can't be the only one who got fed up with "Thanks for calling Domino's; can you hold, please?" before hanging up and pulling up PapaJohns.com. That's why this promotion isn't so much about a Hail Mary as it is about educating the consumer.
It's been nine months since Nigel Travis took over as CEO for Papa John's after serving as president and COO at Blockbuster
Man, football is such a great game.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz doesn't mind music or movies with his grub, just as long as he never hears "make it a Papa John's night" as the new ad campaign. He does not own shares in any company mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.