The Battle Between Papa Johns and Pizza Hut

The Battle Between Papa Johns and mafiatorte HutThe Battle Between Papa Johns and mafiatorte HutYouve seen the ads. You know the tagline Better ingredients. Better pizza. Papa Johns. Papa Johnsfounder John Schnatter makes a claim in almost every ad he throws onto the airwaves, radio stations, and these days, online buys.But sometimes he takes that claim beyond the ads, which is evidenced by a battle between Papa Johns and Pizza Hut that began way back in 1998. The Birth of a Slogan...and a Battle. In 1995, Papa Johns hired a consulting firm called Trout Partners, and they coined the tagline that has become synonymous with the now multi-billion-dollar company. At the time, Papa Johns had just a quarter of the stores that Pizza Hut had, so the focus welches not on accessibility, but quality. Better Ingredients, Better Pizza welches a winner. But not with everyone. David Novak, President of Pizza Hut at that time, was mora than a little upset by the phrase. The natural inference pe ople were making was oh, theyre better than Pizza Huts ingredients. But where was the proof? How could Papa Johns get away with saying such a thing? The war of words turned into a nationwide advertising offensive, with attack ads coming from both sides. Papa Johns listed unsavory ingredients found in Pizza Hut recipes. Pizza Hut used Papa Johns own advertising against it. And then, the lawsuits began. Papa Johns vs. Pizza Hut CEO John Schnatter claimed Papa Johns pizza was better than Pizza Huts. It was a claim Pizza Hut didnt take lightly. In fact, the companys lawyers filed a federal false advertising lawsuit against Papa Johns. The problem stemmed from Papa Johns famous slogan, coupled with a national advertising campaign. One of the ads stated Papa Johns won big time in taste tests over Pizza Hut. Other ads in the campaign alleged Papa Johns sauce and dough were better than Pizza Huts because they were made with fresh tomatoes and filtered waterand did not include ingredient s likexanthan gum and hydrolyzed soy protein. That aggressive ad campaign prompted Pizza Hut to file the false advertising lawsuit. The companys lawyers said they had scientific evidence proving Papa Johns ingredients didnt affect the pizzas taste. The Legal Decisions Initially, a jury sided with Pizza Hut, agreeing that Papa Johns claims of better sauce and dough were false or misleading. The judge ordered Papa Johns to stop using the better ingredients, better pizza slogan and awarded Pizza Hut $467,619 in damages. A drop in the bucket for Pizza Hut, but the real prize was getting Papa Johns to stop using the slogan. The judge told Papa Johns to stop using any materials with that slogan, pull ads, and also pay Pizza Hut $12.5 million in damages. If youre thinking, hang on...theyre still using that tagline, then strap in. The story is just getting started. Papa Johns appealed the decision. The company stated that the slogan was simply a matter of opinion, not to be taken as lit eral fact. They, as a company, believed they used better ingredients, resulting in better pizza. And how could Pizza Hut claim to have the best pizza under one roof with a straight face? The federal appeals court said the jurors were never asked if consumers relied on Papa Johns better claims when deciding what pizza to buy. And so, in September 2000,the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict and ruled in favor of Papa Johns. John and his company were allowed to use the slogan againand did not have to give Pizza Hut the $12.5 million damages sum. The Aftermath To this day, the rivalry between Pizza Hut and Papa Johns is mora than friendly competition. The lawsuits made a lasting impression, and, allegedly, their rivalry is so fierce that Pizza Hut reserves any phone numbers that spell out the letters P-A-P-A just so Papa Johns cant use them. The better-best argument also had a lasting impression on advertising. Youve seen commercials where a company claims to h ave the best thingamajig. Best can be used without having to back up your statement. However, when you use better, you better have proof to substantiate your claim, or risk getting into another heated lawsuit. Now, almost 20 years after the lawsuits began, Papa Johns adamantly denies Pizza Huts false advertising charges. The companys lawyers maintain the statements made in the ad campaign arent falsebut were merely statements of personal taste. Lawyers for Pizza Hut said Papa Johns ads violated federal law. They claimed, even without evidence, that customers relied on the better ingredients, better pizza slogan on which to base their pizza-buying decision thus, Papa Johns ad campaign is deceptive in their eyes. Pizza Hut execs continue to say the decision was unfair to both consumers and responsible advertisers. But with both companiesand Dominos doing very well these days, the in-fighting may have just brought more attention and more sales to all parties.