ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter does and says a lot of weird things that other objective journalists would never dream of. One of those things is being a pitchman for products and services around the NFL and football. Schefter, no stranger to promoting NFL ad partners in the past, was back at it on Monday with an ad for Papa John’s.
Football is back and to celebrate, starting today, @papajohns has introduced football-shaped pizzas, now available nationwide.#PapaJohnsPartner pic.twitter.com/cYtfxQhkEK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2022
Schefter, whose journalistic integrity has been called into question numerous times in recent years, was here to promote Papa John’s new football-shaped pizzas, which are supposed to be appealing to football fans getting ready for the upcoming season.
Given the reactions that NFL fans were sharing on Twitter after watching the ad, it doesn’t sound like there’s that much excitement over the new product or the fact that a “reporter” is schilling for it.
Assault. https://t.co/C2BsHkPm6p
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) August 29, 2022
Why does this screenshot look like an absentee father trying to win over his kids with pizza after ignoring them for 10 months?
— John Dabkovich (@JohnDabkovich) August 29, 2022
looks awful. Thank you!
— Treb (@treblaw) August 29, 2022
You don’t have to do this
— Gabe It’s UMass Szn Rosenberg (@Gaber205) August 29, 2022
IMO that is a great collaboration as their pizza, for me, tastes like what I imagine a football tastes like. 😂
— thesportsconvo (@the_sportsconvo) August 29, 2022
Would you eat this, Adam? I don't think you would eat this. I would not either…FWIW. https://t.co/3ELxUQE6PP
— Eric Rieser (@ERieserd00d) August 29, 2022
There’s a lot of weird and uncomfortable stuff going on here.
One, you’ve got ESPN’s top NFL insider hawking products, which is just wild no matter how much Schefter and others try to legitimize it.
Two, Schefter is promoting a pizza unrelated to the NFL’s actual pizza partner, which isn’t technically a conflict of interest but, then again, a reporter covering the NFL promoting a rival pizza to the NFL’s partner pizza creates a confusing paradox.
Three, the pizza looks terrible and it’s unclear why anyone would find the shape of a football appetizing.
And four, it’s not even the first time Schefter has been involved in weird pizza-promotion-related shenanigans. At least he pointed out it was an ad this time.
