TL;DR
Papa John's International, Inc. shares fell 11% in February due to controversy surrounding former CEO John Schnatter's comment about NFL players' national anthem protests. New CEO Steve Ritchie stated that the brand is taking steps to reinvigorate profitable growth and value creation.
Former Papa John's CEO John Schnatter made a comment about the National Football League (NFL) players' national anthem protests back in December and fans of the pizza franchise were not happy. A recent Fox Business article reported that the brand's shares fell from $64.89 in January to $57.74 last month.
"We know our potential is so much greater than our results, and we are taking significant steps to reinvigorate our record of profitable growth and value creation," said new CEO Steve Ritchie in the Q4 earnings release. "Actions are underway to improve our brand proposition, how we connect with customers, and how we operate at the unit level."
Due to the polarizing effect social issues have, especially nowadays, it more important than ever for brands to be mindful of how they position themselves to the consumer.
In this story
This story was originally published in 1851 Franchise on March 9, 2018. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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