Papa John’s launches NFT campaign

Pizza brand Papa John’s has dropped its first collection of collectable NFTs, also known as non-fungible tokens, as part of the metaverse’s biggest global NFT giveaway.

The NFTs also feature in the second release of Papa John’s’ Papa X Cheddar marketing campaign, to promote its new Cheddar range, launching in several international markets including UAE, Qatar, Spain, Ecuador and El Salvador.

The collection of 19,840 NFTs will drop nine on trend bag designs inspired by the pizza delivery hot bag, on several dates throughout early March. The total number of 19,840 is inspired by the date that Papa John’s was founded in 1984.

With names such as ‘Papa 1984’ and ‘Papa Cheese Melt’, all are available in three brand colourways and feature in the re-run of the Papa X Cheddar film and social campaign.

Marking its first foray into the NFT space, Papa John’s is aiming to gift pizza fans worldwide a slice of the NFT hype. Subject to location,* fans can redeem the must-have meta-fashion accessory via three routes: by scanning a QR code on a pizza box leaflet, scanning a QR code in the delivery confirmation e-mail or clicking onto promotional social media posts by their local Papa John’s.

Jo Blundell, vice president of International Marketing at Papa John’s, comments: “There is so much global hype surrounding NFTs right now, but not everyone understands what they are or how to get one. That’s why Papa John’s is delighted to be bringing NFTs into the mainstream, making them available for pizza fans, digital art collectors and meta-professionals alike. In the short time it takes to order a pizza, people can get their hands on one of nine uber-cool NFT hot bag designs.”

The NFTs were created by professional NFT designer Tom Hoff, based in Spain, and artist Ash Sketch from London’s Central Saint Martins, who both took cues from the delivery driver hot bag and last year’s Papa X Cheddar campaign.

This ironic collaboration took one of the world’s favourite cheeses – Cheddar – and elevated it to fashion status with its own streetwear collection. An exclusive range of upcycled delivery driver uniform garments and accessories were sold via international fashion marketplace Depop, in 2021.

The NFT Hot Bags are the second fashion drop from Papa John’s, as a limited-edition number of real-world hot bags will be sold via Depop at www.depop.com/nfthotbag, with one available to win on the NFT microsite by one person who redeems an NFT between 1 March – 12 April 2022.

Papa John’s NFT Hot Bags have been minted on Tezos, an energy-efficient blockchain, which means the NFTs are also energy-efficient.

Papa John’s new Cheddar range includes new pizzas such as the Cheddar Bacon Cheeseburger and Mexican Carnitas, as well as Cheddar versions of the Papadia. All are available to order via www.papajohns.com or via the app. The available Cheddar range will vary by market.