Twitter Can't Believe Papa John's Job Offer To Pro Baseball Players

If you're a baseball fan, you're probably pretty bummed by the news of the players' strike, which has not only led to the cancelation of Opening Day, but also a shortened, messed-up season. These strikes are always frustrating, especially since we know enough to realize that when it's players vs owners, the finances they're discussing are well out of our league. It's hard for anyone struggling to get by on an hourly wage to feel much sympathy for either side when even the lowest-paid players are earning over $500,000 for half a year's work and all the owners are mega-gazillionaires. Still, we just want to see some baseball, whatever it takes, so we hope they work out something that seems fair to them.

That being said, you know what's not going to make us feel better? Snarky tweets from a pizza chain that's got a few PR issues of their own. Once again, Papa John's failed to read the room with their not-so-humorous "job offer" to  MLB players who may not be reporting to spring training. A few years back when, Prince Harry decided to step down from his working royal duties, Burger King suggested he might like to wear a paper crown, instead. While the prince himself chose to pass on BK's offer of employment, Twitter thought it was a hoot. Papa John's, however, is receiving the opposite reaction from its tongue-in-cheek(?) job posting aimed at MLB players.

According to Papa John's website, the pizza chain is looking for "Pre-Season Pizza Pros" who miss their team so badly that they're willing to sign on with Team Papa John for the interim. They suggest that players give up their diamond dreams in favor of a job whose perks include not having to work outdoors, not having to work out, period, and getting a new cap. One thing Papa John's does not mention, however, is the fact that even their franchise owners make far less than any bench-warming rookie.

When Papa John's touted their job offer via Twitter, they came in for more of a roasting than they might have anticipated. As one Twitter user put it, "Your tweet and your entire company are bad, and you should feel bad." Someone else said, "Less snark and better pizza, please," while another person also addressed Papa John's pizza quality by opining, "Right field is infinitely more exciting than your very mediocre pizza, fwiw." 

Perhaps the person who best captured the feeling evoked by Papa John's latest PR fail was Los Angeles Angels pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. Not that he responded to Papa John's himself (if he had, it might have been with a few choice Spanish-language cuss words that ESPN says he picked up in the Japanese Pacific League), but the gif of him grimacing that was posted by one Twitter user says it all.