Pizza Hut picks up its Papa John feud

Pizza Hut has resurrected a long-running advertising battle with rival Papa John's, in a move that could end in the US Supreme Court.

The two-year feud, over Papa John's slogan and advertisements comparing the two chains' sauce and dough, culminated in an appeals court verdict last year in which both chains claimed victory (Caterer, 5 October 2000, page 8).

The judge said that the adverts were misleading but that Papa John's could continue using them along with its slogan, "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza", and did not have to pay damages.

Now Pizza Hut has brought the case to the higher Supreme Court, which settled the recent presidential election dispute. It has still not heard whether the court will consider the case.

A spokesman for Pizza Hut declined to say what action Pizza Hut wanted Papa John's to take, or whether the adverts had harmed its business.

A spokesman for Papa John's said: "We think they want to keep us tied up in court. But to ask the Supreme Court to make a judgment on pizza when they're dealing with the death penalty and have just been dealing with the presidential election… there's probably bigger fish to fry."