Jack in the Box has pulled its toys from its children’s meals, earning praise from consumer advocates who claim fast feeders lure kids to unhealthy meals with trinkets. But considering that Jack in the Box rarely markets to kids, and it’s a fraction of the size of, say, McDonald’s, is that really much of a victory? Or was it more of a PR stunt?
Brian Luscomb, a spokesman for Jack in the Box, a chain with 2,200 locations in 19 states and about $2.9 billion in U.S. systemwide sales last year, said the company derives a “very small percentage” of its sales from kids’ meals. “We’ve offered kids meals for a couple of decades as a convenience,” he said.
He said the decision to eliminate toys from the kids’ menus is not the result of increasing pressure from advocacy groups urging fast feeders to stop marketing to children. Rather, he said, the move is to focus on Jack in the Box’s target: “the frequent fast-food consumer,” or men aged 18 to 34. “It’s been a long time since we’ve advertised to kids, simply because we focus on adults and not children.”