Papa John's Seeks to Create a Global Pizza Party

After taking fashion cues for its ‘Papa X Cheddar’ campaign, Papa John’s has turned to music to launch its new Fresh Soul range - pizzas, it claims, that are so packed full of big flavours that they make the soul sing again.

The campaign film opens on a Papa John’s store, which transforms into an intimate party with DJs on the decks, including up and coming British neo-soul artist BaggE and a small group of friends sharing the good times with the new Fresh Soul range.

The campaign is inspired by the universal power of music to uplift the soul and spirit and will run across the UK and EMENA, plus Latin America and Asia later in the year.

The party then comes to life via the House of Papa - the venue for the world’s first global pizza party on 29 September.

With performances from BaggE and three other independent artists selected by NME, the pizza party will take place at an intimate London music venue, and will be broadcast live via reunited members of the ByteSquad TikTok collective and NME’s Instagram. After-party highlights will also be posted on the NME website from 5 October.

ByteSquad members Shauni, Jake, Em and Loz will be reuniting as the ByteSquad for one night only, and will be broadcasting with other UK and international TikTokers who will be participating virtually, broadcasting the party live as the first coordinated global TikTok house party of its kind.

Giles Codd, senior director of marketing for Papa John’s UK, said: “Music is a universal power for good so it’s great to see the party we started in our global marketing campaign film come to life for everyone to enjoy in both the UK and worldwide, after the missed social experiences of the last 18 months.”

“Given our global audience, we’re pleased to be partnering with the music powerhouse that is NME as well as the ByteSquad TikTok house to bring good times to one and all – in celebration of the big soul singing flavours of our new Fresh Soul range.”

Katy Sumption, executive creative director at Atomic London, added: “We loved the idea of transforming a Papa John’s into a retro record store full of flavours that make your soul sing. Our audience have been deprived of get togethers and live music for so long and we wanted to encapsulate that celebratory feeling that we can all finally share.”