The Jack Box Universe is an American media franchise and fictional universe centered on a long-running series of commercials in which the advertising mascot Jack Box is the founder and CEO of the Jack in the Box restaurant chain. The franchise also includes online videos, social media profiles, live appearances, and merchandise. The shared universe, much like other fictional universes in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
The first commercial in the Jack Box Universe was Jack's Back in late 1994, which reintroduced the chain's former clown mascot Jack as a businessman regaining his rightful place as head of Jack in the Box. Subsequent commercials in the campaign, which have won several advertising industry awards, tend to be lightly humorous and often involve Jack making business decisions about the chain's food products, or out in the field getting ideas for new menu items.
The Jack Box Universe is presented as relatively more grounded than earlier, child-targeted fast food universes such as McDonaldland, but nevertheless contains many surreal elements, such as the unremarked-upon nature of the Box family's ping-pong ball shaped heads, and the existence of Santa Claus, Satan, Bigfoot, and sentient antenna balls.
The name "Jack Box Universe" was coined by editors of the Jack in the Box Wiki, a fan wiki dedicated to chronicling commercial continuity, and is not officially recognized by Jack in the Box or its associated ad agencies.
Development[]
Rick Sittig, the creator of the Jack Box Universe.
Jack Box is a reimagining 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 their new change in direction with a series of commercials depicting drive-thru menus featuring Jack being destroyed in various ways, including being strapped with dynamite and blown up.
In 1994, advertising executive Rick Sittig proposed the concept of bringing back the Jack character and reimagining him as a businessman.[1] "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.[2] 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 (demonstrated by a brief clip of an explosion from a 1980 commercial) by blowing up a boardroom. Following the success of the initial campaign, Sittig would continue directing every commercial featuring him for the next two decades.
Over time, other members of Jack's family were introduced, including his son Jack Jr. and wife Cricket.
Soft reboot[]
See also: 2015 soft reboot
Timeline[]
As most advertising mascots are ageless and eternal, it can be reasonably assumed that the Jack Box Universe operates on a floating timeline where characters generally remain the same age. Furthermore, events depicted in the commercials do not line up with real-world dates: Jack Box would have to be around 80 years old if he were old enough to found Jack in the Box in 1951, the real-life year of its founding, which conflicts with the birthdate seen on his license plate and flashbacks of him as a young man in the 1970s.
However, in recent years the campaign has alluded to the passage of time. Jack has acknowledged that he doesn't appear to have aged since the 1990s,[3] while his son Jack Jr., first seen as a young child, is currently a freshman in college.[4]
Recurring characters[]
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least two productions.
- Jack Box
- Cricket Box, Jack's wife
- Jack Box, Jr., Jack's son
- Jack's father
- Patty Box, Jack's mother
- Ad executive
- Antenna balls
- Barbara, Jack's assistant
- Dr. Robert Conley
- HR Director
- Jim, Jack's incarcerated cousin
- Meat Riot, Jack's 1980s heavy metal band
- Meaty Cheesy Boys, a 1990s boy band
- Phil, Jack's second-in-command
- Puppet Jack
- Social Media Intern
- Spicy Crispy Chicks, a 1990s pop group
References[]
- ↑ Dick Sittig: Out of the Box. Directors Guild of America.
- ↑ Wiles, Greg. "Jack's flack cooks up bits of philosophy on TV ads." The Honolulu Advertiser. October 9, 1997.
- ↑ @jackinthebox. "y'all rlly thought i wouldn't notice... celebrate my birthday with 2 free tacos with a $1 purchase in my app/online 🎉." TikTok, 16 May 2023, <https://www.tiktok.com/@jackinthebox/video/7233924965043621163>.
- ↑ jackinthebox. "im sure the call just dropped…" TikTok. <https://www.tiktok.com/@jackinthebox/video/7275382588922088750>. September 5, 2023.