Jack In The Box Jumps Into The Virtual Restaurant Space With Jason Derulo Collaboration

Jack in the Box JACK is the latest chain to tap into the virtual restaurant space, and it’s doing so by tapping into another major quick-service trend–celebrity promotions.

The chain today announced a partnership with award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Derulo to launch the One in a Milli Virtual Restaurant out of 10 Los Angeles Jack in the Box locations. The virtual restaurant is open from June 14 through June 28 exclusively on Uber Eats and includes the following menu offerings:

• Milli Meal $10 to $11 (price may vary by location). This meal is inspired by Jason’s Milli Meals and includes a triple bacon cheesy Jack, Roost Fries and Mini Chocolate Croissant Bites.
• BurgerAco, $10, includes a jumbo patty, placed between brioche buns, with Jack’s famous taco, with shredded lettuce, onion rings and a mystery sauce.
• Mega Milli Platter, $12, a mixed base of the tiny tacos, curly fries and jalapeño poppers topped with bacon, cheese sauce, shredded cheddar, ranch and a mystery sauce.
• Oreo Cookie Cheesecake Milli Shake, $7, a vanilla shake blended with cheesecake topped with Oreo Cookie crumbles, whipped cream and more cheesecake.
• Bacon Churro Milli Shake, $7, a vanilla shake with maple syrup and bacon pieces blended with cinnamon sugar, topped with Jack’s signature churros and bacon.

This digital campaign comes as Jack in the Box experiences significant momentum. The chain’s same-store sales were up 12.5% in Q1, for example, representing the strongest quarter since 1994.

Leveraging a celebrity for a marketing campaign should add to this momentum, as such promotions have provided a major boost for other brands, including McDonald’s MCD and Dunkin’. In fact, Bank of America BAC raised its estimates for McDonald’s following the wild success of its Travis Scott promotion, and restaurant visits are up 12% since launching its current BTS promotion.

Derulo also has plenty of marketing muscle, with 3.7 million Twitter followers, 15.5 million YouTube subscribers and over 46 million fans on TikTok. That latter number is a gold mine for Jack in the Box to extend its reach to younger consumers–over 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z. If you’re one of those 46 million fans, the “Milli Meals” probably sounds familiar to you. Derula celebrates every new million followers on TikTok by creating his signature “Milli Meals,” an over-the-top dinner or dessert that typically features bizarre ingredients, like cotton candy sandwiches.

Notably, the Milli Meal piece of this campaign will extend beyond the Los Angeles market. The Milli Meal will be available exclusively through the Jack mobile app through Aug. 8 and those who order will automatically be entered to win prizes.

“Jason Derulo has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the food world thanks to his series of clever, food-focused TikTok videos, so it just made sense for us to find inspiration for this campaign from the TikTok king himself,” said Ryan Ostrom, Jack in the Box chief marketing officer. “Our One In A Milli Virtual Restaurant is the brainchild of two creators–Jason and Jack Box–who live their indulgent lifestyle through the lens of innovative food creations and having fun.”

Virtual restaurants have had a major breakthrough in the past year, with players big, small and non-traditional jumping into the space as a low-cost, low-risk way to generate additional revenue and extend reach. It also enables such brands to leverage the sharp shift in consumer demand toward digital channels.   

As such, during the company’s Q2 earnings call last month, CEO Darin Harris said Jack is focused on building on its in-app ordering feature, and the Milli Meal promotion should help do just that. Also as part of this strategy, the chain is partnering with Reef Kitchens to open up to eight ghost kitchens in three states this summer and launching its first-ever loyalty program.

Harris said these initiatives have grown Jack’s acquisition of customer data and expanded its database, which has grown by more than 60% throughout the past 18 months.

“This represents a significant opportunity with Jack, combined with our newly-implemented digital marketing technology platform, our growing guest database will enable us to support our strategic pillar to build brand loyalty by communicating through more personalized messages and timely offers,” Harris said during the call. “We’re in the very early stages of our digital strategy as we connect with our guests and enable one-to-one marketing, but we’re seeing tremendous growth from digital.”