Papa John’s, the embattled 5,212-unit pizza chain, has sent precise instructions to its store owners on how to remove every last image and signature of founder John Schnatter from its locations.
Store owners should remove 56-year-old Schnatter’s signature from the wooden paddles used to take pizzas out of the oven, and replace it with images of vegetables or cheese — and swap out window signs featuring a smiling Schnatter with online ordering signage, according to the seven-page email.
A total of 10 items to be removed include a wall poster of Schnatter and NFL great Peyton Manning and even signage on Papa John’s pickup trucks.
The directive allegedly, provides a peek into how Papa John’s marketing strategy will play withe the exit of its famous pitchman, who stepped down as chairman of the company he founded in 1984.
Schnatter has been banned from talking publicly about the company since it was revealed last month that he uttered the N-word during a May in-house media training conference call.
The board of the Louisville, Ky., chain also passed a poison pill that bars Schnatter, who already owns 29 percent of the company, from increasing his stake by more than 15 percent.
Schnatter, in turn, has hired a high-powered Los Angeles lawyer and has sued the chain to obtain documents he claims will cast his racial slur in a new light.
Nonetheless, the chain continues with plans to erase every bit of Schnatter from its stores.
Plaques hanging on walls depicting Schnatter and explaining how the pizzas are made are to be replaced with photos of a dough maker entitled “our FRESH DOUGH story.”
The market and investors have been reacting negatively since the restaurant chain’s pizza chain’s board, looking to further distance itself from the company’s controversial founder, voted late July to keep John Schnatter from gaining a controlling stake in the Louisville, Kentucky based company.
Investors reacted angrily to the poison pill Papa John’s board enacted, pushing the stock of the pizza maker to its lowest level since February 2016.
Shares lost 9.8 percent in the session to close at $46.56. In roughly 10 weeks, the ­$1.5 billion firm has lost ­over $300 million in market cap.
Related articles: Pizza chain feels the pinch – Papa John’s rocked by founder’s n-word scandal even as stocks plunge and pizza lovers flee their products

Schnatter acknowledged using the racial slur and apologized, but the company’s board pushed him earlier in July to give up his chairman’s post.

Papa John founder John Schnatter, cut loose by the pizza chain

Franchisees are told they can replace the photos of Schnatter’s beloved gold Camaro with one of two options featuring a Garden Special veggie pie or one called The Works.
“In most cases the Camaro plaque can be unscrewed and the plaque screwed back in,” the company helpfully advises.
Furthermore, franchisees are instructed to remove the cutouts of Schnatter and Manning, which include a “Welcome to our Stores” banner, but are told that “there is no replacement for this item.”

Endorsers like company’s celebrity spokesperson and ambassador Peyton Manning dropped his stakes in 31 locations. The former Broncos quarterback and hall of famer remains the brand ambassador, locked into a long-term agreement.

Manning has already scaled back his exposure to the toxic fallout after he sold his 31 Papa John’s franchises this year in response to Schnatter’s claim in October that the company’s sales had slowed because of football players who took a knee during the national anthem. Papa John’s had been the official pizza sponsor for the National Football League, but the NFL dropped the company.
The cost for the extensive image remake and the Schnatter purge, which is yet to be disclosed, will be picked up by corporate, according to a source.