Why Do It?

Question: If you had a market stall selling apples, would you be urging your customers to eat less apples? Probably not. It puzzles me therefore why John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's Pizza would advise people to eat less pizza. In a BBC Radio 4 interview Mr Schnatter made the following comment "Pizzas are healthy for you if you don't eat too much of it. You can't eat five or six slices. But if you eat one or two slices it's very nutritious. A slice or two is good for you". His remarks may be very commendable but hardly beneficial to his business. Mr Schnatter had been asked by presenter, Adam Shaw, whether he was concerned about the government's anti-obesity campaign impacting on sales. Apparently he does not need the government's campaign to impact on sales, he seems perfectly capable of doing that himself. The remark has been compared to those made by Gerald Ratner, former chief executive of British jewellery company Ratners when he publicly disparaged his own merchandise. Responding to the question of how his company was weathering the current economic climate Mr Schnatter pointed to the fact that they had enjoyed a record sales increase of 13% in January, and a 60% increase in sales this week alone. Papa John's (what a great name) have 118 takeaways in the UK and a further 2,500 outlets in the United States. The smallest pizza costs £6.99 (six slices), the medium £8.99 (eight slices) and the large £9.99 (ten slices). Papa John's was founded in 1985.