remember when Jack in the box became Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack's

What kind of the food did they sell during that period? Anyone have photos of the blue signs they used?

Thread relocated to FF Forum, but it is a good question.

I thought the Monterey Jack was a Sandwich on the menu. Was there really a name change after the Ecoli problem? Give some dates for the name change era...I never saw it.

1980-1985

From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_in_the_Box:

quote:

"Originally, Jack was a clown-like character, but he was blown up in a 1980 commercial to give the chain a more mature appeal and look. Then-owner Ralston Purina (1968-1985) tried further to mature the restaurant's image, renaming it "Monterey Jack's" back in 1985, a disastrous move that lasted a short time and the Jack in the Box name was restored in 1986. He returned ("thanks to the miracle of plastic surgery," according to Jack) in his more serious, modern form in 1995. At the end of his first commercial back, he "blew up" the Board of Directors as retribution. In 1999, Foodmaker Inc., the corporate name of Jack in the Box, was renamed to fit its core brand."

The name change was very short lived - I don't even think it was a year before they changed it back; around 1985. As I can recall, there no difference in menu.

Ray Charles was their celebrity spokesman; their jingle was "When I say Monterey Jacks - You wanna come back for more, for more, for more, for more" to the tune of "Hit the Road Jack."

I don't think it was ever brought out nationwide; I think it was just test marketed a few places like here in St. Louis, where at the time JITB was Headquartered as a division of Ralston-Purina.

When Purina spun off their FF division, and it became Foodmaker, one of the first orders of business was to restore the Jack in the Box name; however they still tried to downplay the Clown Image. The post Monterrey Jack's JITB logo has ever since lacked the white clown head that had been at the top of the same logo since the 70s, after they quit modeling their buildings to look like actual Jack in the Boxes with the clown coming out of the roof.

Here's the clown as he was in L.A. back in the day. There's another famous Angeleno in the pic that some of you old farts from L.A. (like Al) might remember.

I remember the white clown logo with orange background. Do any of you have a photo or a copy of it?

before they left the new york market all jack inthe box' changed there names to jacks one word title,here on long island there were about a dozen or so,but one by one they closed the last around 1997,I believe I heard that they sued and broke away from the company,same foof same menu,boy do I miss it.

quote:

Originally posted by bradhig

Monterey Jack's

What kind of the food did they sell during that period? Anyone have photos of the blue signs they used?

in the seattle area, they changed their name around 1982 and changed it back in 1985. before the name change, they had breakfast jacks, jumbo jacks, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, and tacos. after the name change, they had the same stuff but added supreme burgers (bacon cheeseburger supreme was the "top" model..) chicken, and breakfast croissants.

a jitb manager told me that they did the change to appeal to adults rather than kids, that's why they did away with the clown at the drive-thru.. when they brought back the clown, they put him in a business suit for the same reasons..

I was not happy when they got rid of their "jack" sauce...
It was on their jumbo jack burgers, and then they decided to use just ketchup instead

quote:

Originally posted by enginecapt

Here's the clown as he was in L.A. back in the day. There's another famous Angeleno in the pic that some of you old farts from L.A. (like Al) might remember.

That brings back a a great memory! I remember as a very young child we'd drive across country to visit family in SoCal. I have great memories of the 'real' jack in the Box restaurants with the clown you spoke to in order to order your food. There was a little twinge when they started blowing them up. I wonder what happened to all of them - wish I had one.

Monterrey Jack restaurants never made it to anywhere I lived.

I'm happy to finally find out the story behind Monterey Jack. In the early '80s, I saw several in Seattle while on a business trip; I even ended up having lunch at one ( I was quite unimpressed. ) When I went back to Seattle a couple of years later, they had completely vanished. Nice to know that they weren't just a figment of my imagination.

Hey Fire Capt- Sheriff John was my hero! He's the guy who shared Crusader Rabbit Episodes with me !
 
I sure wish I had a sackfull of those J I B Tacos here with me tonight!!

I grew up with Sheriff John!  Him and Engineer Bill

Los Angeles never turned Monterey as far as I can remember.

Always been Just Jack.

Put another candle on your birthday cake!

My childhood was food inspired!

mar52


Put another candle on your birthday cake!

My childhood was food inspired!

For the grand prize, what was the name of his main sponsor?