Lately I’ve been seeing a TV commercial from Jack in the Box that I’m amazed hasn’t been pulled off the air yet (yes, I’m easily amazed). For those of you in states that do not have a JITB, it’s a fast food restaurant based in primarily Western states that runs funny, irreverent commercials featuring “Jack”, the company CEO, who happens to have a giant clown head.
The commercial opens late at night with a long-haired college-age guy pulling up in his van in the drive-thru lane at a Jack in the Box. He sits there in a daze trying to decide what to order when the “Jack” bobble-head on his dashboard turns into a miniature version of Jack the live-action spokesman. Jack launches into a pitch for the two-for-a-dollar tacos, and the guy asks Jack how many he should order. Jack looks at him knowingly (at least as knowingly as a guy in a giant clown head can look) and says “How about thirty?” The guy, who is clearly stoned, tries to hold in his giggles and says “That’s just what I was thinkin’!”
Now, I’m sure that Jack in the Box is one of the late-night venues of choice for potheads with the munchies, but this is the first mainstream commercial I’ve seen that so glaringly markets specifically to this target audience. With its low prices, abundant food and late night drive thrus, I guess it’s a natural. Perhaps the company figured that it was so “under the radar” that nobody except for stoners themselves would recognize that the main character is not merely a stupid hungry person, but is one of them.
What really got to me is not just that the main character is portrayed as under the influence of drugs, but that he’s driving in that condition, as if it’s normal and acceptable. Ironically, as I was surfing around trying to find a link to the commercial (which is apparently not online), I came across a posting on a site called “Hack in the Box” that cites an article from New Scientist:
Cannabis almost doubles the risk of fatal car crashes, according to a new study, though smoking the drug is still far less risky than drunk-driving, the researchers say. Stoned drivers were almost twice as likely to be involved in a fatal car crashes than abstemious drivers, according to a study of 10,748 fatal car crashes in France between 2001 and 2003. More than half of the drivers in the study themselves died as a result of their accidents and all the subjects were tested for drug and alcohol use after crashing.
But hey, gotta sell some tacos.
UPDATE (2/23/06): You can hear me being interviewed on San Francisco’s KGO radio (810 AM) about this issue in this mp3 file.
UPDATE (4/21/06): Thanks to Tad for sending me the link to the streaming version of this ad.
UPDATE (2/20/07): See post with update on protest against commercials.
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
I agree with your entire description of the commercial and JITB’s encouragement to drive high. But in so advertising isn’t Jack in fact ENCOURAGING people to get high and then roll by for some late night grub? By portraying the scenario in such a favorable light I think it’s inevitable to logically deduce that 1) I should be getting high and 2)when I am high I should be going by JITB for my late night munchies.
…or I might be high right now and THAT’S why it all seems to make so much sense. Either way I like what Jack is telling me.
I totally disagree. My son has a friend who acts just like the kid in the commercial. I have known him since he was 10 and now he is 20 and he has not changed a bit. He is a fun loving somewhat carefree kid who isn’t really the brightest bulb in the lamp.
Alan
Alan,
Perhaps your son’s friend is just naturally high on life, but I think that most people who see that ad make the assumption that the character is stoned on something a little stronger than that. And even if, to give JITB the benefit of the doubt, they did not intend for him to appear to be under the influence, the fact that most viewers come to that conclusion is reason enough to pull it.
Nothing happes on TV on accident. This guy is supposed to look stoned; he’s supposed to act stoned; he’s supposed to be stoned. I first heard about this commercial from my brother who described it as the JITB comercial with the stoned dude.
The fact is, JITB is marketting to stoners, but that’s okay, so are most video games. JITB is just more open about it.
wake up old people! Don’t you remember when you were teenagers as well as adults in your early 20’s?? This commercial isn’t “out to get” anybody and promote people driving around stoned! They just KNOW that’s how we are. We get high and/or drunk and on our way home from the bars or a party we’re fricken hungry! We’re young and having fun, which by the way, is always safe fun. Personally, I always take a cab or get a ride from a sober friend so I am in no way harming myself or anyone else!
Anonymous –
We old thirtysomething people don’t want you youngsters to have any fun. I’m glad that you take precautions to be safe by not driving while stoned, but I don’t think you can speak for all of your peers on that. I wouldn’t have cared so much if the guy had been shown eating tacos while stoned in his parents’ basement, but if they show him in his van, I think it’s a safe bet that he would have driven to get to JITB. By showing that in the commercial, they are making it seem normal and acceptable.
By the way, is this commercial still being shown? I wrote about this almost a year ago and I still get tons of traffic searching for info on this commercial.
My brother told saw this ad and told me about it only two weeks ago and I decided to use it for a project.
BSD, thanks for letting me know! Must be one effective commercial if it’s been around for a year!
nI just saw this commercial for the first time tonight, and it disturbed me. It’s one of those situations where it’s funny….but it’s not. It’s very sad to think about the extremes that the corporate world will go to, in order to make a buck. Yet, even more sad, is when the public defends, condones, or tries to justify those actions.
Leave them alone, this commercial is absolutely perfectly fine.
Blaze on. hah.
France…? France?
You get your statistics from a country that barely knows how to drive in the first place, then if thats bad enough the drink wine like fish then if thats not bad enough the whole European system of loose sex and drug acceptance…… OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A HIGHER STATISTIC!!!
Hows about we quit trying to skew facts to make a point and compare apples to apples and get some statistics in the same country and for further accuracy you might try same age group and same state. Then I will believe the “facts”.
Please. I’m over 30, have never been stoned, let alone driven stoned and I love this silly little commercial. First they get rid of the Frito Bandito, now stoner dude. When is all of this political correctness gonna stop?!
Dumbasses! all of you including the person who wrote this! You sound like some stupid christian with your “Oh my god, he might be driving behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while stoned.” You conservative shmucks are the reason why there are so many ridiculous rules and laws. Eat a steak, smoke a joint, relax, and shut your mouth.
peace
So for all of the “stoner supporters”, I guess it’s ok to laugh at someone participating in an illegal activity? What’s next, “Gee I’m hungry after raping this woman….How about some Jack in the Box”.
As time goes by, people have been relaxing their morals. And the world is more dangerous than ever. I use to be able to ride my bike for hours, play in the front yard, go to a park all without my parents when I was 8. I wouldn’t think about letting my 12 year old go somewhere in public without adult supervision. I trust my daughter, I just don’t trust the other idiots in this world.
So everyone who’s against “having a little fun” is homophobic, Christian, and old farts? I think we have what’s called “Morals”. We hope and pray for a world that is safe.
So stoners, keep supporting “driving under the influence”. I don’t think that my sister-in-law that I never met would, because she died by someone who was driving under the influence.
Jack in the Box Corporate is located here in San Diego.
The American Lung Assocation, Health Advocates Against Marijuana,(H.A.R.M.), several non-profit agencies and local PTAs are staging a sit-in at corporate headquarters to protest this commercial.
JITB promised viewers last fall they would stop airing this particular commercial. Yet it came back with the SuperBowl and is seen nightly on local channels.
Intersting, given JITB’s own code of conduct:Interesting,considering Jack in the Box’s own code of conduct (p. 4, 15, 16)
http://www.jackinthebox.com/investors/pdfs/codeofconduct.pdf
Contact JITB and let them know that drug use is not “humorous” as they claim.
Ms. Linda Lang, CEO Jack in the Box, 9330 Balboa Avenue, San Diego 92123, (858) 571-2121
I’m not one to post on websites. And I appreciate that JITB promised to pull the commercial. However, if there was a product tie-in and the commercial featured Shaggy talking to Jack while driving the Mystery Machine would anyone think twice?
I dont see the kid smoking weed or driving the car, you tools should go find something else to chirp about. The commnercial is clever and funny and if you can’t see for what its worth then you should watch something else like 7th Heaven re-runs that you square butts can really relate to.
blah blah blah
I work graveyard sometimes @ JITB and every other car that passes through between 2 and 5 AM is either drunk, stoned, laid, or just having a good time being young. They do order more food than I bet they can eat in a week but last time I remember we are a free country. Let the police and judges decide the fate of these people and let me get them thier food. JITB also raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for great causes.They have also won several marketing rewards for thier commercials. So as long as there are beer commercials, extreme sports car commercials, and prescription sleep aid commercials, don’t judge JITB for what people should be individualy responsible for. We have great customers who have a sense of humor and understand what Jack is all about.
I guess the Castrol commercial “Engine Sludge” depicting a similar youngster in a drive thru also wants people to drive stoned. Thank you for opening my eyes to this immense problem.
Who else is going to eat a pair of greasy deep fried soy-based vaginas? Maybe we should ask JIB to open up a late night stumble-thru.
Heres an idea… Get haircuts…trade the vans in for mopeds, and quit the drugs. Keep in mind you will always be a stero type, but if you dont like being made fun of, perhaps its you that needs to change.
You referrs to anyone fitting the profile. If you take offence, then yes I’m talking to you.
You guys… are so stupid… it’s funny… It’s hardly promoting drug use to show a commercial with a guy ordering 30 Jack in the Box tacos, no matter how high he may seem. Stop freaking out. It’s not like they’re saying “SMOKE POT AND BUY TACOS HERE”. To be quite honest, there are many other commercials that are much worse. This is what you get when you build a society upon consumerism. Taco ads are the least of our worries.
Ok so i’m reading all these comments posted, all sound reasonable even if i don’t fully agree. But then I got to one moron that seems to think that smoking a joint is equivalent to raping a woman… are you effin kidding me? Shocking the level of ignorance that is out there.
CB
JITB achieved exactly what they needed to from this commercial. They knew there was going to be an uproar and lots of contreversy around this commerical which got people talking. It’s called M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G. Good or Bad PR always equals an increase in sales. Why do you think they keep saying they will pull the ad but don’t? More people will talk “Hey, did you see that Jack In the Box Ad?”.
I don’t have a “It’s right or wrong opinion” but there is a reason why they have won awards. They know how to push buttons.