Anti-Obamacare rhetoric hurt Papa John's and Applebee's

[^_^ 5,021]

Anti-Obamacare rhetoric from Papa John’s CEO and a major Applebee’s franchise owner appear to have driven down both chains’ consumer perception with casual dining eaters in the US, and are still impacted two weeks after those remarks were made.

Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter’s post-Election Day comments about passing on health care reform costs by reducing worker hours and raising prices coincides with a swift negative reaction among casual food diners.

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Zane Tankel, the CEO of Applebee’s franchisee Apple-Metro, appeared on Business News and made similar comments, saying Obamacare would force him not to hire any more workers and consider cutting their hours. Applebee’s perception had dropped since his TV appearance.

One exception to these two examples is Denny’s. Franchisee John Metz, who runs 40 locations, said in mid-November that he would add a 5% surcharge to customers' bills and reduce his employees' hours. Denny’s perception with casual diners declined afterwards, but much less so than Papa John’s and Applebee’s. However unlike those two chains, Denny’s has since rebounded close to where they were before Metz’s remarks, potentially due to CEO John Miller’s apologetic statement a few days later.

Papa John’s, Applebee’s, and Denny’s were measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents, "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?" Results were filtered adults 18+ who have eaten at casual dining restaurants in the past month.

http://www.brandindex.com/article/anti-obamacare-rhetoric-buzz

[mawilson 2,133]

Ironically, not dining at those restaurants would force them not to hire any more workers and consider cutting their hours - just like they said.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The only thing that is limiting my restaurant dining experience is the quality of the food, the price I have to pay for it, and how convenient the place is to get to. I really don't pay attention to what corporate blow-hard's have to say about anything, from a consumer aspect. Actually, I really don't enjoy dining at chain restaurants, except to get a burger lunch once in a while when the wife bugs me enough. I am a better cook than most of those that do it for a living, at least as far as appealing to my own palate and nutritional requirements.

[JohnR! 5,495]

[quote name=' timestamp='1354639414' post='5854341]

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter's post-Election Day comments about passing on health care reform costs by reducing worker hours and raising prices coincides with a swift negative reaction among casual food diners.

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Probably because what he says is not true....

[james&olya 1,121]

Ironically, not dining at those restaurants would force them not to hire any more workers and consider cutting their hours - just like they said.

While unfortunate for the individual employees impacted, the net effect would be to increase business and thus employment at their less right-wing competitors. And that is a GOOD thing!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Interesting thing in these announcements is that these bozos want to do two things:

1) Collect more money from the consumer to pay for the health insurance benefits mandated under the law

2) Cut staff hours to avoid having to pay for health insurance benefits under the law

Now, either one of these I can see. So if that pizza needs to cost $0.14 more (oh, the horror) in order for Papa John's staff to be offered decent health care coverage, that's okay with me. If Schnatter decides to only employ part time staff to avoid the cost of health care coverage, so be it. But why does he need to collect money from me for benefits that he is not going to pay to his staff? Where does that extra money go?

No, no need to answer that. I know where it goes. It was a rhetorical question.

[james&olya 1,121]

Interesting thing in these announcements is that these bozos want to do two things:

1) Collect more money from the consumer to pay for the health insurance benefits mandated under the law

2) Cut staff hours to avoid having to pay for health insurance benefits under the law

Now, either one of these I can see. So if that pizza needs to cost $0.14 more (oh, the horror) in order for Papa John's staff to be offered decent health care coverage, that's okay with me. If Schnatter decides to only employ part time staff to avoid the cost of health care coverage, so be it. But why does he need to collect money from me for benefits that he is not going to pay to his staff? Where does that extra money go?

No, no need to answer that. I know where it goes. It was a rhetorical question.

He may need that extra money from his remaining customers. He has lost all my business and probably quite a few others will stay away as well!

Edited December 4, 2012 by james&olya

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

He may need that extra money from his remaining customers. He has lost all my business and probably quite a few others will stay away as well!

My 6 year old actually hates Papa John's pizza now. She saw Mittens propose to kill Big Bird and she saw Schnatter support Mittens. She put these two together and told us that she no longer cares for Papa John's pizza. True story.