Jack In The Box's Newest Campaign Takes Aim At McDonald's

It's become a sort of running joke how McDonald's ice cream machines always seem to be broken. According to Boston.com, The Federal Trade Commission opened an inquiry into why it seems like McDonald's ice cream dispensers constantly malfunction, and McDonald's defended the lack of operating ice cream machines due to the fact that they require special service people to work on them. As a result, it could take hours or days before a repair person comes in to fix the problem. This issue compounds the fact that the machines get serviced during off-hours, meaning you might have a hard time grabbing a McDonald's ice cream at 1 AM.

The broken machine issue has gotten to a point that Jack in the Box has stepped in to poke fun at this competitor. According to a press release sent to Mashed, the fast food chain is taking over McBroken.com, a website that monitors the McDonald's locations in your area with functional ice cream machines, for the month of March.  The site will also display nearby Jack in the Box locations. This campaign is only the tip of the iceberg, and Jack in the Box will stop at nothing in order to hammer home McDonald's lack of working ice cream machines.

According to a press statement sent to Mashed, Jack in the Box claims that 10% of McDonald's ice cream machines have broken down at any given time ever since the Shamrock Shake returned in 2022. The press release also announced that Jack in the Box also is releasing an Oreo Cookie Mint Shake. McDonald's claims that their St. Patty's Day-themed McFlurry comes with pieces of Oreo cookies, vanilla soft serve, and Shamrock syrup mixed in. This sounds similar to the new Jack in the Box item. On the plus side, this new item should spark joy in the chain's fans, as diners previously had to ask an employee to make the Mint Oreo Cookie Shake off of a secret menu, per Hack The Menu.

According to USA Today, these efforts are part of the "Don't Get McShammed" campaign. The ball is now in McDonald's court and with any luck, the restaurant chain may retaliate by giving diners another treat to love. Until then, you can just keep your fingers crossed and hope your local McDonald's ice cream machine hasn't broken down.