NEW YORK — Papa John’s, which wants to distance itself from founder John Schnatter, released new ads Tuesday that replace him with a diverse group of franchisees.

The commercials show several franchisees looking into the camera and introducing themselves to viewers.

“You’ve heard one voice of Papa John’s for a long time,” one of them says, followed by another who says, “It’s time you heard from all of us.” At the end, the company’s logo substitutes “John’s” with the first names of each of the franchisees until it settles on the logo again.

“That was a way to really reinforce that this is a brand that belongs to everyone,” says Melissa Richards-Person, who oversaw the ads as the company’s vice president of global brand strategy. “This isn’t a single person’s brand.”

The pizza chain began removing Schnatter’s image from its logos, pizza boxes and restaurants over the summer after it was revealed that he used a racial slur during a media training session. Schnatter, who apologized and resigned as chairman, said his comments were taken out of context.