Jack In the Box Says It's "Discontinuing" Its Most Popular Burger
Jack in the Box recently shocked fans when it announced that it would be discontinuing its most popular menu item: the Sourdough Jack. The sourdough burger would be permanently removed from the menu, the company posted on its social media on Tuesday, and fans were encouraged to say goodbye. However, some followers quickly caught on that the announcement was nothing but an attempt at an April Fool's Day joke. A successful one? We'll let you be the judges of that.
If you're a fan of the Sourdough Jack—which is in its thirtieth year and predates Burger King's popular Sourdough King by more than two decades—the announcement of its retirement would have come as a major surprise. The California-based burger chain had made no previous mentions of menu changes, and with National Sourdough Bread Day upon us, the news seemed to be coming at the worst possible time.
Jack, the fictional CEO and spokesperson of Jack in the Box, took to Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday to break the devastating news. "Hate to sour your day, but sadly I'm taking the Sourdough Jack off our menu," read the Tweet. Some fans saw through it quickly: "Dumb April Fools stunt, Jack," remarked one user. But others openly expressed frustration and surprise. "What!?! Why ?!? This is the only thing that kept me going back," exclaimed another.
Matters were only made worse by the seemingly boilerplate responses customers received in response to their complaints. "This wasn't an easy decision, but we hope you'll stay in the Box with the rest of our delicious menu!" the company consoled one customer, unconvincingly. Fans were even led to believe that Jack in the Box, in retiring the sandwich, was admitting defeat to Sourdough rival Burger King. It was, all in all, a rough 48 hours for fans of the West Coast franchise.
It all came to a head earlier this week, however, when the Jack in the Box Twitter announced that the menu change was an April Fool's Day joke—in celebration both of the Sourdough Jack's thirtieth year and National Sourdough Bread Day. After breaking the news, Jack patched things up with his fans with an offer of a free Sourdough Jack with qualifying purchases made on the Jack app. Nobody likes being fooled, but who can say no to a free sourdough burger?
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