
Is it possible to be “fatigued” of pizza?
No.
Counterpoint: yeah… the answer is still no.
But Papa Johns has a counter-counterpoint. The pizza chain claims that the reason sales for its North American locations grew under one percent in the second quarter of 2022, compared to five percent in the same period last year, is because people are tired of pizza. “There’s a general thought that there could be a little bit of pizza fatigue,” Scott Rodriguez, senior vice president of menu strategy and innovation at Papa Johns, told CNN. “Because that’s all we’ve had for the last couple of years.”
To increase sales, Papa Johns, which underwent a rebirth after greasy founder John Schnatter left the company after he used the n-word during a conference call (among other misdeeds), has introduced a new item to its menu: the Papa Bowl. That involuntary shudder you just experienced is normal. The day of reckoning has arrived.
To get people excited about pizza again, Papa Johns is offering a new spin on the classic, with Papa Bowls that are all topping — no crust. The Papa Bowl comes in three varieties, Garden Veggie, Chicken Alfredo, and Italian Meats Trio. They are available to the company’s loyalty members this week and will roll out nationally next, and cost $7.99.
The creation of the Papa Bowl apparently isn’t a bet gone horribly wrong, but rather, it aims to remove the “veto vote,” in which “an eatery gets ruled out because it doesn’t have enough options for everyone in the dining party,” according to CNN. We all have that one friend who refuses to eat a normal slice of pizza because they would rather a sloppy pile of meat and cheese and veggies instead. “Let’s slop ’em up.”
We’ll have a review soon, but until then, let’s see what social media is saying about the Papa Bowl.
This is kind of brilliant. This news has made me excited for an actual pizza, with a crust. Sort of like how a year of sitting on the couch watching streaming turned me into a rabid theater-goer. https://t.co/IIvwsOk4CO
— Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) August 17, 2022
Their idea to get people excited about pizza again is to serve them not-pizza? Is the strategy for it to suck so bad people want pizza again? https://t.co/vqfkLoZGIL
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 17, 2022
to get people excited about pizza again we invented terrible salad https://t.co/gmwWnOeI1H
— kilgore trout, death to putiner (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 17, 2022
This is called a “casserole.” Papa Johns did not invent the casserole. https://t.co/opPZGezKCe
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) August 17, 2022
To get people excited about pizza again, Papa John’s announced that it’s going out of business. https://t.co/Wad8PexfdR
— Joe Einloth (@JoeEinloth) August 17, 2022
“Here’s some crap” — Papa John’s new slogan https://t.co/MUusMri731
— Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling) August 17, 2022
Congratulations on inventing salad. https://t.co/liHUVdBZRe
— Niko Stratis (@nikostratis) August 17, 2022
A good crust is what makes pizza good.
Papa John’s crust is gross, but the solution wasn’t to remove it completely. https://t.co/ErsubAqYj3
— Anna Funk (@annafunk) August 17, 2022
“A hot plastic tray of discarded pizza toppings” is the best description of John “Papa John” Schnatter I’ve yet heard. https://t.co/XWKppZ99lP
— ghibby! is Vaxxed and Waxxed! (@CaffeineAndHate) August 17, 2022
Pizza in a bowl, the ultimate meal for someone who’s just lost their job, spouse, and dog. Now from Papa John’s! https://t.co/NxK0iDC5jp
— Stephen Robinson (@SER1897) August 17, 2022
Babe, are you OK? You barely touched your abomination https://t.co/g5wsM5cwIY
— DC Pierson (@DCpierson) August 17, 2022
Nobody ever lost excitement about pizza. And if they did, it wasn’t solved by a deconstructed crustless pizza in a bowl. It was solved by going anywhere other than Papa John’s. https://t.co/QmwjhAgQ5l
— Nick Mercadante (@NMercad) August 17, 2022
People never stopped being excited about pizza. They stopped being excited about Papa John’s which is utterly shitty pizza. https://t.co/Ra1VbeJJf0
— ghibby! is Vaxxed and Waxxed! (@CaffeineAndHate) August 17, 2022
It’s a competitive category but “people aren’t excited about pizza anymore” might be the worst piece of fake news CNN has ever run with. https://t.co/gGggLy6EdJ
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) August 17, 2022
fuck you https://t.co/ONlZMtEBTc
— Fucked Up Looking Pizzas (@fuckeduppizzas) August 17, 2022
Going great so far!