LOOMIS’s New Papa John's Commercial Plays on Dallas Cowboy’s Jumbotron

Dallas advertising agency LOOMIS brings Jerry Jones, John Schnatter and Miles Austin together for newest Papa John’s TV Commercial.

It's not every day that three powerhouse personalities team up to sell pizza in a setting that is none other than the world's largest domed football stadium, but to win the pizza wars, Papa John's has pulled out the big guns.

Legendary Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones is paired with John Schnatter, known as "Papa” the charismatic former teenage founder of Papa John's International, in a new TV spot that breaks in Texas markets July 26. For good measure, popular Cowboys Pro Bowl wide receiver Miles Austin also appears in the spot, which features a video game duel between Jones and Schnatter on the world's largest high definition television.

The spot, called "Video Game” features muscular robotic avatars of Jones and Schnatter whose growth is fueled with bites of Papa John's pizza as they square off in a video game duel. As the pair gets ready to rumble, the camera point-of-view shifts revealing that they're sitting in Cowboys Stadium playing on the mammoth high definition television that hold's the Guinness World's Record as the largest.

In the spot, Schnatter's avatar takes a bite of Papa John's pizza and balloons in size and strength as Schnatter turns to Jones and issues his signature line, "Papa's in the house.” Jones clicks his controller, his avatar chomps on his own pizza and blows up to twice the size of the Schnatter avatar. Jones turns to Schnatter and says wryly, "Yeah, but it's my house.” The spot then cuts away to the Cowboys Unlimited Combo message offering customers unlimited toppings and a two-liter bottle of Pepsi for $10.99. The spot ends on a humorous exchange between Jones and Austin, who is off camera until the final shot.

The spot was created by LOOMIS, a Dallas ad agency serving the Dallas, Austin and Waco markets for Papa John's. Michael Tuggle, executive creative director, and Cecily Worthy, creative director, teamed up to create the spot for LOOMIS.

"Making this happen was a challenge because the idea for the spot was only half the distance to the goal," Tuggle said. "We had to get three of the most over-scheduled people in the country into one place for a full afternoon to make this happen." Tuggle said the spot's production was nearly a bust on several occasions due to scheduling conflicts. "But everybody pulled together and made it happen, and the result is a truly national-caliber spot for a regional promotion," Tuggle said.

Tom DeNolf of DeNolf Films directed the spot, and LOOMIS partnered with Green Grass Studios for the animation. Music composition, scoring and sound effects were done by Luminous Sound Studios, and editorial duties were handled by Green Grass Studios. All partnering firms are located in Dallas.

Papa John's opened its first pizza restaurant in 1984 and to this day is committed to delivering on its brand promise of "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza ." Papa John's is the recognized quality leader of the pizza category and now owns or franchises over 3,000 restaurants worldwide.

LOOMIS, founded in 1984, is a Dallas-based advertising agency specializing in marketing and advertising for retail-facing challenger brand companies. The agency's clients include regional and national companies in the restaurant, home furnishings, financial, and various service categories—Dairy Queen, Papa John’s, La Madeleine, Brookshire’s, Sleep Experts, CashAmerica SuperPAWN, Brown Shoe, First United Bank, among others.

Luminous Sound Studios is a wholly owned subsidiary of LOOMIS and caters to recording artists and commercial clients alike. Luminous is recognized in the music industry as the finest recording facility in the southwestern United States.