Papa John's is giving away free pizza in a bizarre marketing ploy slamming the wildly-popular mattress startup Casper
- Shoppers can get a year of free pizza from Papa John's if they buy a Raymour & Flanigan mattress.
- The deal seems to be a coded criticism of the mattress startup Casper, with a Raymour & Flanigan spokesperson saying in a statement that mattresses "shouldn't come in a box. Pizzas do."
- While the deal promises a year of free pizza, customers who purchase the mattress will only get one large pizza per month.
A company is giving away a year of free pizza to every customer who buys a mattress.
Raymour & Flanigan is giving shoppers who buy a mattress that costs more than $500 from the company between May 30 and June 13 free Papa John's pizza for a year. The company is also offering free next-day mattress delivery any day of the week.
"[M]attresses shouldn't come in a box. Pizzas do," a Raymour & Flanigan spokesperson said in a statement. "A mattress is something you should feel and experience firsthand. Additionally, every person is different, from body shape to body temperature. That's why we're focused on pairing each customer with the right mattress."
The free pizza deal seems to be a coded criticism of Casper and other startups that ship mattresses to customers in boxes. Since 2014, Casper has grown its cult following and helped establish a new segment in the mattress industry - the online-based, bed-in-a-box startup.
For shoppers more intrigued by the pizza part of the deal, there is some fine print that needs to be read. Customers will only get one large pizza a month, from July 2018 to June 2019. Additional toppings will cost extra.
"Papa John's is looking forward to partnering with Raymour & Flanigan to deliver quality. They'll deliver the mattress and we'll deliver BETTER INGREDIENTS. BETTER PIZZA.," said Jason Hayes, Papa John's regional marketing manager, said in a statement.