‘Gross and Not News’: Blue-Checks Drag CNN for Papa John Article Claiming People No Longer ‘Excited About Pizza’

Tommy ChristopherAug 18th, 2022, 12:01 pm
 

Blue-Checks Drag CNN for Papa John Article Claiming People No Longer 'Excited About Pizza'

CNN is getting kicked all over Twitter for an article that claims people are no longer “excited about pizza,” and suggests a new Papa John’s menu item could be just the thing to restore waning interest in the thing everyone everywhere loves.

On Wednesday, CNN tweeted an article about the new “Papa Bowls” available at the pizza chain, along with the message “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.”

Unlike “Chunky Mayonnaise,” the plastic trays of meat, cheese, sauce, and pizza veggies are the real deal, as evidenced by this ad for the concoction:

The article says Papa John’s sales growth has slowed since last year, and pegs it to “pizza fatigue”:

One reason for the slowdown: People may be getting tired of pizza.

“There’s a general thought that there could be a little bit of pizza fatigue,” Scott Rodriguez, SVP of menu strategy and innovation at Papa Johns. “Because that’s all we’ve had for the last couple of years.”

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.

But pizza sales are expected to grow by almost 7 percent this year, so maybe pizza writ large isn’t the problem?

Blue-check Twitter was not kind about CNN’s promotional-sounding article (although news stations across the country were gulled into doing segments on the new product as well) — and even less kind about the “Papa Bowls”:

Other brands even got in on the act:

One final note that seems to have gone largely unnorticed: “The idea is that if one person doesn’t want pizza, the group can still go to Papa Johns and that person will still find something to eat,” the article states.

So the “Papa Bowls” are meant to appeal to people who… don’t like pizza.

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