Papa John’s to stop using founder Schnatter’s image in marketing campaigns

Papa John’s Pizza will remove images of ousted company founder “Papa” John Schnatter from future marketing materials, according to a report on Friday.

The decision to remove Schnatter was made by “top executives” at the pizza chain shortly after Schnatter resigned as chairman following an admission that he used a racial slur during a May conference call, the Associated Press reported.

It’s unclear how quickly Schnatter’s image will be scrubbed from all campaigns. As of Friday afternoon, images of Schnatter appeared to have been removed from the company’s website.

Schnatter, who served as Papa John’s CEO until January, has been prominently featured in the chain’s television commercials and print advertisements for years. He also appeared in the company’s logo.

Papa John’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board earlier this week after Forbes reported that he used the N-word during a call between Papa John’s officials and executives from the marketing agency Laundry Service. The call was intended to serve as a training session for Schnatter on how to avoid public relations mistakes.

The 56-year-old executive also stepped down as CEO last January, two months after he ripped the NFL, a corporate partner at the time, for its handling of player national anthem protests. Schnatter argued that the protests had harmed Papa John’s image, since the NFL was prominently featured in its marketing campaigns.

Pizza Hut replaced Papa John’s as the NFL’s official pizza sponsor earlier this year.