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Jack Box

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Jack I. Box[2] is the founder, CEO, and ad spokesman for Jack in the Box.

Early life[]

HomeMovie2

Jack as a young boy.

Jack was born on May 16[3] on a cattle ranch in Colorado[4] to Patty Box and her husband, an event she would later describe as "difficult."[5] He was named after his father's favorite type of cheese.[6]

As a young boy, Jack made his first Jumbo Jack on his dad's grill in the backyard.[7]

He has described his high school years as "pretty typical," although he noted he was voted Class Clown for some reason.[8] At one point, he was crushed on by a girl and had an arch-rival named Brock Anderson.[citation needed]

In his youth, Jack dreamed of becoming an astronaut and even passed all the tests.[9]

He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.[10]

Jack in the Box[]

TheReturnofMarkHamill02

Jack meeting Mark Hamill in 1970.

Jack later moved to California,[4] where he founded Jack in the Box. According to the Jack in the Box website, he took orders from atop drive-thru speaker boxes and helped develop several menu items including the Jumbo Jack, the Chicken Supreme, the Breakfast Jack, and the Super Taco.[3][11]

During this period, Jack in the Box employed Ed as a fry cook, who made his secret sauce for the Bonus Jack burger.[12]

In 1970, Jack hired Mark Hamill to work in a Jack in the Box location in Hollywood and personally instructed him in his duties, sensing "something special" in him.[13] However, Jack would soon fire Hamill for impersonating a clown in the drive thru speakers, a decision he would regret in later years.[14][15]

Exile from Jack in the Box[]

Fired

Jack getting "fired."

Jack was "fired" from Jack in the Box - a sarcastic euphemism for being strapped with dynamite and exploded - by the company's board of directors, which for inexplicable reasons was broadcast on television in 1980.[3] He nevertheless recuperated from his injuries and underwent the "miracle" of plastic surgery.[16] However, the experience would continue to haunt him in later years, making him edgy; a company executive noted "he's always afraid that there will be explosives around, so he is a lot more careful this time around."[17]

12meat riot memories jack01

Jack in 1989.

Following his exile from the company, Jack became a rock guitarist. By 1989, he was the bassist of the rock band Meat Riot, which produced a hit song titled "Hot Mess" that topped the charts for 11 days.[18][19] According to Jack's MySpace profile, his guitar playing "was messing with my burger-flipping hand," so he gave it up.[4] Following the dissolution of Meat Riot, Jack used the money he'd made from Hot Mess to attend business school.[19][20]

At some point prior to 1992, Barbara began working as an assistant to Jack.[21]

Return to Jack in the Box[]

BlowingUpBoardroom

Jack committing an act of domestic terrorism.

In early 1995, Jack regained his position as the "rightful head" of Jack in the Box.[22] His first act as CEO was to firebomb the company boardroom as revenge for his 1980 "firing."[16] It is unknown if any board directors were killed.

Once he was back, Jack spearheaded several new initiatives to improve the company's business practices, including spending millions to improve kitchens[23] and initiating a "we don't make it 'til you order it" policy.[24]

Jack is known for firing employees on the spot if they suggest he "jack up" the price of a Jumbo Jack,[citation needed] suck up to him, or eat a pancake version of his face in front of him.[25] However, he also kept around executives who continually disappointed him with their incompetence, including an unnamed ad executive who repeatedly failed to understand target demographics, and Phil, whom Jack made his second-in-command.

TheVisitor26

Jack administering a taste test.

Jack has zealously defended his company's products against criticism, once accosting a man named Brad Haley who had called the restaurant "Junk in the Box" and forcing him to try his food.[26] Nevertheless, Jack cares deeply about the well-being and safety of his customers and values their input. He once gave two intoxicated customers a ride home[citation needed] and offered to provide free chicken nuggets to victims of an alleged "nugging."[27] He personally checks suggestion boxes at his restaurants.[citation needed]

Jack's omnipresence in Jack in the Box advertising could be attributed to megalomania. Most if not all Jack in the Box locations feature a framed portrait of Jack labeled "Our Founder," which is unusual for a fast food restaurant. Some locations also have a parking space reserved for him.

By 2006, Jack had authored a self-help book entitled Unleash Your Inner Jack: A Guide to Business and Life from the man who's succeeded at Jack, which offered advice such as "you've got to offer your customers anything, anytime."[28]

Political aspirations[]

BackJack

A campaign button.

In 1996, Jack ran for president. Although he beat out Bill Clinton, Bob Dole and the Dilbert character Dogbert in a national independent Virtual Vote poll, he was unsuccessful.[3] He later ran for an unspecified office on a pro-milkshake platform, running an ad claiming his opponent was a milkshake-hating extremist.[29] Despite his losses, Jack has maintained influence in politics, having the ear of the president.[30]

Carnivores ownership[]

On January 28, 2001, Jack became the owner of a professional football team called the Carnivores, noting "all [his] CEO friends started buying sports franchises and it sounded like fun."[31] One the first changes he instituted was nixing the all-male cheerleading team.[32]

2009 bus accident and recovery[]

BusAccident

Jack moments after being hit by a bus.

In February 2009, Jack was hit by a bus and ended up in a coma. During his incapacitation, Jack's second-in-command Phil became acting CEO of the company. After Phil informed him of his plan to rename the company "Phil in the Box," Jack immediately awakened from his coma and began to strangle Phil in anger.[33] Following his recovery, Jack was appointed a part-time ambassador to the Bahamas.[34]

Legendary quest[]

Tired of boardroom meetings, Jack travelled the globe on a "legendary quest" for better ingredients throughout 2015.[35] During this quest, he reunited with his long-lost cousin Jacques.[36]

JackiLeaks hack[]

In February 2017, Jack's e-mail account was hacked by a group of hackers who publicly leaked their findings on a website called Jackileaks. One of their findings was Jack's attempt at poetry.[37]

Feud with Martha Stewart[]

Jack publicly feuded with lifestyle maven Martha Stewart in February 2018 over a dispute involving his Asian Fried Chicken Sandwich. Jack doxxed Stewart by posting her phone number online and encouraged his followers to call her. The two eventually reconciled via text message.[38]

Personal life[]

VoteJackSwing

Jack with his family.

Jack met his wife Cricket at a 1989 Meat Riot concert in Oakland, California.[18] They married at some point between October 1991 and early 1995.[39] The couple renewed their vows in 2009.[40] Together, they have a young son named Jack Jr. and an unnamed daughter.[41]

Jack has had a number of pets over the years, including a golden retriever,[29] a bald eagle named Brock, and a bison named Sara.[42]

Jack owns nine houses,[43] at least one of which features a full-service Jack in the Box restaurant in lieu of a kitchen.[44]

Jack plays in celebrity poker tournaments, becoming champion in 2005.[45]

A sports fan, Jack and his son were once spotted at a Los Angeles Lakers game.[46]

Appearance[]

Jack has the appearance of a typical adult human male, with the exception of his huge round white head, blue dot eyes, black pointy nose (inherited from Nana Box), and a linear red smile. He is usually seen wearing a yellow conical hat and a business suit. According to Jack's California driver's license, he is 6'8" (without the hat) and weighs 195 lbs.[3] Flashback footage of him has revealed that he used to have brown hair.[47] During a 2018 scuffle, Martha Stewart managed to remove his nose. No blood spurted out, and it was easily re-applied,[48] indicating that the nose may have magnetic properties.

In a 2018 Reddit AMA, Jack credited his youthful appearance to "Curly fries. Lots and lots of curly fries,"[49] and claimed his trademark yellow hat is actually part of his body [50].

Honors and awards[]

  • 1997 Silver Medalist in the World Train-Outrunning Championships [51]
  • 2005 celebrity poker champion [45]
  • 2008 Regional Men's Health Club Racquetball Cup Most Improved Champion of the Universe [52]
  • 2023 Sexiest Jack Alive [53]

Miscellaneous facts[]

  • Jack is fluent in Standard Mandarin, which he spoke in the 1999 television ad Titans.[3]
  • Jack's comeback story (charismatic founder ousted by board in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s and guides the company to a resurgence) is similar to that of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
  • Jack's penchant for appearing in his company's commercials is similar to the late Wendy's founder Dave Thomas.
  • Two depictions of Jack's head, "AngryJack" and "HappyJack," were default emotes on the livestreaming site Twitch.[54] They were removed in April 2019.[55]
  • Jack's favorite colors are red and purple.[56]
  • One of Jack's favorite video games is Rocket League.[57]
  • He likes wrestling, but he didn't know it was fake.
  • He doesn't seem to have a good relationship with his in-laws, or at least, he doesn't have esteem for them.
  • He likes blondes and maybe that is the reason why he moved to California.
  • He knows how to play baseball

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Jack Box is the modern incarnation of Jack in the Box's longtime clown mascot Jack. During the company's first few decades, drive thru menus were adorned with Jack's head to create the illusion customers were ordering directly from the character. Jack was discontinued in 1980 as Jack in the Box attempted to appeal to an older, more sophisticated demographic. The company advertised this new change in direction by exploding the character in the commercial Exploding Clown.

JacksBackStoryboardPanel

Part of a storyboard for Jack's Back.

In 1994, advertising executive Rick Sittig proposed bringing back the Jack character and reimagining him as a businessman.[58] "I thought it would be fun and instead of just making him a clown you order through, to bring him back as the company founder and to treat him as you would treat any other company founder on TV, whether it's Lee Iacocca or Bill Gates," he told the The Honolulu Advertiser in 1997.[59] He directed the first commercial, Jack's Back, which depicted Jack Box regaining his role as "head" of Jack in the Box and exacting revenge on the executives who had "fired" him by blowing up a boardroom. Following the success of the initial campaign, Sittig would continue directing every commercial featuring the character for the next two decades.

SittigYardSale

Jack with Sittig during the production of Yard Sale.

Sittig also voiced the character in English-language ads from 1994 to 2015. According to former chief marketing officer Terri Funk Graham, this was an accident: "When he did the initial pitch, it was in his voice and then when we finally went to casting, we had the actor and we’re putting everything together that we’re looking at all kinds of different voices and the problem was everyone liked Dick Sittig’s voice more than anything that was put in front. So we decided to go with his voice."[60] Sittig would occasionally refuse to confirm voicing Jack, stating "I've been told that I sound like Jack" without elaborating when asked.[61] The current voice actor is unknown.

Jack was primarily performed by actor and puppeteer Jack Tate, except when a stunt was involved.[62][63] In recent years, actor Tomek Kosalka has played the character in TikTok videos.[64]

Jack's head was constructed by the production company Anatomorphex out of fiberglass, aluminum and electronics. A miniature camera hidden in the tip of the nose provides video to special goggles worn by the actor.[65][66]

External links[]

References[]

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
  1. ↑ @JackBox. "Don't go too hard on @Whataburger. We’re all human. We make mistakes. Even when the ingredients of the burger are clearly right there in its name. #ServingGoodwill." Twitter, 23 Dec. 2017, <https://twitter.com/JackBox/status/944709094056763392>.
  2. ↑ Jack's driver license as shown in Pulled Over (image).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Jack Facts (archived version). Jack in the Box.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 MySpace profile (archived version). 2009.
  5. ↑ Breakfast at the Boxes. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Co., 2000.
  6. ↑ @JackBox. "My dad named me after his favorite cheese. I'm just glad it wasn't Munster...nobody wants to eat at a place called Munster in the Box." Twitter, 3 Nov. 2013, <https://twitter.com/JackBox/status/397156937055215617>.
  7. ↑ First Jumbo Jack. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Chiat-Day, 1995.
  8. ↑ High School Years. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Chiat-Day, 1997.
  9. ↑ "Jack in the Box commercials - back when Jack was funny and fresh." YouTube, uploaded by skctsmith, 7 Dec. 2012, <https://youtu.be/K8CTBk-lx9k?t=157>.
  10. ↑ Indicated by his sweatshirt in We Are Different (image).
  11. ↑ "Jack's Back!" Jack in the Box. 1997. Archived version.
  12. ↑ Ed. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Chiat-Day, circa 1995.
  13. ↑ The Return of Mark Hamill. Created by Eric Stiles & Chad Goodnoe, illustrated by Luke Duo Art & Jamie Coe. August 2022.
  14. ↑ @JackBox. "My biggest L was when I fired @MarkHamill for impersonating me in the drive thru speakers back in the day. My bad bro. #MayThe4thBeWithYou." Twitter, 4 May 2022, <https://twitter.com/JackBox/status/1521895986552971269>.
  15. ↑ Haring, Bruce. "Mark Hamill Confesses He Was Fired By Hollywood Jack In The Box In Pre ‘Star Wars’ Days." Deadline. June 12, 2019.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Jack's Back. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Chiat-Day, 1994.
  17. ↑ George, Lynell. My Life with the Clown. Los Angeles Times. March 28, 1996.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Hot Mess. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Secret Weapon Marketing, 2013.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "What Ever Happened To?" - Meat Riot. Funny or Die. Secret Weapon Marketing, 2013.
  20. ↑ Box, Jack. "Me in business school in the 90’s. You can’t see it, but there’s a Palm Pilot in my briefcase. #throwbackthursday." Facebook. April 18, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Assistant...Wife?" YouTube, uploaded by hangintherejack, 1 Mar. 2009, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evp-8i1K7U>.
  22. ↑ Facebook timeline (1995)
  23. ↑ Commercial compilation (0:20)
  24. ↑ Commercial compilation (3:10)
  25. ↑ Ate His Face. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Secret Weapon Marketing, 2010.
  26. ↑ The Visitor. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Chiat-Day, 1997.
  27. ↑ Nugging. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Secret Weapon Marketing, 2012.
  28. ↑ Pet Store. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Secret Weapon Marketing, 2006.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Election Ad. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Company, 1998.
  30. ↑ Jack in the Box Jumbo Deal Commercial 2008. Advertisement Mania
  31. ↑ Meet the Owner. Carnivores Football (archived version).
  32. ↑ Carnivores. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sitting, Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Company, 2001.
  33. ↑ HangInThereJack website
  34. ↑ Facebook timeline (2009)
  35. ↑ New Journey. Jack in the Box commercial. David&Goliath, 2015.
  36. ↑ Jacques. Jack in the Box commercial. David&Goliath, 2015.
  37. ↑ JackiLeaks. February 7, 2017.
  38. ↑ Jack in the Box. "13 Savage Moments From The Martha Stewart Vs. Jack In The Box Feud That Will Make You Pick A Side." Buzzfeed. February 22, 2018.
  39. ↑ Jack does not have a wedding ring in a photo dated October 4, 1991, but he does in Jack's Back.
  40. ↑ Vows (2009)
  41. ↑ I always say to my daughter, "It's not how many times you fall it's how many times you take advantage of reasonable delivery prices once you're on the ground." - Jack Box on Twitter. November 27, 2018.
  42. ↑ I Love America. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, Secret Weapon Marketing, 2011.
  43. ↑ Facebook post (2009)
  44. ↑ Tracie. Jack in the Box commercial. Directed by Rick Sittig, unknown year.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Facebook timeline (2005)
  46. ↑ Stunt Of The Week: Jack In The Box At The Lakers Game. CNBC. February 2011.
  47. ↑ Facebook photo (April 18, 2013)
  48. ↑ JACKvsMARTHA (2018).
  49. ↑ Reddit AMA (2018)
  50. ↑ Reddit AMA (2018)
  51. ↑ Facebook timeline (1997)
  52. ↑ Facebook timeline (2008)
  53. ↑ "Fast Food Legend Jack Box Makes Appearance as ‘Sexiest Jack Alive’ in PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive Issue." Jack in the Box press release. November 8, 2023.
  54. ↑ Twitch Emotes (archived version)
  55. ↑ Twitch Emote Tracker. April 29, 2019.
  56. ↑ JackBoxOfficial. Twitch stream chat (screenshot). Twitch. November 15, 2021.
  57. ↑ JackBoxOfficial. Twitch stream chat (screenshot). Twitch. November 15, 2021.
  58. ↑ Dick Sittig: Out of the Box. Directors Guild of America.
  59. ↑ Wiles, Greg. "Jack's flack cooks up bits of philosophy on TV ads." The Honolulu Advertiser. October 9, 1997.
  60. ↑ Neisser, Drew. "CMO Insights: Risk-taking for the Marketer." The Drew Blog. March 8, 2013.
  61. ↑ Semuels, Alana. This advertising shop knows Jack. Los Angeles Times. February 7, 2008.
  62. ↑ Morris, Joan. Joan's World: Who's inside the Jack in the Box head? East Bay Times. February 27, 2009.
  63. ↑ Schmelzer, Randi. Dick Sittig On The Spot. Adweek. January 10, 2005.
  64. ↑ tomekkosalka. Instagram post. August 28, 2023.
  65. ↑ tomekkosalka. Instagram comment. October 23, 2023.
  66. ↑ Anatomorphex. Jack in the box.
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