Papa John's Plans NFT Drop Despite Prior Warning From UK Advertising Regulator

The collection of 19,840 NFTs has been minted on Tezos and takes the form of nine different pizza hot bag designs.

AccessTimeIconMar 8, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 7:16 p.m. UTC

Pizza take-out chain Papa John's (PZZA) is planning to give away nearly 20,000 non-fungible tokens (NFT) to customers in the U.K., shrugging off a previous warning from the country's advertising regulator about its dalliances in the crypto world.

  • The collection of 19,840 NFTs has been minted on Tezos and takes the form of nine different pizza delivery hot bag designs.
  • The NFTs will be dropped on several dates in early March.
  • This is not Papa John's first foray into the world of crypto and blockchains. The take-out chain last year launched a promotion in which customers could win £10 ($13) worth of bitcoin (BTC) when they spent more than £30 ($39).
  • The campaign fell afoul of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority, who deemed it "irresponsible" as it "took advantage of consumers’ inexperience or credulity and trivialized investment in cryptocurrency." The pizza chain subsequently removed the ads for the campaign.
  • Papa John's has a long-standing association with cryptocurrency owing to the infamous occurrence of an early bitcoin user spending 10,000 BTC on two Papa John's pizzas in 2010. The bitcoin, worth $41 at the time, would be worth nearly $400 million at today's prices.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.