Ricky Desktop Spreads the Love for Papa Johns’ Garlic Sauce in Fan Inspired Campaign

Camp+King has developed a promotional campaign for Papa Johns' latest creation, the Garlic Epic Stuffed Crust Pizza. Both the pizza and the campaign is made in honour of the fandom that has developed around Papa Johns' garlic sauce and their over-the-top, obsessive love of it. The Garlic Epic Stuffed Crust Pizza has crave-worthy garlic sauce flavour baked inside the cheese-stuffed crust, drizzled on top, and comes with a side of the iconic garlic sauce that continues to come complimentary with every Papa Johns Pizza. The campaign from Camp+King includes a custom song from TikTok beat-making giant Ricky Desktop. Camp+King has also re-joined Papa Johns board member and basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal in collaboration with O’Neal starring in the ‘Epic Garlic’ video spots.

Recognising that this fandom existed before a unique product existed, Papa Johns and Camp+King leaned into the frenzy by creating their garlic stuffed crust pizza. Nearly every detail in Papa Johns ‘Epic Garlic’ campaign originates from the fandom that’s aggregated around the signature garlic sauce. For the campaign, Shaquille O’Neal reads hilariously hyperbolic tweets written by fans who adore all things Papa Johns garlic - a standout being “Papa Johns garlic sauce is the nectar of the gods - replete with O’Neal’s dry cheeky commentary. 

“The fans are the real heroes of this campaign, as the concept emerged from the funny tweets and genuine love they share for the brand online,” says Sara Uhelski, Camp + King associate creative director. “We didn’t have to invent a new idea or positioning - Papa Johns fans helped us craft it through their passion. All their tweets and comments online about the brand’s iconic garlic sauce brought a lot of smiles to our faces and we just wanted to make something for them that could return the favour.” 

Ricky Desktop has launched the song 'Garlic Sauce Beat' to complement the product and highlight how saturated this pizza is in everyone’s favourite seasoning blend. The song is set for release on TikTok, where many of Ricky Desktop’s beats have gone viral. “Garlic Sauce Beat,” like the promotional videos starring Shaquille O’Neal, also features fan-crazed tweets about the legendary sauce. 

On creating the custom track, Ricky says, "I had so much fun working on this campaign with Papa Johns, and my desire to expand my creative palette while creating a catchy/memorable piece of music that would fit well in a commercial context inspired me to compose this specific track."