Papa Johns Pizza Superbowl giveaway problem

The week prior to Super Bowl 46 involved a great deal of hype and pressure, not only for the players but all of America. You may be asking yourself “what sort of pressure were Americans dealing with?” Well the answer to that lies within Papa John’s promotional campaign: America Makes the Call.

Provided that you sign up for a free account with Papa John’s, members we’re given the option to pick either heads or tails in their prediction for the coin toss during the Super Bowl. In the days preceding the game the votes were tallied and majority of users picked heads. So America’s decision was made, if the Super Bowl coin toss landed on heads then all members who signed up would receive a free large one-topping pizza and a 2-liter of Pepsi Max on Monday the 6th.

Well, you guessed it; America called it right, free pizza and Pepsi! While many we’re celebrating their coin toss victory on Sunday, by Monday many had turned their excitement into anger. Papa John’s has twice already pushed back the hour which they are emailing the coupons for the free pizza. Making matters worse many have been tweeting in disappointment about the promotion. On the America Makes the Call page, Papa John’s has placed a Twitter ticker, displaying what was once positive feedback has since turned quite ugly. Some of the tweets running through the ticker are:

“RT @yourwickedlies: Ready to call BS on #freepapajohns What a joke. 1st it was “Monday morning”, then “evening”, then “4PM ET” – almost 5PM & still no email.”

“ RT @accujimmy: Where is my damn email Papa John’s? You said 4pm. It’s like 5:01!!!!!”

“RT @lhin49: Shouldn’t put an offer out there if you can’t make it happen #FreePapaJohns”

Obviously bad press is not something you would want to publish on your own site. What was once a great idea for the brand has turned into a disaster, at least for the time being. It will be interesting to see if they deliver on their promise.