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We Are All Witnesses ... to Long Lines
By Dominic J. Litten | May 8, 2008
Here in Cleveland, the entire city is abuzz today about 23-cent pizzas at area Papa John's stores. Papa John's announced that 86 stores in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Youngstown are in on the deal, each prepared to sell more than 900 pizzas today.
Papa John's agreed the deal as an apology to Cleveland Cavaliers fans after a franchisee in Washington, D.C., made T-shirts calling star James a "crybaby." While all the goodwill was said to be a PR/marketing coup after threatened boycotts, it is becoming apparent that chain may have overlooked how hungry our fine city is.
The Plain Dealer is reporting more that more pizzas are being sold than anticipated. One news station even has a live video cam at the Papa John's store in Euclid where police are on the scene to reduce line jumping and direct traffic for the estimated 1,200 people. One of our own fine employees drove by to see a line of over 200 people at the Garfield Heights store before 11 a.m.
So for all the kudos, what happens if stores run out of pizza or has to close early? Jim Sweeney from Sweeney Public Relations summed it up best in a story in today's Crain's Cleveland Business:
Looks like Papa John's shouldn't be congratulating themselves just yet.
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May 13th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Dominic, nice insight into the potential for PR disasters when things like long lines, shortages, and crowd control come into play, despite the allure of the freebie or near-freebie. Although I think Papa John’s ultimately looks good in this situation, satisfying the masses with pies or vouchers, contributing a bunch to charity, and getting great press nationwide. In fact, at the Cavs game which I attended on Saturday night, when Papa John’s name came up over the PA system, the sellout crowd spontaneously cheered w/o prompting.