May 12, 2008 6:01 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Richard Tedesco

Papa John’s drew overflow crowds throughout Ohio last Thursday for a 23-cent pizza special it ran to apologize for a franchisee who took a cheap shot at Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James.

It all started when James complained about hard fouls during the Cavaliers’ National Basketball Association playoff series against the Washington Wizards. His comment cause one of the Wizards to call James a “crybaby,” and a Papa John’s franchisee in Washington, D.C., carried the war of words a step further, producing T-shirts calling James a “crybaby” in bold letters.

The enterprising pizza-maker ran the idea for the impromptu promotion by Papa John’s corporate executives, who disapproved, but he proceeded with the project anyway, according to Papa John’s spokesperson Tish Muldoon.

Emotions ran high among Cavaliers fans when they got wind of the sleight against their star player. So Papa John’s ran an official impromptu promotion to counteract that bad will: a 23-cent special—James’ jersey number is 23—on single-topping pizzas at 86 of its stores in the Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Youngstown areas.

“We wanted to apologize to the Cleveland fans,” said Muldoon.

The apology was apparently accepted by fans who scoffed up 75,000 of the low-priced pies, queuing up in lines for as long as 90 minutes in some locations. Police reported 600 people waiting on a line outside the Euclid, OH, Papa John’s. In Columbus, police were summoned to help close the Papa John’s stores at 5 p.m., due to fears that a riot might ensue.

Each Papa John’s store in the markets running the special was prepared to produce 900 pies. Some locations sold 300 pies an hour.

“We had a fantastically overwhelming response,” said Muldoon. “We experienced some lengthy lines.”

Proceeds of $17,500 from the 23-cent special will go to the Lebron James Foundation, with the 101 Washington, D.C., franchises splitting that cost with their Papa John’s corporate parent. Papa John’s also apologized with an additional $10,000 for James’s foundation and a $10,000 contribution to the Cleveland Cavaliers Youth Fund.

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