Jack Box
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| Jack Box | |
|---|---|
| Jack in the Box commercials character | |
 | |
| First appearance | 1994 |
| Created by | Dick Sittig |
| Portrayed by | Dean Baker (1994–1999)[disambiguation needed] Bob Thompson (1999–2004) John Glenn (2004–2014) David Tompkins (2014–present) Peter Sittig (puppet) |
| Voiced by | Dick Sittig (English) Horacio Mancilla (Spanish) |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Jack, Mr. Box, Mr. Jack Box, Mr. Jack I. Box, Mr. Jack |
| Family | Jim Box (cousin) Joey (cousin) Joey Jr. (nephew) |
| Spouse | Cricket Box (wife) |
| Children | Jack, Jr. (son) Jane (daughter) Jake (son) |
Jack I. Box is the mascot of Jack in the Box. He is the fictional founder, chairman, and spokesman of the restaurant.
According to the company's website, he has the appearance of a typical male, with the exception of his huge round white head, blue dot eyes, black pointy nose, and a linear red smile. He is most of the time seen wearing his yellow clown cap, and a business suit.
Since 1994, the company has used Jack in its advertising and has won a number of advertising awards for the long campaign.[1]
History
Prior to 1980, the chain used a huge clown head as its symbol, which sat atop the remote activated talking drive-thru menus (in the 1960s and early 1970s the rotating clown head was also at the top of the large signs at each location). In 1980, the chain decided to establish a more "mature" image by introducing a wider variety of menu items and, most notably, discontinuing the use of Jack. A series of television commercials announced, "We're blowing up clowns!" and showed the dramatic explosion of the notorious clown heads. These commercials led to many complaints by parents over the violence. Throughout the late 1980s to the 1990s, Jack in the Box tried to position itself as a premium fast food alternative, with varying results.
In 1993, a major food contamination crisis was linked to Jack in the Box restaurants and by 1994, a series of lawsuits and negative publicity took their tolls and pushed their corporate parent Foodmaker, Inc. to the verge of bankruptcy. In the short term, they decided to promote their initiatives on food safety and then approved a new guerilla advertising campaign created by Dick Sittig, then working at the TBWA\Chiat\Day ad agency in Santa Monica, California. The concept brought back the original company mascot, Jack, but now in the form of a savvy, no-nonsense businessman who happened to have an enormous round clown head.[1]
A series of more modern commercials featured a more-serious Jack with a smaller head and wearing a business suit (according to him, "thanks to the miracle of plastic surgery"). In the very first of these new commercials, he blew up the board of directors as retribution for his supposed destruction in 1980 (using the 7-note musical signature in its previous campaign as a tribute). This image of destruction angered many, as it occurred at nearly the same time as several domestic bombings hitting the news in those days (see Oklahoma City bombing). But the ad agency and the corporation stuck by the new campaign. Their intent was to prove to a wary public that the company was no longer the same restaurant chain plagued by the food safety scandal and because the commercials had a definite humorous element to them that undermined the alleged "retribution" that Jack was supposedly demonstrating in these commercials and overall, the public responded positively.
Car antenna ornaments shaped like Jack's head have been a mainstay of the restaurant chain's promotion for several years.[2]
Dick Sittig is the voice of Jack. In 1997, he left TBWA / Chiat / Day, taking the ad campaign with him to his own agency in Santa Monica (first called "Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Co." and later, as Secret Weapon Marketing).[3][4][5]
Company biography
The company's "bio" of him claims the following facts:
- According to his California driver's license, Jack is 6'-8" tall and weighs 195 pounds. It also shows his full name to be Jack I. Box and his birthday to be May 16 (but the year is unknown).
- Jack was born on a cattle ranch in Colorado. He later moved to Southern California, where he met his blonde wife Cricket, originally portrayed by model Laura Dunn (1996-2010) and currently by Gillian Vigman (2010-present). They now have a young son named Jack Jr. (who, like all males in the Box family tree, also has an over-sized bald head). However, in May 2010, Jack appeared in a commercial with a woman that did not resemble Cricket, who appeared with him in a commercial in 1997. The pair took in a film where Jack complained and cried about the price of popcorn in relation to his low-priced menu. Jack revealed to his son that he really met Cricket at a concert at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA where Jack's heavy metal band Hot Mess was the opening act.
- Jack is an alumnus of Ball State University, a reference to his ball-shaped head.
- Jack, fluent in English, Spanish, and Chinese, has starred in more than 300 television and radio commercials, including more than 100 Spanish-language commercials. Jack's linguistic talents also include Mandarin, which he spoke in the 1999 commercial "Titans."
- In 1996, Jack ran for president and beat out Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and Dogbert in a national independent Virtual Vote poll; no recounts were required. However, during his speech, he took too long and this made a man in a suit to try and get him to stop, only irritating Jack.
- During Super Bowl XXXV, Jack in the Box debuted a commercial, in which Jack announced his purchase of a professional American football team called the Carnivores. His team played against teams, such as the Tofu Eaters and the Vegans.
Other facts and family members
- Jack's smile can change to reflect his mood (puzzlement, fear, etc.). During one commercial where he was playing Texas hold 'em against several celebrities (including Gary Coleman), he made his eyes and mouth disappear completely. The announcer remarked, "Now that's a world-class poker face."
- In late 2009, Jack in the Box began to run a commercial in which Jack visited his cousin Jim, who was serving time in prison. Jim has a large white head that resembles a ping-pong ball squashed from both sides, with wispy grey hair and beard, along with a surly voice (similar to Nick Nolte) and facial expression. He doesn't wear a clown cap.
- In 2010, a commercial aired where Jack visits his mother Patty, a blonde-haired elderly human, talking about her clipping coupons. At the end of the commercial, Jack's father (who has a normal body and a white head which resembles an egg, with wispy grey hair on his temples) comes in, telling his wife to call the doctor and that it has "been more than 4 hours" (implying that he suffers from erectile dysfunction) and then greets Jack, upon noticing him. Shocked and disgusted, Jack tells his mother he has to leave.
- In late 2012, a commercial introduced Jack's cousin Joey and his son Joey, Jr., who live in Philadelphia. Both have large egg-shaped white heads, a slight upward curve to their noses, and brown hair in a mullet. Joey's wife has a normal head.
- Near the end of both 2013 and 2014, a series of commercials for the "Jack's Munchie Meal" combo featured a small puppet version of Jack interacting with a human late at night. Both spoke and acted as if they were under the influence of drugs.
2009 bus accident and recovery advertising campaign
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2014) |
On February 1, 2009, a new advertising campaign began with a Super Bowl commercial that showed Jack walking down the street outside his corporate office with his second-in-command Phil, stating he wants the public to know about the fact that the public can order anything on his menu anytime. Jack states, "For instance, breakfast all day or maybe a burg--". At that moment, a bus suddenly strikes Jack head on (making his hat fall off) as onlookers cringe. The commercial ends with Jack lying on the ground badly injured while the paramedics are being summoned. Viewers were then directed to visit the website hangintherejack.com to check on his condition.[6]
The next commercial showed Jack being checked into the hospital and being operated on as his heart stopped as Dr. Robert Conely was talking about the "midnight breakfast at Jack's" with Nurse O'Brien. It is also revealed that his head did not fit into the CAT scan machine and that the doctors were using unprofessional equipment. At the end of the commercial, Dr. Conely says to give Jack a hot glue gun and a bone saw).
The third commercial showed Jack in a coma. Despite Jack not being dead, Phil volunteers to take his place at the company's head as he feels Jack is close enough to death that he should prepare to step up. Dr. Conely even says Jack might not live. All the while, another assistant named Barbara is more positive about the situation, stating that Jack will recover.
The fourth and final commercial showed Phil snapping his fingers near Jack, asking, "Anybody home?" and then he asks Jack how he is doing. In Jack's mind, he only listens and sees everything blurred and replies, "I was hit by a bus. Other than that, no complaints." Phil tells him that even though he knows he cannot hear him, he wanted to tell him he is moving Jack in the Box forward; Jack mentally responds, "Okay..." Phil tells him that he is going to tell the public they can order anything on the menu anytime and Jack (believing Phil's plans to be good) mentally responds, "Yay, Phil." Phil also reveals that he intends to change the company name to Phil in the Box, going as far to hold up the future company logo and smiling. At that moment, an enraged Jack suddenly woke up and began throttling Phil, saying he will not let the name change occur. Jack orders for someone to find his pants since he has work to do. The words "Jack's Back" appear on the screen.
Shortly after the announcement, the company got rid of the old Jack in the Box logo and introduced a newer, more modern logo, along with a redesigned website. The reason for this is currently unknown. The overall campaign was noted for its unusually extensive (for the time) use of social media to gain viewer impressions at a lower cost than traditional media.[7][8]
Popular culture
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- The pilot episode of American Dad! shows Stan Smith falsely blaming a student body candidate at Steve's school for having a sexual relationship with Jack. When Steve states he thought that Jack was in their home's basement, it cuts to Roger finding Jack in the basement, tied up and stripped down to presumably nothing. This version of Jack has black eyebrows, a dark orange pointy nose, and no mouth (most likely to avoid copyright infringement).
- The April 24, 2009 edition of the Adam Carolla[9] Podcast featured Dick Sittig, in character as Jack, involving a humorous discussion on other restaurant mascots (Ronald McDonald and the Burger King), the fast food business and general listener Q&A. In the podcast, Jack insinuates that the Burger King is bisexual, citing his attire (tights, felt shoes, and a cape). Carolla jumps in with a tale of the King buying a drink for a male friend of his in Canada, though this claim cannot be verified.
References
- ^ a b "Jack in the Box, Inc.", The Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns, (Gale Group, 2006), ISBN 978-0787673567, vol. 2, pp. 811ff – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ^ Brandon A. Miller, Catherine Newton, "Antenna balls are on the rebound", Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, July 27, 2001 – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ^ Randi Schmelzer, "Dick Sittig On The Spot", Adweek, January 10, 2005.
- ^ Alana Semuels, "This advertising shop knows Jack", Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2008.
- ^ Gregory Solman, "Dick Sittig, in Situ", Adweek, September 1, 2008.
- ^ HangInThereJack website
- ^ Dan Neil, "Jack in the Box feeds the social media beast", Los Angeles Times, March 17, 2009.
- ^ Tim Nudd, "Jack in the Box mascot lives, still a big tool", Adweek, March 4, 2009.
- ^ 4/24/2009 Adam Carolla Podcast (explicit)