Wake-Up Call: The Papa John's saga (including Kanye West)

Welcome to Ad Age's Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. You can get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Search for "Ad Age" under "Skills" in the Alexa app. What people are talking about today: Laundry Service says it's going to defend itself against "disparaging and outrageous comments" by the founder of Papa John's, its former client. The agency also says the claims are "completely false," as Ad Age's Megan Graham writes. The backstory: Papa John's founder John Schnatter had accused Laundry Service of trying to extort the pizza chain out of $6 million after he used a racial slur during a conference call with the shop in May. In an interview with Kentucky's WLKY, he claimed the shop wanted the big sum of money to stay silent and make the problem "go away." In an internal memo obtained by Ad Age, the agency said it plans to go on the record to refute the claims, and it asked employees not to speak to journalists about what happened. Schnatter stepped down as chairman last week, after a news report about his use of the N-word, and the company has been distancing itself from him; it's pulling his image off all its marketing, including pizza boxes and logos. As The New York Times says, "Papa John's just wants Papa John to go away."On second thought: Schnatter reportedly thinks he made a mistake in stepping down as chairman at the board's request, arguing that his comment was taken out of context and he didn't mean it as a racial epithet. And he is "not going quietly," his lawyer told CNBC.Kanye: There's also a Kanye West angle to this story. As CNBC reports, Schnatter says Laundry Service suggested the brand partner with West in its ads. But Schnatter didn't want to, because West "uses the 'N' word in his lyrics."

Wednesday Wake-Up Call: Your daily update on the Papa John's saga (there's a Kanye West angle)

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