Loyalty is the most valuable real estate in QSR. McDonald's CFO calls it the "single most important digital metric" they have. Problem is, signing people up is the hard part, and Gen Z is the toughest crowd of all: nearly a quarter aren't in a single loyalty program, roughly double any other age group.

So when Spirit Airlines melted down in April 2026, Papa Johns threw stranded travelers a life raft: turn your dead loyalty miles into Papa Rewards. It put us dead center in the moment and handed the hardest crowd to convert a reason to opt in that didn't feel like signing up. Your miles aren't dead, they're pizza.

It went huge and earned. People, USA Today, local broadcast nationwide, a Tonight Show bit with Fallon. 550 million+ monthly reach.