• The hero of Papa Johns’ new Share It Big range of menu items is the New York-style pizza.
• The chain’s international Share It Big marketing campaign focuses on Gen Z customers and their “desire to go big in every aspect of life.”

Papa Johns is letting hands do the talking in an international marketing campaign for the launch of its Share It Big range of menu items.

In a creative departure for the brand, the new campaign uses pairs of Gen Z hands to dramatize the joyfulness of sharing, tearing, holding and folding its biggest meal bundle yet. The new spot also shines a light on the range’s hero item—New York-style pizza—a category–first launch for Papa Johns.

Billed as Papa Johns’ most shareable dining experience yet, the Share It Big range is brought to life through a vibrant backdrop, eye-catching Gen Z cultural cues and a dynamic campaign track that repeats the lyric, “I’m a big deal,” in reference to “Gen Z’s desire to go big in every aspect of life,” the company said in a press release.

The film opens with a hand emerging from inside a Papa Johns’ box, holding a pizza slice, before multiple sets of hyper-stylized hands gather to share big pizzas and sides, culminating in a dramatic stand-off for the final slice.

The hands also show three tried-and-tested techniques for folding the over-sized New York-style slices, including the “inside out fold,” “fold in half” and “pizza wallet” methods.

Additionally, the launch of the Share It Big range marks the return of Papa Johns’ annual Slice of Happiness campaign, which sees the brand donate slices of pizzas to charities and good causes worldwide, through its Hungry for Better brand mission. Amid growing food insecurity issues worldwide, Papa Johns aims to double last year’s donations and provide up to two million pizza slices to local organizations, generated via purchases of qualifying pizzas.

“Our latest Share It Big campaign celebrates the big pizza slices, big flavors and big sharing occasions that make Papa Johns the Gen Z social ingredient,” said Jo Blundell, VP of international marketing at Papa Johns. “Share It Big references not only our most shareable dining experience yet, but also the brand’s target of doubling our Slice of Happiness pizza slice donations in 2022, for the benefit of more community-driven initiatives.”

The new multi-channel campaign will run in selected markets across the Middle East, Europe and Latin America in Q4.