Papa Johns Takes Pizza to Cheesy Pop-Culture Heights

I’ll have a UFO pizza with extra (terrestrial) pepperoni … to go!

The Martin Agency delivers silly slices of surreal schlock in its first work for Papa Johns since adding the business in December.

This work’s topped and stuffed with cultural callouts. Pies become flying saucers, noir villains and spoof Munch’s “The Scream” in stream-of-consciousness style:

Pizza. Munch. Heh.

Dave Meyers directs with flair and Big Boi provides the suitably zesty soundtrack, with lines about the eatery’s “ooey-gooey,” “meaty treaty,” and “saucy toss” experience.

Tagged “Better Get You Some,” the platform “captures the essence of what real pizza devotion looks and feels like,” VP and brand chief Jaclyn Ruelle tells Muse. “We wanted to celebrate those epic pizza-crave moments that jolt people into knowing it’s time to order. Pairing those with unexpected cultural easter eggs and a killer music track, we’re reminding consumers about those moments made better with pizza.”

For most of us, that’s every moment, actually.

“We believe that pizza is pop-culture,” she says. “It’s one of the most universally beloved products. People share their unrelenting love and passion for pizza with families, groups, best friends, roommates, teammates, even their pets.”

Though the chain’s CEO just split, Papa Johns has enjoyed strong sales of late. So, this initiative represents an effort to increase momentum among core fans and Gen Z, says Martin associate creative director Page Jensen-Slattengren.

Music is key to that strategy.

“Creating a bassy, deep soundtrack with Big Boi is meant to lure you into a visual fever dream of unadulterated craving,” Jensen-Slattengren explains.

And when those cravings hit, “better pizza really matters,” says Anna Vaughan, also an ACD. “You don’t daydream about cardboard crust and greasy cold cheese. You daydream about hand-tossed dough and real tomatoes and gooey delicious cheese. That’s the pizza you visualize and write rap songs about.”

Basically, the campaign’s a vibe. A tease. Top-funnel. As such, it’s tasty without feeling forced or too stupid.

Credit Meyers’ touch with tuneful foody fare. (Which we last enjoyed in this Jif ad with Ludacris.)

During production, “One minute we’d be writing new lyrics, and the next we’d be starring in our own ‘Pizza Noir’ movie shot,” Ruelle recalls. “We exploded tomatoes for a half day and poured the ultimate garlic-sauce champagne tower.”

“And we got to call all of this ‘work.'”