Jack in the Box

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..."

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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. Hence, these Jack in the Box antenna balls can be seen on many cars, especially on the US West Coast. They are also considered collector's items.

Related Topics:
CEO - Jack - Ping pong - Commercials - West Coast

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Originally Jack was a clown-like character, but he was blown up and supposedly "killed" in a 1980 commercial to give the chain a more mature appeal and look. Around this time, the chain blew up all the old "Jack in the Box" signs in its commercials. Later, the company also returned the clown. He returned ("thanks to the miracle of plastic surgery," according to Jack) in his more serious, modern form in 1995. At the end of his first commercial back, he "blew up" the Board of Directors as retribution.

Related Topics:
1980 - Blew up - 1995

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During the height of the now-defunct XFL, one of the continuing ad series involved a professional American football team owned by Jack. The team, called the Carnivores, played against teams such as the Tofu Eaters.

Related Topics:
XFL - American football

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Another ad around 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. Later it turned out that Jack in the Box's advertising agency had copied the concept from a young film director who had sent them the idea in hopes of profiting from it. The director's lawsuit against the ad agency was thrown out; his sample ad had used Jack in the Box's character, logo, and ending images (the dropping of paper bags) without permission.

Related Topics:
Cast Away - Survivor

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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.

Related Topics:
Meaty Cheesy Boys - Boy band

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