Facebook, Flyers, and Car Wraps...Oh My! Three Contestants Maximize $1,000 Marketing Budget in Final Stretch of Papa John’s Specialty Pizza Challenge

With Americans eating 16 million slices of pizza a year, how do you ensure the slice they’re eating is your recipe? Blair Dial of Springfield, Ill., Barbara Hyman of Los Angeles, and Kendra Chapman of Ball Ground, Ga. each have their own ideas on that, utilizing a $1,000 marketing budget to help drive sales in the Papa John’s Specialty Pizza Challenge.

Dial’s "Big Bonanza,” Hyman’s "Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu,” and Chapman’s "The Workin’ Fire” will be featured on the Papa John’s menu Aug. 2 through 29. The contest finalist who sells the most pizza will be declared the winner and receive a "slice” of the sales (up to $10,000), free Papa John’s pizza for life, and the chance to appear in the next Papa’s in the House commercial.

"While $1,000 obviously won’t fund a massive ad buy, we do hope our three finalists will find creative and cost-effective measures to raise awareness and initiate sampling of their pizzas, as the highest-selling recipe will ultimately be determined the winner,” said Andrew Varga, Papa John’s Chief Marketing Officer. "We’ve been really impressed so far with their enthusiasm and initiative, whether it’s designing flyers, organizing pizza parties, or even promising part of the prize money to charitable causes.”

On Facebook, Dial’s "Big Bonanza” is leading the pack with more than 600 likes, while the "Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu” and "The Workin’ Fire” each have eclipsed 100 likes. Chapman, meanwhile, is distributing flyers across her community, hoping that this is one "Workin’ Fire” that will spread. Hyman is planning to wrap her car with Papa John’s "Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu” advertising and promises that a portion of prize money would be donated to the National Wildlife Federation.

Papa John’s received more than 12,000 entries in the Papa John’s Specialty Pizza Challenge that were narrowed down in July by a panel of judges that included the Food Network’s Ted Allen and Rich Eisen of the NFL Network. On Thursday, August 5, the three finalists will travel to Papa John’s headquarters in Louisville to tour the facility and make their pizzas for the company’s corporate staff.

More about the finalists:

• Big Bonanza

Created by: Blair Dial of Springfield, Ill.

Crust/Sauce: Original Crust with Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients: Bacon (double portion), Beef, Ham, Jalapeno Peppers, Onions, Roma Tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese

Inspiration: A pizza that can tackle the Wild West and make you "howl at the moon”

• Cheesy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Created by: Barbara Hyman of Los Angeles, Calif.

Crust/Sauce: Original Crust with Spinach Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients: Grilled Chicken, Ham, Onions, Extra Mozzarella Cheese, Three Cheese Blend

Inspiration: A Papa John’s twist on a mother and daughter’s cherished chicken cordon bleu recipe

• The Workin’ Fire

Created by: Kendra Chapman of Ball Ground, Ga.

Crust/Sauce: Original Crust with Traditional Sauce

Ingredients: Jalapeno Peppers, Pepperoni, Spicy Italian Sausage, Mozzarella Cheese, Parmesan/Romano Cheese

Inspiration: Created by a firefighter to be the "fire tetrahedron” of pizzas

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third largest pizza company. For 10 of the past 11 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's also was honored by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine (R&I) with the 2009 Gold Award for Consumers’ Choice in Chains in the pizza segment. Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA), is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL and Super Bowl XLV, XLVI and XLVII. For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com.