Jack in the Box / Advertising with Citing

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

From sitcoms to Super Bowls, commercials have become a staple in television entertainment. Each company tries to gear the viewer's attention towards their product by any means necessary. Some companies take a more direct "Shock" approach to advertising while most corporations play on consumer's sense of humor with commercials connecting to their target audience through laughter. Jack in the Box took this humorous approach to commercial advertisement too far by making drug abuse and driving under the influence humorous and conventional acts condoned by their company.

The commercial ad starts out with an old 1970's van pulling up to the drive through at Jack in the Box. The driver looks like a stereotypical teenage "pothead" with scraggly hair, droopy eyes and slowed speech. The teenager looks around aimlessly as a voice on the drive thru speaker asks "Are you still there?" With slow speech the teen answers the voice, "Uh…yeah…can I get…..uhhhh"

He begins to look around aimlessly again when he begins to hallucinate that the Bobble-Head Jack, in his van, comes to life. The bobble-head Jack gets the teen's attention "Dude! Stick with the classics," and begins to describe the 2 tacos for $0.99 promotion. The dazed teen looks with confusion and asks "Dude…how many should I get?" The hallucination of the bobble-head answers "Dude….30." The amazed and inebriated teen giggles and comments back "Dude….that's what I was thinking…" and giggles some more. The commercial ends in signature Jack in the Box style with a bag of food dropping from the sky and the tag line, 2 Tacos for 99 cents, Affordable Classics.

With the underlying message of this commercial Jack in the Box has not only condoned illegal drug abuse but also driving under the influence of illegal substances. By using generalizations and stereotyping the commercial implies...