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This summer, Jack in the Box partnered with the popular YouTube show “Hot Ones” for a collaboration featuring spicy limited-time items and hot sauce add-on packets. The results were tepid, reports QSR. “The products in the Hot Ones promotion were highly polarizing and did not uphold the higher end of the barbell,” CFO Dawn Hooper told analysts on the company’s earnings call. “This means our check was lower and overall sales were softer than expected.”
Jack in the Box jumped into action, offering milder versions of the spicy items, ending the promotion early and accelerating the launch of a Philly Cheesesteak platform originally planned for later in the year. That pivot appears to be working: fourth-quarter same-store sales are running positive in the low-single digits so far, with both traffic and check improving.
Mark King, who took over as interim CEO in May, says the chain has been juggling too many promotions at once. They’re now cutting back so restaurant staff can execute each one well instead of spreading themselves thin, he said. It’s also simplifying its menu board so customers can decide faster without feeling overwhelmed.