Papa John’s is ending its sponsorship of the NFL. The pizza chain did not mention player protests of the national anthem, which former CEO John Schnatter blamed for falling sales last fall, in its statement on the decision (CNN). The chain’s stock fell on the announcement (Fortune). Update: The NFL quickly moved to replace Papa John's with Pizza Hut (CNBC).
Papa John's stock lost one-third of its value since last June, which founder and former CEO John Schnatter blamed on NFL protests. Meanwhile, Pizza Hut's parent company stock, Yum!, grew 8% during the same time period. Now Pizza Hut is the new official pizza of the NFL. pic.twitter.com/yzD43cD28c
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 28, 2018
New from PRWeek this morning: Around the office with Cisco chief communications officer Oliver Roll; Chobani hires Mars veteran Mark Broadhurst as senior director of government affairs; International reaction to WPP’s game-changing decision to merge Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe.
Shippers spar over NRA. FedEx, under pressure to cut ties with the National Rifle Association, pointed its finger at UPS, saying the rival shipper handles orders from the gun rights group’s online store. UPS quickly responded that it doesn’t offer discounts or other special offers for NRA members like FedEx does (Bloomberg). New this morning: Retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods said it is immediately stopping the sale of assault rifles (New York Times).
At the same time, we implore our elected officials to enact common sense gun reform and pass the following regulations: https://t.co/J4OcB6XJnu pic.twitter.com/VUuFKkyk6c
— DICK'S Sporting Goods (@DICKS) February 28, 2018
Jared Kushner is having a really bad week. Not only did the White House senior aide lose his top secret security clearance (NPR), the Trump administration said Tuesday that Kushner-recruited communications aide Josh Raffel is leaving the White House in the coming months (CNN).
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks acknowledged in congressional testimony on Tuesday that she occasionally tells white lies on President Donald Trump’s behalf (NYT). Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee complained Hicks didn’t answer important questions about the Russia investigation (USA Today).
