• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, July 17, 2018

Geez, it took the agency long enough, but today Laundry Service finally leaked a memo vehemently denying that it tried to extort Papa John’s in exchange for keeping quiet about racist comments made by the pizza chain’s disgraced former chairman John Schnatter.

And word is the agency is actually going to go on the record sometime soon with an official denial.

On behalf of all Adland, thank you Laundry Service, for finally stepping up and defending yourself and effectively the entire industry. What took you so long?

That’s right the industry doesn’t see extortion as a solution to its current woes.

Anyone in their right mind would have immediately called BS on Schnatter, who made the accusations last Friday in a local TV interview in Kentucky. The problem is there are channels like Fox Business News, where Schnatter reiterated his accusations yesterday, which means half the country might actually take what he says as gospel.

Advertising has never been high on the trust scale in consumer polls and this fantasy concocted by Schnatter certainly doesn’t help. Even the company that he founded and which subsequently shoved him out told him to put a cork in it after his interview last Friday.

So thanks again Laundry Service for stepping up and saying what was pretty much obvious from the moment the words issued from Schnatter’s lips.

Honestly, do the words “reputation management” mean anything to you? Not just yours but that of the entire industry.