Oh yes he did, and in more ways than one.

Countless foreheads surely were slapped at Papa John’s headquarters when Fox-41’s report on founder John Schnatter ran yesterday and today. Why? Because Schnatter, also the chain’s board chairman, declared he uses no technology in his office such as computers or the Internet.

Said he’s never even been on the Internet because “I don’t like being bogged down, don’t like wasting my brain power with silly stuff,” Schnatter told WDRB reporter Elizabeth Woolsey. “I don’t like the nonsense of all of that. … I like thinking about big picture stuff … being creative.”

Anyone else aching for Papa John’s PR peeps right now?

It’s one thing for Schnatter to say he doesn’t use technology—all of us know at least a few rich, dreamy Luddites who prove you can get by without it—but to call it silly stuff when it’s played such a crucial role in the success of Papa John’s Pizza is, well, silly. And that’s putting it kindly.

Has he forgotten the importance of computerized POS systems to the chain, or the fact that even its ovens are computerized? And did he fail to remember that Papa John’s is the pizza industry leader in online pizza ordering? Visit just the homepage on Papa John’s Web site, Mr. Schnatter, and tell me if online ordering isn’t “big picture stuff” for the chain you still own, what, 20 percent of?

And yet, it got worse. Not noticing he’d dug himself a hole, Schnatter dug deeper by saying he wants to build the Calistoga Bakery Café chain over the next decade so he can … have a back up revenue stream as pizza traffic deteriorates!

Again, it’s one thing to say, “I want to do something new, get involved in a new concept,” but to say the horse you rode in on could be getting long in the tooth and, well, you need a more spirited animal of another breed to get you round the track … ? What’s he thinking? And even if he’s right—which he could be, he’s a smart operator—should he say that with shareholders and the world watching?

When you’re that rich, I suppose you can say anything … as long as the message is delivered by carrier pigeon. Heaven knows you don’t want to use any silly technology like ‘lectric tee-vees, computers and the Internet.