Super Bowl Watch: Papa John's Borrows From 2011 Playbook

Papa John's sold more than one million pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday last year, without advertising during the game despite being the NFL's official pizza sponsor.

Its promotional stunt — offering free pizzas to its rewards program members if the 2011 Super Bowl showdown between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers went into overtime — hinged on the safe bet that that Super Bowl games have never gone into overtime. Loyalty members were also randomly selected every 45 seconds for a $45 gift card.

This year's Super Bowl promotion for the pizza chain takes from that playbook while trying to sweeten the incentive.

The 2012 pitch related to the commercial at top:

"America, you make the call! In Papa John's Super Bowl XLVI Coin Toss Experience, Peyton Manning and Jerome "The Bus" Bettis want you to call the Super Bowl coin toss: heads or tails. If America gets it right, all Papa Rewards members will receive a FREE Papa John's pizza and 2-liter Pepsi MAX. Make the call and sign up at www.freepapajohns.com."

The 30-second national TV spot also features the brand's founder and CEO John Schnatter, first during Jan. 22’s NFC and AFC Championship games, and will continue airing during the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

As Mediapost comments,

"if the preponderance of their votes turns out to correctly predict the toss, all members will get the freebies (instructions for redemption will come by email). Coin-toss voting ends Feb. 1, and the chain will pre-announce the voting results on Feb. 2. Papa John’s also changed its sweeps strategy this year to maximize pre-game-day orders. This time around, it’s been randomly selecting winners from among online pizza-orderers every 46 seconds each weekend leading up to the Super Bowl, starting on Friday, Dec. 30, and ending on Saturday, Feb. 4, the evening before game day. (Actually, per legal requirements, rewards members also can enter without ordering a pizza, by following online instructions.)"

Bettis, a finalist for this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction, spoofs his involvement in the NFL’s most controversial-ever coin toss on Thanksgiving Day 1998. Colts quarterback Manning alludes to his having been out this season due to a neck injury. Manning will also “surface” on game day in his hometown, with Papa John’s, according to the chain’s spokesperson.

Other elements include social support: a Twitter hashtag (#freepapajohns) and a prompt during coin-toss voting to sign into Facebook to “personalize” your experience. (Participants can opt to skip the Facebook sign-in.)

Over the 45 Super Bowls, heads has been called 23 times, and tails 22 times (hardly surprising), but the NFC has won the toss for 14 years straight. The odds of the latter are 16,000 to one, according to an Associated Press article published earlier in the season.