Jack in the Box, Jack Raps

This West Coast fast food burger chain has long featured a live man wearing an oversized head of their mascot, a Jack-in-the-Box toy.

In this installment, introductory text says, "Jack raps with young people" -- a play on politicians who seek to get in touch with different groups.

Jack sits down with six youth and a young, long-haired blonde woman begins by awkwardly asking the question, "Jack, um... how do you know if you're a lesbian?"

The others look to him for his response and everything goes quiet. Jack's usual smiley face has suddenly become a small, flat line as he clearly has no idea what to say.

So he then turns to a kid next to him and asks, "Did you have a question?" to which the guy simply says, "No."

With his big smile back, Jack instead changes the subject. "Don't be afraid to talk about burgers. Okay, I'll start. Even though my Jumbo Jack is just 99 cents, it's still a great burger. Big and juicy and hot, because we won't make it until you order it."

He finishes off by adding, "That's where I'm coming from," like he'd just shared a heartfelt, meaningful point. As if moved by his comments, the blonde who asked the original question smiles and says, "Thanks, that helps."

The awkward handling on the part of Jack is part of the joke in this commercial, which could be intended for parents or other adults to relate to. It is an unusual interjection of a "real" issue into an otherwise humdrum ad. While many adults today may be able to relate to Jack's uncertainty about how to deal with such a question, it unfortunately leaves the girl -- and the issue -- hanging unaddressed, though neutrally.

The commercial ran only a few weeks but The Advocate reported that the restaurant chain caught flak from conservatives, while also getting requests from those who liked it to buy a reel of the ad. It also won a Belding Award (a group which has its own ad in the collection.)