Papa John's
Attack Ads Aren’t Just For Politicians
When the economy is tough, restaurants tend to get tough in their advertising. As customers tighten their wallets, chains will often claim superiority over competitors in the hopes of boosting business. Comparative advertising, as it’s called, veils an often messy marketing strategy.
Take Domino’s recent campaign-touting victory in a nationwide blind taste test that pitted the Ann Arbor, Michigan–based chain against Pizza Hut and Papa John’s. In the study, conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide, a majority of participants preferred Domino’s pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese pizzas to its main competitors’ offerings.
Domino’s insisted the results accurately reflected consumer taste preferences, but both Pizza Hut and Papa John’s immediately called them into question.
The corporate dust-up mirrors a similar situation early last year when Subway and Domino’s duked it out over their oven-baked sandwiches, a battle that featured a commercial of Domino’s CEO David Brandon putting a cease-and-desist letter from Subway in the oven (where else?).
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