Papa Johns Celebrates the Return of Shaq-a-Roni Pizza, Highlighting its Footprint in a Big Way

In its third year, fans can step into Shaq’s shoes to visually understand the impact of their Shaq-a-Roni purchase for a chance to win a ‘Shaq-sized’ prize

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Papa Johns announces today the limited-time return of its fan-favorite, Shaq-a-Roni pizza to menus this fall. Developed in partnership with board member and franchisee Shaquille O’Neal, this pizza with a purpose supports local communities with Papa Johns donating one dollar from every Shaq-a-Roni sold through December 25 to The Papa John’s Foundation for Building Community.

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The fan-favorite Shaq-a-Roni Pizza returns alongside the new Pepperoni-Crusted Papadia (Photo: Business Wire)

In its third year, Papa Johns announces the return of Shaq-a-Roni by celebrating the big footprint The Papa John’s Foundation leaves on local communities, leveraging Shaq’s larger-than-life footprint. Between October 24 and October 31, fans are invited to “step” into Shaq’s shoes and help Papa Johns make a Shaq-sized impact in communities for a chance to win cool prizes. Just snap a pic in the Shaq-a-Roni Shoeprint graphic at select Papa Johns restaurants nationwide and post on Twitter using hashtags #ShaqaroniImpact and #Sweepstakes and mention @PapaJohns to enter. If your shoe size matches, you win a Shaq-a-Roni pizza. If not, you’ll still be entered to win a Shaq-sized prize: free pizza for 22 years! * Visit www.papajohns.com/shaq for official rules. **

The Shaq-a-Roni features an extra-large pizza made with Papa Johns fresh, never frozen, six-ingredient dough, covered with extra pepperoni and extra cheese, baked to perfection and cut into eight Shaq-sized slices. And this year, there’s even more pepperoni to love! Introducing the Pepperoni-Crusted Papadia, the perfect pizza sidekick, hand-stuffed with real cheese and our signature pepperoni, toasted to perfection with even more cheese and pepperoni on the outside.

“Customers love the Shaq-a-Roni because of its size and value – extra cheese and extra-large slices – and it gives customers a chance to give back in a big way,” said Shaquille O’Neal, Papa Johns board member and franchisee. “In the last three years, the Shaq-a-Roni pizza has raised more than $6 million for The Papa John’s Foundation which gives to local organizations – that’s an impactful footprint we wanted to highlight this year and give the fans a chance to get involved.”

Every Shaq-a-Roni sale supports The Papa John’s Foundation and builds on the more than $6.6 million raised over the last two years to support organizations working to provide hunger relief, reduce food waste and build the leaders of tomorrow, as well as the Foundation’s Building Community Fund, which provides grants to local organizations nominated by our franchisees.

With help from funds raised by the Shaq-a-Roni pizza last year, The Papa John’s Foundation and the Building Community Fund will distribute nearly $1.6 million in grants this year to almost 180 local organizations across 33 states and 96 communities nationwide, including:

23 local chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America: A national leader in youth development programs that supports local communities by building the next generation of leaders.
Food Recovery Network: A national nonprofit that unites students at colleges and universities to fight food waste and hunger by recovering perishable food that would otherwise go to waste from their campus dining halls and donating it to those in need.
Just Food of Douglas County: A local Lawrence, Kan. organization that aims to end hunger by increasing access to healthy foods, reducing barriers to health and well-being and cultivating self-sufficiency within the local community.
Urban Harvest STL: A local St. Louis, Mo. organization that builds community around inclusive and resilient local food systems by growing produce across a network of urban farms to donate to local nonprofit partners.

Beginning today, the Shaq-a-Roni pizza and Pepperoni-Crusted Papadia are available exclusively to Papa Rewards members and will become available to the public on October 24 through December 25. Both items are offered for just $13.99 and $8, respectively. To sign up for Papa Rewards to gain early access to the Shaq-a-Roni, download the Papa Johns mobile app or visit www.papajohns.com/order/papa-rewards. Also, for the duration of the campaign Papa Rewards members can bolster their contributions by donating their Papa Dough; Papa Johns will direct these donations to The Papa John’s Foundation, up to $25,000.

More information about the Shaq-a-Roni pizza, including The Papa John’s Foundation and its grantees, can be found at www.papajohns.com/foundation.

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*Gift card valued at $14,872.00.

**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 US (D.C.), 18 YEARS AND OLDER. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Visit participating store or enter by mail by 10/31/22. See Official Rules for all entry requirements, prize details, and odds disclosure at www.papajohns.com/shaq. Sponsor: Papa John’s International, Inc., 2002 Papa John's Blvd., Louisville, KY 40299.

About Papa Johns

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) (“Papa Johns”) opened its doors in 1984 with one goal in mind: BETTER INGREDIENTS. BETTER PIZZA. Papa Johns believes that using high quality ingredients leads to superior quality pizzas. Its original dough is made of only six ingredients and is fresh, never-frozen. Papa Johns tops its pizzas with real cheese made from mozzarella, pizza sauce made with vine-ripened tomatoes that go from vine to can in the same day and meat free of fillers. It was the first national pizza delivery chain to announce the removal of artificial flavors and synthetic colors from its entire food menu. Papa Johns is co-headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. and Louisville, Ky. and is the world’s third-largest pizza delivery company with more than 5,500 restaurants in 49 countries and territories as of June 26, 2022. For more information about the Company or to order pizza online, visit www.PapaJohns.com or download the Papa Johns mobile app for iOS or Android.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221017005130/en/

Media:
Halle Martin
Communications Manager, Brand PR & Campaigns
Papa John’s International
halle_martin@papajohns.com

Source: Papa John’s International, Inc.

Released October 17, 2022