I admit it… I was distracted by the flat screen TV in the luxury box. I was focused on a college bowl game on the TV and not on the Golden State Warriors administering a beat-down to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Then I heard it… a chant-like chorus of BOOS filling the arena. The volume of boos peaked, then subsided, then swelled again to epic volume.
Looking away from the flat screen (to the huge jumbotron in the center of the court)… I saw it. A Minnesota Timberwolf was on the free throw line. In the corner of the screen on the jumbotron was a Jack in the Box logo.
Why the cacophony of boos? I turned to my niece (who is a big Warriors fan and frequent visitor to Oracle Center) for the 411. She told me that if the opposing team shoots below 70% from the freethrow line… all the fans in attendance win a Jack in the Box chalupa.
I know what you’re thinking… what’s a chalupa? Merriam-Webster defines chalupa as “a fried corn tortilla sometimes shaped like a boat and usually filled with a savory mixture (as of meat, vegetables, or cheese)”
What I was thinking about was the poor brand manager at Jack in the Box. Did she/he know that their brand was the catalyst for poor sportsmanship? What does it do for the Jack in the Box brand? Sparking people to BOO for the visiting team is both incendiary and bad form.
Then I thought… perhaps the brand manager is a genius. Jack in the Box can never have the Americana image of McDonalds or the cult following of In and Out. Perhaps being the “anti-hero” is exactly right for Jack in the Box.
Final score – Golden State Warriors 110, Minnesota Timberwolves 97. The Wolves went 49% from the free throw line… free Chalupas for all in attendance!!!!
This essay originally published on February 20, 2015.