Papa John’s Pizza Is Changing Their Logo In A Huge Way…Following Their Seriously Upsetting Scandal

Big changes are happening at Papa John’s, following a troubling scandal resulted in founder and spokesman John Schnatter stepping down as chairman. The pizza chain is already removing Schnatter’s image from their logos and halting their television ads featuring the company founder after Schnatter was outed for using the N-word during a May conference call.

Forbes.com broke the above story on Wednesday, July 11th, once Schnatter confirmed the incident to the publication. The call in question was actually intended to be a role-playing exercise to help Schnatter navigate how to handle possible future public-relations tangles. In November 2017, Schnatter involved himself in the NFL national anthem debate (he said that the NFL players’ protests here hurting his sales), which ultimately caused Schantter to step down as CEO of the company.

When asked how he would deal with online racial groups during the May 2018 conference call, Schantter reportedly recalled how Colonel Sanders never faced backlash for using the N-word. In email to Forbes.com, Schantter apologized, writing, “Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”

By Friday, July 13th, Schnatter’s image had been removed from some Papa John’s marketing materials, ABC News reported. The company is still working out the details of removing him from additional ads and logos.

Papa John’s has scrubbed John Schnatter’s name from its online history. pic.twitter.com/uFISVCU6Ib

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 16, 2018

Although Schnatter is still on the Papa John’s board and holds about 30% of the company’s stock, the former chairman was reportedly booted from his office space at Papa John’s headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky on July 13th.

In addition, the University of Louisville has removed the Papa John’s name from their football stadium and plans to rename the John H. Schnatter Center for Free Enterprise, according to ABC News. Schnatter also stepped down from the university’s board of trustees.

Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia has also suspended its relationship with Papa John’s.

Due to a recent racial slur made by Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, @Morehouse is immediately suspending its campus dining relationship with Papa John's. The College is exploring all options for removal of the franchise from campus in light of this highly offensive behavior.

— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) July 14, 2018

The company has stated that they are not planning to rename Papa John’s, but customers can count on seeing less and less of Schnatter’s image on company products in the weeks to come.