• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, March 20, 2007

The pizza and tax service chains have joined forces to offer consumers a $10.40 (1040, get it?) gift card if they file their taxes through H&R Block's Tax Cut Online program linked from Papa John's Web site.

The promotion is supported on both companies' Web sites and will get an online push via e-mail blasts over the next several weeks until the April 17 deadline, a Papa John's spokesperson says, as well as local marketing efforts. A determination on national advertising will be made as the date draws near, she says.

In the week leading up the Tax Deadline Day, from April 10 to April 17, Papa John's will offer customers who order online a $10.40 large cheese pizza with up to four toppings. Since being introduced in 2001, online orders at PapaJohns.com have grown by more than 50% per year, the company says.

During the Super Bowl, Papa John's ran a similar promotion in which participants could win a large pie, redeemable online. Registrants also got a redemption code good for two Coca-Cola products with an online purchase of a large specialty pizza at regular price.

Last year, the third-largest pizza chain organized a smaller effort around Tax Day, offering the $10.40 pizza just on the weekend before taxes were due.

In 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, Papa John's spent $101.1 million and H&R Block spent $121.6 million on advertising.