Jack Box was in a bus crash, but is the social campaign a train wreck?

This was one of the more entertaining Superbowl commercials with a good tease and all the right corresponding components: hangintherejack.com, Facebook fan page, Twitter page, Email & SMS campaign, but I am very disappointed in the long-term execution.  This shouldn’t even be a long-term execution by the way – people have short attention spans… what the hell is going to happen to Jack?

I think it’s time to pull the plug – either on Jack or on this campaign. 

I didn’t visit the site right away, then a couple weeks after the launch I saw a commercial at home and visited hangintherejack.com via Mobile.  I enthusiastically entered my email address and phone number to receive updates.  The info appeared to go through, however I did not receive any confirmation or immediate texts.

Not to give up, I visited the site on 2/13 and signed up again.  I did receive a confirmation email.  (Note: the confirmation email had no click thru back to the hangintherejack.com site or a Facebook/Twitter call out.  I see this as a missed opportunity.) 

SMS: I tried to sign up for SMS updates as well but it wouldn’t go through on my phone.  Someone else please try: text UPDATE to 52255.  As I write this today, it is still giving me a “Service is not available” error message.  My tweet to Jack (rather to Barbara, Jack’s assistant)

@jackbox the SMS code does not seem to be working – i tried texting UPDATE to 52255. is it me or you? 1:47 PM Feb 13th from web

No response.

Twitter: Businesses using Twitter should be using it to INTERACT with their customers.  I realize that the current Twitter page is supposed to be for Jack updates, but they need to take the opportunity to engage with customers and fans.  Twitter is not a one-way update machine; it is supposed to be conversational.  Just at a glance I see that almost all updates start with “Jack…”  I see zero @replies in response to Twitter users.  On the other hand, if I go to Twitter search and look for @jackbox, I see hundreds of people reaching out.  Barbara (Jack’s assistant) doesn’t seem to have nice things to say about Phil, but I think Barbara needs to step up her game as well!

The buzz right now is for the 2 Free Tacos on 2/24.  I did receive the standard updates by Twitter, email, and Facebook but somehow it still seems so impersonal.

I have seen a lot of coverage and RT’s (re-tweets), and I am sure there will be thousands of free tacos given away tomorrow and Jack In the Box will be touted as having a genius marketing plan, but I am still disappointed. 

Email:  Since signing up on 2/13, I have only received 3 additional emails  - one was a bland update on Jack’s condition and the other two were about the 2 free tacos on 2/24.  As the Email Strategist here at Red Door, my mind is racing with other fun ideas about Jack’s condition, Lifecycle opportunities, forward to friend/refer a friend options, and much more. 

Site visit: 2/20 – I almost got excited today!  There was a video post on the site saying “Jack’s doctor has news.”   Disappointment: some crap about the doctor’s son’s lacrosse team and Jack is still in a coma. 

TV: One nice touch – the Mini sirloin burger commercial with the cute song about cattle the size of schnauzers added a disclaimer “this was filmed before Jack’s accident”

But does anyone want to walk with me to the College station Jack in the Box tomorrow to get my 2 free tacos?  You can download coupon here:

http://coupon.hangintherejack.com/two-tacos.php