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Jack in the Box (NYSE: JBX) is an American fast-food restaurant founded in 1951 in San Diego, California, where it is still headquartered today. In total, the chain has 2,100 locations; primarily serving the west coast of the U.S. Most of the outlets are in California (900), followed by Texas (560), Arizona (165), and Washington (132)[2]. The company also operates the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain. [3][4]
Food items include the Jumbo Jack, Potato Wedges, and Ultimate Cheeseburger. The Ultimate Cheeseburger won the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 Golden Icon Awards for "Best Burger"; the Golden Icon Awards are presented annually by Travolta Family Entertainment.
Jack in the Box also offers an American version of ethnic cuisine - such as "egg rolls" and "tacos", along with "breakfast burritos". New items come in on a rotation every three to four months, including the Philly Cheesesteak and the deli style pannidos. In locations in Hawaii, local delicacies are a regular part of the menu. They include the Paniolo Breakfast (Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice platter) and teriyaki chicken and rice bowl. In the Southern United States, the company offers biscuits and sweet tea. In the spring of 2007 Jack in the Box also introduced its sirloin burger and followed this up with recently the sirloin steak melt. Its more recent foray in to the deli market was the less-popular Ultimate Club Sandwich which was initially removed in Arizona due to poor sales and has since been phased out at all locations.
Many Jack in the Box locations are freestanding, while others may be attached to some gas station service centers or at malls and shopping centers. Most Jack in the Box locations serve the entire menu, including breakfast, during all operational hours, and many Jack in the Box locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In early 2004, Jack in the Box Inc. introduced its new "fast casual" restaurant, JBX Grill. By 2006, however, Jack in the Box canceled the JBX Grill idea, reverting all JBX Grills back into original Jack in the Box stores. This was due to poor sales, and it allowed them to focus on core expansion.
In May 2006, the CEO Jack character launched his own MySpace profile, complete with a fictional biography.
Advertising campaigns
In the 1970s, Jack in the Box commercials involved a small 3 1/2-year-old joyous boy named Rodney Allen Rippy. He usually sang, "Make life a little easier..."
The restaurant gained in popularity after a highly successful marketing campaign that featured the fictitious Jack in the Box CEO "Jack" character, who has a ping pong ball-like head and is dressed in a business suit. Its commercials tend to be lightly humorous and often involves Jack making business decisions about the restaurant chain's food products. In addition, many of its commercials have advertised free car antenna balls with every meal, thus increasing brand awareness. Often different types of antenna balls will be available if a holiday or major event is approaching. The antenna balls are so popular that they can be found on many cars in areas not served by Jack in the Box restaurants. It is known that transplants often frequent the restaurants when they are able to find them. They are also considered collector's items.[citation needed]
Popular Jack antenna ball
Originally, Jack was a clown-like character, but he was blown up in a 1980 commercial to give the chain a more mature appeal and look. Then-owner Ralston Purina (1968-1985) tried further to mature the restaurant's image, renaming it "Monterey Jack's" in 1985, a disastrous move that lasted a short time. The Jack in the Box name was restored in 1986. He returned ("thanks to the miracle of plastic surgery," according to Jack) in his more serious, modern form in 1994. At the end of his first commercial back, he "blew up" the Board of Directors as retribution. Jack in the new ad campaign was created and voiced by Dick Sittig. [5] In 1999, Foodmaker Inc., the corporate name of Jack in the Box, was renamed to fit its core brand.
During the height of the now-defunct XFL, one of the continuing ad series involved a fictitious professional American football team owned by Jack. The team, called the Carnivores, played against teams such as the Tofu Eaters and the Vegans.
Another ad circa 2000 involved a man washed up on a remote island with only a Jack in the Box antenna ball as company. The ad effectively mocked both the movie Cast Away and the TV show Survivor. An aspiring director claiming the agency had appropriated his idea for the ad had his lawsuit against the ad agency thrown out; in fact, his sample ad had appropriated the campaign's already existing character, logo, and ending images (the dropping of paper bags) without permission.
The Meaty Cheesy Boys, a mock boy band, were created during an ad campaign featuring an out-of-control advertising executive previously fired by Jack. The same ad exec featured in a spot where a medical doctor made exaggerated claims of the benefits of fast food that it would cure baldness, help trim extra pounds, and remove wrinkles. Jack asks the ad exec incredulously, "Where did you find this guy?" The ad exec responds proudly, "Tobacco company."
In April 2006, Jack in the Box launched an ad campaign called Bread is Back,[6] taking a stab at the low carbohydrate diets of recent years. Also, the commercials aired in states far away from a Jack in the Box location.
In 2006, Jack in the Box took use of this perception creating a commercial featuring a typical stoner who is indecisive about ordering. When faced with a decision, the Jack in the Box figurine in his car tells him to "stick to the classics" and order 30 tacos implying that he has the "munchies".[7] This ad later stirred up controversy among a San Diego teen group who claimed that the ad was irresponsible showing a teenager who was under the influence of drugs. To protest, they presented the company with 2000 postcards protesting the ad, despite the fact that it had not aired since the beginning of the previous month. To this day, employees wear shirts with "Open late, and we won't ask Why you're hungry" on the back.
A subsequent ad touting the chain's milk shakes aired circa 2003 and was shot in the stilted style of a 1970s-era anti-drug spot, urging kids to "say no to fake shakes" and featured "Larry The Crime Donkey," a parody of McGruff the Crime Dog.
In 2007, Jack in the Box began a commercial campaign for their new 100% sirloin beef hamburgers, implying that they were of higher quality than the Angus beef used by Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Wendy's, and Burger King. That May, CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, filed a lawsuit against Jack in the Box, Inc. CKE claimed, among other things, that the commercials tried to give the impression that Carl's Jr./Hardee's Angus beef hamburgers contained cow anuses by having an actor swirl his finger in the air in a circle while saying "Angus" in one commercial and having other people in the second commercial laugh when the word "Angus" was mentioned. They also attacked Jack in the Box's claim that sirloin, a cut found on all cattle, was of higher quality than Angus beef, which is a breed of cattle.[8]
Food safety
In 1993, Jack in the Box suffered a major crisis involving E. coli bacteria. Four children died and others became sick after eating undercooked patties contaminated with the bacteria at locations in the Seattle area and other parts of the Pacific Northwest. The chain was faced with several lawsuits, each of which was quickly settled. To prevent future outbreaks, a food-safety initiative was put into place, including a new mandate that Jack in the Box hamburgers be cooked to at least 155°F, the temperature necessary to kill E. coli bacteria, instead of 140°F, as was previously the FDA minimum requirement.[9][10][11] Additionally, all meat products produced in the United States are required to comply with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) regulations. Every company that produces meat products is required to have a HACCP plan that is followed continuously.
New markets
2nd Colorado location in Arvada
In 2005-2006, Jack in the Box Inc. announced plans for nationwide expansion by 2010. In support of this objective, the chain has begun airing ads in states several hundred miles from the nearest location. This is similar to a strategy that has been used for years by Sonic Drive-In in its national expansion efforts.
Currently the strategy is targeted at Colorado and Texas. On November 12, 2007, the first Colorado store opened in Golden, marking an end to Jack in the Box's 11-year-long hiatus from Colorado.[12] Previous Denver Metro restaurant locations were the intersections of Leetsdale and Quebec, Colorado Blvd. and 6th Street, and Broadway Blvd. and Evans Blvd.
New Texas stores in Midland, Odessa, Abilene and San Angelo, as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico, have already been confirmed to open in 2008.[13]
References
External links
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