Jack in the Box Keeps Popping Up for Padres
It’s no secret that hamburgers are important to the San Diego Padres baseball club, which is owned by Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc.
But when it comes to advertising with the Padres, Jack in the Box is standing in at the plate while McDonald’s isn’t even in the ballpark.
Jack in the Box, owned by San Diego-based Foodmaker Inc., has been a Padres radio sponsor for several seasons. During the 1988 season, the fast-food chain once again will sponsor a Padres bumper sticker giveaway. It also will add a television sponsorship and an inside-the-park sign.
Initial Pitch
Foodmaker Chairman and President Jack W. Goodall Jr. last week threw out the first pitch during a preseason exhibition game between the Padres and San Diego State University.
McDonald’s, which was a television advertiser with the Padres several years ago, has no current advertising links with the National League club. McDonald’s “has been offered a TV sponsorship, but they’ve opted not to go forward with it,” according to Padres broadcasting director Jim Winters.
When Foodmaker advertising executives began cooking up the proposed ad campaign, Winters decided to run it past Kroc.
“I didn’t want to cause any embarrassment, especially to that very nice lady,” he said. “Of course, she had no problem at all.”
Sign Replaced
The Jack in the Box sign in right field replaces a long-running Pacific Southwest Airlines advertisement. PSA will be absorbed Saturday by Washington-based USAir, which did not want to continue advertising in the park.
Unlike most major league baseball organizations, the Padres produce their own radio and TV programming and handle their own advertising and marketing functions.
The team, which finished in last place last year, is not considered a contender this year. It opens its 1988 season in Houston this afternoon and plays its home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers next Tuesday.
Despite predictions that the Padres will have a poor year on the field, “both radio and TV advertising sales are ahead of where we were last year at this time,” Winters said.
“There’s a great deal of optimism this year,” he said. “One of our players (recently said) that there’s no way we can finish last again, because everyone knows how hard it is to repeat from one year to another in this league.”
