Papa John’s Apology Is Too Late

Christal Johnson, teaching professor of public relations in the Newhouse School, wrote an opinion piece for Marketing Daily, “Papa John’s apology was too little, too late.”

Papa John’s former CEO, John Schnatter has caused his company some trouble when he decided to use the N-word in a conference call. Since then Schnatter has been removed from his office and all marketing materials. However, an apology letter came four days after the incident. Johnson, expert in public relations says the apology came too late and wasn’t sincere enough in her opinion piece. She explains that “Papa John’s should’ve taken a page from Starbuck’s playbook and conduct mandatory diversity and inclusion training.” She hopes for Papa John’s to focus on improving their company, image and crisis communication now that Schnatter is out of the picture.