Vegetarians Protest Fast-Food Ad

The vegetarian protesters had their message, and the meat-eating passersby had a message in response.

“Jack rules!” shouted a youngish fellow in a battered hatchback.

“Go, Jack!” hollered a teenage girl in a sport-utility vehicle.

So it went during Wednesday’s mild-mannered protest outside Jack in the Box corporate headquarters by vegetarians enraged by the new television commercial portraying vegetarians as wimpy opponents of the Carnivores, a football team owned by Jack, the corporate caricature.

The vegetarians also sought to tout the health benefits of eschewing--not chewing--meat. They could hardly have chosen a less sympathetic venue.

Jack, his plastic bubble head frozen in a perpetual smile, is an icon in San Diego, a local boy who made good. For years, Jack in the Box was the only corporate headquarters of note in a community derided as a “branch-office city.”

Two years ago, Jack was allowed to gavel down a session of the New York Stock Exchange, an event proudly reported on the TV news here.

Localism aside, meat eaters are not known for being easily converted. The vegetarians have come to expect a level of hostility to their views.

“Meat is addictive,” said Maryann Zacchi, a vegetarian and San Diego apartment manager. “That’s why people are so angry about the issue. They know how difficult it would be to kick the meat habit.”

Organized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the protest was a smallish affair: one protest spokesman, six protesters with placards, and one street-theater actor portraying Jack (in a coffin, dead of heart disease).

San Diego Police Officer Tim Neuhaus, sitting in a squad car in the Jack in the Box parking lot, kept a close eye on events. Was he there as a bodyguard for Jack?

“Nope,” Neuhaus said. “I’m just waiting for someone to bring me a burger.”

The protesters had their quotable allegations. “Jack’s triple cheeseburger will lead to a triple bypass,” said Dani Dennenberg, a full-time anti-meat activist.

The fast-food chain was ready with a fast response: The protesters lack a sense of humor.

“Most people find Jack in the Box commercials to be humorous and entertaining,” said an official statement. “They are not intended to offend any group or organization, and the ads featuring Jack’s new football team, the Carnivores, are no different.”