Jack in the Box - The Rise and Fall...And Rise Again

Episode Description: Jack in the Box is a major chain of fast food restaurants, mainly found in the western United States. This video details their more significant rises and falls over the years.

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Company Declines:
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[patricknguyen]

Also another advantage I feel Jack in the Box has had is the fact they still serve breakfast 24/7 where other fast foods haven’t or completely stopped

[TheHEROFamily]

That time Jack pulled up in front of the Burger King headquarters and said "do something about it" will forever live in my head.

[kriscynical]

I wish you would have talked about HOW they introduced the modern Jack mascot. They literally blew up the old mascot with TNT back in the day, and when the new Jack was introduced he blew up the corporate boardroom that had all of the people in it who had supposedly blown up the old mascot. It was VERY funny at the time for everyone who remembered the first ad campaign for the mascot change.

[probablycoop]

A lot of those funny commercials really stuck with me. I can still remember busting a gut at the one where Jack rips his sleeves off and is RIPPED beyond belief lol

[EinhanderPilotSantos]

Man how did I not notice Company Man hasn’t covered Jack in the Box yet? I love those antenna balls from back in the day!

[TexasDragon]

I took several college classes in marketing and Jack in the Box was one of the discussed topics. I can’t stress how much this chain was on the ropes after the E. coli incident. A lot of people genuinely thought they were done for. After studying and researching this company while time certainly was a factor, this is definitely one of the biggest cases on how effective advertising can save a company. Introducing CEO Jack as their head mascot was an absolute stroke of genius along with putting him in precarious yet relatable scenarios in those commercials from the 90s. There’s a montage of these on YouTube that’s definitely worth watching and they still hold up today. And the last thing I’ll mention is don’t ever underestimate in trying to grab that stoner crowd 😂

[twulff]

Jack in the Box will always have a special place in my heart, because as a kid, when my dad was on a business trip and my mom would take me to school, we would stop at Jack in the Box and I would get a Supreme Croissant for breakfast. And till this day I think of that when I eat one. And now that my mom has passed, it is even more memorable to me. Love you mom!

[twindrill]

I think one of the main reasons why the new (and current) Jack mascot stuck was because he’s the perfect mix of being edgy, classy, and snarky most other fast food mascots at the time didn’t have (and this was LONG before Wendy’s found out what Twitter was). So his unique personality stuck and made him remarkable.

[scottnotpilgrim]

Their advertising definitely played a role in all of this

[porsche]

Jack is pretty much the only fast food in my area that’s still open 24 hours. They always satisfy my late night munchies

[Toontastic_Juju]

Jack Box is one of my favorite mascots. Their commercials give me a good laugh as a kid and I still enjoy them now!

[Star_sweeper]

Jack in the Box is stoner food, knows it, and leans into it. It’s great.

[DCI]

What a coincidence! Just before this video was posted my son told me he wanted to go to Jack in the Box because he had never been there, so we went and talked all about it. He loved it and wants to go again. Then we get home and turn the TV on to YT and this video pops up. Gave us both a laugh.

[ClaymoreClay]

The food poisoning incident of Jack in the Box was such a big deal it not only affected Jack in the Box, but the fast food industry. Apparently, it caused the public to lose trust fast food and avoid not just Jack in the Box but other fast food chains to a less extent. The food safety program Jack in the Box implemented ended up setting the bar for food safety at fast food establishments and helped move the entire industry towards better food safety practices. I great source that cover's this is the book Fast Food Nation. I high recommend it.

[frankofudrucker]

The flavor of Jack's tacos is addictive. The sourdough Jack lends itself well to reheating to eat later at home. Take it out of fridge, 4 minutes in the toaster oven to crisp the bread and 30 seconds in the microwave. Beef patty, bacon, Swiss cheese, onion and tomato.

[legochickenguy]

I love Jack because they have such a random eclectic menu that you can get 24 hours a day and can’t really get anywhere else

[saininj]

I may be the minority, but Jack in the Box is my go to, reliable fast food place. The Munchies Meal was the best thing they ever made.

[wannabesteve]

Their ad campaign has been one of the greatest things they have ever done! So many memorable commercials over the years. Also their variety and willingness to experiment with various menu items that have NOTHING to do with burgers and fries is a strong point. Californian born and raised and can't picture myself ever hating Jack in the Box!

[emmettturner]

A couple things to note:
I went to visit family in San Diego back in 1994 when the E.Coli incident was still the first thing to come to mind with Jack in the Box. My family there pointed out that Jack in the Box no longer had burgers. Sure enough, all their commercials were about loaded fries or salads or chicken or whatever so it seems they focused on just about everything else immediately after the E.Coli scare. They stopped being a “burger place” for some time, though they were serving burgers again when I came back over a decade later.

In the mean time I went back to my state of Georgia where there were no Jack in the Box restaurants and over that decade I witnessed at least two more E.Coli outbreaks that affected fast food chains like Burger King… but they somehow never got blamed for it like Jack in the Box did. They always blamed the beef supplier and suffered no consequences themselves.

As I understood it, Jack in the Box was letting customers order their burgers rare and the outbreak put an end to that industry-wide except for fancy sit-down places. Seems weird to blame them for that one when every other outbreak gets blamed on beef suppliers and customers who order rare.

[artmanoo]

I am very surprised that you didn’t mention the $1 Jumbo jack and 2-for-$1 tacos in the mid to late 1990s (I’m not sure when the prices went up, in the 00s?) because when I was in college in the mid to late 90s, and there was one near campus, I had those Jumbo Jacks and Tacos SO MANY TIMES. That had to be a big reason for their late 90s comeback.