The Papa John Schnatter Tiktok Review: A Cheesy Yet Unsettling Psychodrama
Disgraced pizza baron ‘Papa’ John Schnatter was ousted as CEO from the company that shares his name in 2018. In years since, Schnatter has made multiple attempts to reinsert himself into the public eye. From tantrums about the declining quality of Papa John’s pizza in his absence, to claims that he’s eaten 40 pizzas in 30 days, to appearances on far-right cable news network OANN where he claims he’s trying to “get rid of this N-word in my vocabulary”, the former Prince of Pepperoni has refused to take a just cancellation on the chin. His latest attempt, called @thepapajohnschnatter, is an experimental ARG, or alternate reality game, that’s been unfolding on TikTok over the last 10 months.
@thepapajohnschnatter leverages mixed media and live interactions to tell a haunting story of a man who has lost complete control over his life, and perhaps, his sanity. It utilizes mixed media, including FMV scenes, archival footage, memes, and TikTok trends while drawing inspiration from viral horror projects like Marble Hornets, alantutorial, and Petscop. @thepapajohnschnatter is an ambitious project that blurs the line between reality and fiction while building on the non-linear, detective format established by Sam Barlow’s FMV titles Her Story and Telling Lies. As both the creative visionary and star, Schnatter has created an unsettling reality that functions as both a critique of creator culture and a harrowing peak into the psyche of a socially maladapted pariah with a score to settle and nothing to lose.
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The project started in May 2021 with a series of clips from interviews with Schnatter discussing his core values as a
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