{"id":6838,"date":"2024-05-28T18:22:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T22:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/2024\/05\/28\/how-to-blow-up-the-jack-in-the-box-clown\/"},"modified":"2024-05-28T18:22:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T22:22:36","slug":"how-to-blow-up-the-jack-in-the-box-clown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/how-to-blow-up-the-jack-in-the-box-clown\/6838\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Blow Up the Jack in the Box Clown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Howie Cohen cites blowing up the Jack in the Box clown<\/a> as one of his biggest career milestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In his 2019 memoir \u201cI Can\u2019t Believe I Lived The Whole Thing,\u201d Cohen recounts his years as a copywriter and later an ad agency founder<\/a> during advertising\u2019s creative heyday in the 1960s and 1970s. Cohen\u2019s many achievements include creating not one but two Alka-Seltzer commercials that are honored in the Clio Hall of Fame: \u201cTry it, you\u2019ll like it\u201d and \u201cI can\u2019t believe I ate the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

And while we at PopIcon are certainly invested in these iconic catchphrases, it\u2019s Cohen\u2019s work related to blowing up Jack Box, AKA the Jack in the Box clown, we felt was a story that deserved to be retold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Blame the Clown<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 1978, Cohen and Bob Pasqualina were co-creative directors at Wells, Rich and Greene\/LA. Pasqualina came up in the advertising world at the same time as Cohen and the two enjoyed a successful partnership that spanned 14 years of creating campaigns, winning awards and even opening an agency together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

At the time, Jack in the Box represented one-fourth of the Wells, Rich and Greene\/LA business. The restaurant chain was experiencing rapidly declining sales. They struggled to compete with other fast-food giants like McDonald\u2019s and Burger King, both of which had better food quality and reputations. A big, new idea was needed, fast. At the time, Cohen wrote that Jack in the Box had been nicknamed by consumers as \u201cGag in the Bag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

One evening, Cohen experienced a \u201cEureka!\u201d moment fueled by several glasses of Dewar\u2019s on the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He knew about the Jack in the Box brand mascot and how it was meant to be a draw for kids. But Jack in the Box and Wells were also hard at work creating a business strategy that positioned the chain and its food for adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Cohen realized not only did they not need the clown anymore, but the mascot could also serve as a scapegoat for the chain\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The lackluster food? Clearly that was the clown\u2019s fault, not Jack in the Box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we got rid of the clown, it would be proof that we had changed,\u201d Cohen wrote. \u201cSo let\u2019s do it in a dramatic fashion. Let\u2019s blow him away!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

“Cute Clowns” Are For the Old Jack In the Box<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cohen and Pasqualina got to work writing up the script for the TV commercial. Their script featured an old woman pulling up to a Jack in the Box drive-thru. A couple of Jack in the Box employees are seen strapping the clown with dynamite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Despite the old women\u2019s protests that the clown is too cute to be blown up, the employees insist that \u201ccute\u201d was the old Jack in the Box. The new and improved Jack in the Box stands for delicious food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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