Jack in the Box

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This article is about the restaurant. For the toy, see Jack-in-the-box. For other uses, see Jack-in-the-box (disambiguation).

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Jack in the Box, Inc.
Public (NASDAQ: JACK)
Industry Restaurants
Genre Fast food
Founded February 21, 1951
Headquarters San Diego, California, U.S.
Area served
 21 states in the U.S.
Key people
 Leonard A. Comma, Chairman & CEO
Robert Oscar Peterson, founder
Products Hamburgers  • chicken  • sandwiches  • salads  • breakfast  • desserts
Revenue Increase$2.25 billion USD (2013)
Total assets
  • Decrease US$ 1.319209 billion (2013) [1]
  • Increase US$ 1.463725 billion (2012) [2]
Number of employees
 >22,000 (2013)[3]
Slogan We don't make it til you order it. (1994-2009)
eat it. any time. (2009-present)
Website jackinthebox.com

Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant founded in February 21, 1951 by Robert O. Peterson in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. In total, the chain has 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast of the United States. Food items include a variety of hamburger and cheeseburger sandwiches along with selections of internationally themed foods such as tacos and eggrolls. The company also operates the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain.[4][5]

History

Robert Oscar Peterson already owned several successful restaurants when he opened Topsy's Drive-In at 6270 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego in 1941. Several more Topsy's were opened and eventually renamed Oscar's (after Peterson's middle name). By the late 1940s the Oscar's locations had developed a circus-like décor featuring drawings of a starry-eyed clown. In 1947, Peterson obtained rights for the intercom concept from George Manos who owned one location in Anchorage Alaska which was named Chatter box. The first known location to use the intercom concept for drive up windows which Peterson later moved to the San Diego area. In 1951, Peterson converted the El Cajon Boulevard location into Jack in the Box, a hamburger stand focused on drive-through service.[6] While the drive-through concept was not new, Jack in the Box offered the innovation of a two-way intercom system, the first major chain to use an intercom and the first to make drive-through service the focus of the operation.[7] The intercom allowed much faster service than a traditional drive-up window; while one customer was being served at the window, a second and even a third customer's order could be taken and prepared. A giant clown projected from the roof, and a smaller clown head sat atop the intercom, where a sign said "Pull forward, Jack will speak to you." The Jack in the Box restaurant was conceived as a "modern food machine" and was designed by La Jolla master architect Russell Forester.[8] Quick service made the new location very popular, and soon all of Oscar's locations were redesigned with intercoms and rechristened as Jack in the Box restaurants.

Peterson's holding company was called Foodmaker Company, which by 1966 was known as Foodmaker, Inc. All Jack in the Box locations at this time were company-owned; location sites, food preparation, quality control and the hiring and training of on-site managers and staff in each location was subject to rigorous screening processes and strict performance standards. By 1966 there were over 180 locations, mainly in California and the Southwest.

In 1968, Peterson sold Foodmaker to Ralston Purina Company. In the 1970s Foodmaker led the Jack in the Box chain toward its most prolific growth (television commercials in the early 1970s featured child actor Rodney Allen Rippy), and locations began to be franchised. As the decade progressed, the chain began to increasingly resemble its larger competitors, particularly the industry giant, McDonald's. Jack in the Box began to struggle during the latter part of the decade, and its expansion into East Coast markets was at first cut back from original estimates, then halted altogether. By the end of the decade, Jack in the Box restaurants were being put up for sale in increasing numbers, forcing Foodmaker to respond quickly to turn the chain around.

As a result, around 1980, Foodmaker dramatically altered Jack in the Box's marketing strategy by literally blowing up the chain's symbol, the jack in the box, which dated back to the early San Diego days, in television commercials with the tagline, "The food is better at the Box".[9] Jack in the Box announced that it would no longer compete for McDonald's target customer base of families with young children. Instead, Foodmaker would attempt to attract older, more affluent "yuppie" customers with a higher-quality, more upscale menu and a series of whimsical television commercials featuring Dan Gilvezan. Jack in the Box restaurants were remodeled and redecorated with decorator pastel colors and hanging plants; while the more popular logo, which previously contained a clown's head in a red box with the company text in red either next to or below the box (signs in front of the restaurant displayed the clown's head only), was modified to have the words stacked on top of each other in a red diagonal box while still retaining the clown's head; by about 1981 or 1982, the clown's head was removed from the logo, which would remain until 2009.

Television advertising from about 1985 onward featured minimalistic music performed by a small chamber-like ensemble (specifically a distinctive seven-note plucked musical signature). The menu, which was previously focused on hamburgers led by the flagship Jumbo Jack, became much more diverse, including such items as salads, chicken sandwiches, finger foods, and Seasoned Curly Fries (at least two new menu items were introduced per year), at a time when few fast-food operations offered more than standard hamburgers. Annual sales increased through the 1980s. Ralston Purina 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.

Ralston Purina was satisfied with Foodmaker, but decided in 1985 that it was a non-core asset and elected to sell it to management after 18 years. By 1987 sales reached $655 million, the chain boasted 897 restaurants, and Foodmaker became a publicly traded company.

JBX Grill

JBX Grill was a line of fast casual restaurants introduced in 2004 by Jack in the Box Inc. JBX Grill featured high-quality, cafe-style food, avoiding most of the cheaper fast-food items typically served at Jack in the Box. The architecture and decor maintained an upbeat, positive atmosphere, and the customer service was comparable to that of most dine-in restaurants. Two of the Jack in the Box restaurants in San Diego, California (where Jack in the Box is headquartered) were converted to JBX Grill restaurants that were used to test the new concept. (The locations in Hillcrest and Pacific Beach still retain many of the JBX elements, including an indoor/outdoor fireplace and modern architecture.) There were also restaurants in Bakersfield, California, Boise, Idaho, and Nampa, Idaho. The concept was a failure and the last stores were converted back in 2006.

Products

Jack in the Box also offers an Americanized version of ethnic cuisine - such as egg rolls and tacos, along with breakfast burritos and poppers- cream cheese-stuffed, deep-fried jalapeño peppers. New items come in on a rotation every three to four months, including the Philly cheesesteak and the deli style pannidos (deli trio, ham & turkey, zesty turkey) which were replaced by Jack's ciabatta burger and included the original ciabatta burger and the bacon n' cheese ciabatta. Jack in the Box also carries seasonal items such as pumpkin pie shakes, Oreo mint shakes, and eggnog shakes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. In some locations, local delicacies are a regular part of the menu. Locations in Hawaii, for example, 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 Imperial County, California, some locations sell date shakes, reflecting the crop's ubiquity in the region's farms. 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 into 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.

The Bonus Jack was first released in 1970, and has been reintroduced to Jack in the Box menus at various times throughout the years. In November 2009, the company discontinued their popular ciabatta sandwiches/burgers. In 2012, Jack in the Box introduced a bacon milkshake as part of its "Marry Bacon" campaign.[10]

Advertising

The restaurant rebounded in popularity in 1994, after a highly successful marketing campaign that featured the fictitious Jack in the Box chairman Jack character (voiced by the campaign's creator Dick Sittig), who has a ping pong ball-like head, a yellow clown cap, two blue eyes, a pointy black nose, and a linear red smile that changes with his emotions, and is dressed in a business suit.

Jack was reintroduced specifically to signal the new direction the company was taking to refocus and regroup after the E. coli disaster. In the original spot that debuted in Fall 1994, Jack ("through the miracle of plastic surgery", he says as he confidently strides into the office building) reclaims his rightful role as founder and CEO, and, apparently as revenge for being blown up in 1980, approaches the closed doors of the Jack in the Box boardroom (a fictionalized version, shown while the aforementioned minimalist theme music from the 1980s Jack in the Box commercials plays), activates a detonation device, and the boardroom explodes in a shower of smoke, wood, and paper. The spot ends with a close-up shot of a small white paper bag, presumably filled with Jack in the Box food, dropping forcefully onto a table; the bag is printed with the words "Jack's Back" in bold red print, then another bag drops down with the Jack in the Box logo from that period. Later ads feature the first bag showing the text of the food item or offer the commercial is promoting.

A commercial was released where Jack goes to the house of a man who has records of calling Jack in the Box "Junk in the Box". When the man shoves Jack yelling "Beat it clown!", Jack chases him outside, tackles him to the ground, and forces him to try Jack's food and confess his deed. The commercial ends with Jack saying "I'm sorry for the grass stains." "Really?" "No".

The commercials in the now-21-year-old "Jack's Back" campaign (which has won several advertising industry awards) tend to be lightly humorous and often involve Jack making business decisions about the restaurant chain's food products, or out in the field getting ideas for new menu items. While a series of ads claiming to ask when Burger King and McDonald's will change their ways about making their hamburgers featured a phone number, it is unknown whether the caller would actually be connected to Jack himself. In addition, many commercials have advertised free car antenna balls with every meal, thus increasing brand awareness. Often different types of antenna balls were available during a holiday or major event, or themed toward a sports team local to the restaurant. The antenna balls have since been discontinued due to the demise of the mast-type car antenna.

Popular Jack antenna ball (Christmas version)
File:Jackintheboxheadquarters.jpg
Jack in the Box headquarters in San Diego, California (February 2008)

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.

In 1997, a successful advertising campaign was launched using a fictional musical group called the Spicy Crispy Girls (a take off of the Spice Girls, a British pop music girl group - at the time one of the most popular groups in the world), in comedic national television commercials. The commercials were used to promote the new Jack in the Box Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich (now known as Jack's Spicy Chicken), with the girls dancing in "the Jack groove." The Spicy Crispy Girls concept was used as a model for another successful advertising campaign called the 'Meaty Cheesy Boys' to promote the Ultimate Cheeseburger (see below).[11] At the 1998 Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show, one of the Spicy Crispy Girls commercials won the top award for humor.[12]

The Meaty Cheesy Boys, a mock boy band to promote the Ultimate Cheeseburger, 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 2000, an ad involved a man washed up on a remote island with only a Jack in the Box antenna ball as company. Later that year, director Robert Zemeckis, claiming the agency had appropriated elements of his Oscar-nominated film Cast Away for the ad, had his lawsuit against the ad agency thrown out.

In April 2006, Jack in the Box launched an ad campaign called Bread is Back,[13] taking a stab at the low carbohydrate diets of recent years.

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". 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. This commercial was redone in 2009 to feature the new logo and the new Campaign.

Another 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.[14]

During Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009, a commercial depicted Jack in a Full Body Cast after getting hit by a bus. In October 2009, Jack in the Box debuted a popular commercial to market their "Teriyaki Bowl" meals. The commercial features employees getting "bowl cut" hair cuts. At the end of the commercial, Jack reveals that his "bowl cut" is a wig, to the dismay of the employees.

File:JackInTheBoxLogo.svg
The official Jack in the Box logo used from March 2, 1980 until March 15, 2009.

The One variation has a miniature clown hat (dating back to 1978) with three dots in the upper left hand corner; the clown head was removed in the mid-1980s. In the 1970s, the clown head was in a red box all by itself, with the company name either below or next to the box; signs in front of the restaurants had the clown head only. The 'clown head' can be seen on several YouTube videos depicting Jack in the Box commercials from the 1970s and 1980s. Most Jack in the Box locations opened before late 2008 had this logo, although the company is slowly replacing them with the newer logo, along with general updating of the locations' decor. Some locations continue to use this logo as their "Open/Closed" sign.

Controversies

In 1981, horse meat labeled as beef was discovered at a Foodmaker plant that supplied hamburger and taco meat to Jack in the Box. The meat was originally from Profreeze of Australia, and during their checks on location, the food inspectors discovered other shipments destined for the United States which included kangaroo meat.[15][16]

E. coli outbreak

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Main article: 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak

In 1993, Jack in the Box suffered a major corporate crisis involving E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. Four children died of hemolytic uremic syndrome and 600 others were reported sick after eating undercooked patties contaminated with fecal material containing the bacteria at a location in Tacoma, Washington and other parts of the Pacific Northwest. The chain was faced with several lawsuits, each of which was quickly settled (but left the chain nearly bankrupt and losing customers). At the time, Washington state law required that hamburgers be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 155 °F (68 °C), the temperature necessary to kill E. coli bacteria, although the FDA requirement at that time was only 140 °F (60 °C), which was the temperature Jack in the Box cooked. After the incident, Jack in the Box mandated that in all nationwide locations, their hamburgers be cooked to at least 155 °F (68 °C).[17][18][19] 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. Jack in the Box also worked with food safety experts from manufacturing companies and created a comprehensive program to test for bacteria in every food product.

Locations

File:JackInTheBox, Arvada, CO.jpg
Second Colorado location in Arvada, showing off the 1980s logo.
File:Jackinthebox2009.png
New Jack in the Box in Scottsdale, Arizona, showing the new logo.

In 2005, Jack in the Box announced plans for nationwide expansion by 2010. As part of the initiative, it is entering new markets as well as returning to markets where it had a presence in past years.

In support of this objective, the chain began airing ads in states several hundred miles from the nearest location. This is similar to a strategy used for years by Sonic Drive-In in its national expansion efforts.

File:Jack in the Box in Laredo, Texas IMG 6011.JPG
This Jack in the Box off U.S. Highway 83 is one of five company outlets in Laredo, Texas. Notice the 1980s logo.

Currently the strategy is targeted at Colorado, Delaware, Florida and Texas. In 2007, the first new Colorado store opened in Golden, marking an end to Jack in the Box's 11-year-long absence from the state.[20]

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, several locations opened in June 2009.[21] Jack in the Box restaurants last made an appearance in the Albuquerque market approximately two decades ago.[22]

In March 2011, Jack in the Box launched the Munchie Mobile in San Diego, a food truck that will serve Jack's burgers and fries.[23] In June 2012, Jack in the Box launched their second food truck in the southeast region of the United States.

In January 2012, Jack in the Box opened its first of several locations in the Indianapolis area. The first Ohio location opened on September 17 in West Chester.

United States

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3

In September 2010, it was announced that 40 under-performing company-owned Jack in the Box restaurants located mostly in Texas and the Southeast would close.[24]

Restatement

On December 16, 2004, the company restated three years of results due to an accounting change that prompted the company to cut first-quarter and 2005 earnings expectations.[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Langdon, Philip, Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The architecture of American chain restaurants, page 104, Knopf, 1986, ISBN 978-0-394-54401-4
  8. ↑ California Department of Parks and Recreation
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑
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  12. ↑
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ The New York Times, August 26, 1981, "Australian Meat Will Be Inspected" Section A; Page 18, Column 4.
  16. ↑ The Washington Post, August 14, 1981, "The Federal Report," First Section; A27.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 080223 marlerblog.com
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 080223 about-ecoli.com
  20. ↑ A second location opened in Parker.Jack in the Boxes to pop up : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News
  21. ↑ [1] Archived July 28, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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