Papa John's, Tony Dungy and The Giant Check

May 12 - On behalf of Papa John's, MZD Advertising presents former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy with a check for $15,000 for the Carson Scholars Fund. The fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity founded in 1994, by Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Carson and his wife, Candy, to recognize and reward students in grades 4-11 who strive for academic excellence (3.75 GPA or higher) and demonstrate a strong commitment to their community.

Last Fall, pizza lovers were invited to try the Colts Special, a large, two-topping pizza with breadsticks for $15.99. A portion of the proceeds from all 55 Central Indiana Papa John’s stores were donated to the Carson Scholars Fund through the promotion.

The MZD Papa John’s marketing and PR teams, joined Dungy at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center for the press conference, where MZD CEO and Papa John’s Franchisee Allan Zukerman presented Dungy with a ceremonial “giant check".

Rich Lunseth, MZD creative director, was also on hand to present Dungy with a unique “thank you” gift from the Papa John’s crew: a Colts Special pizza box with a digital picture frame containing still shots and video from the television commercial starring Coach Dungy.

Coach Dungy repeatedly expressed how important the Carson Scholars Fund is to him, which is apparent, as this commercial with MZD is only the second he has ever done in his career.

Since retiring from coaching, Dungy has been involved with numerous ministries including All Pro Dads and Abe Brown Ministries, a prison outreach. Following up on the success of the biographical “Quiet Strength,” which reached No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, Dungy released “Uncommon” in January.

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIZZA) is the world’s third-largest pizza company. For nine years running, consumers have rated Papa John’s No.1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John’s also ranks first among pizza companies in the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, was honored by restaurants & Institutions Magazine (R&I) with the 2008 Silver Award for Consumers’ Choice in Chains in the pizza segment, and was named 2007 Pizza Today Chain of the Year. For more information about the company or the order pizza online, visit Papa John’s at www.papajohns.com.