Jack in the Box Giving Out Free Tacos Today

Jack in the Box’s mystery giveaway

Two dudes eat tacos at Jack in the Box.

Is it because of Obama’s birthday? Is it just because “Free Taco Tuesday” has a nice ring to it? Whatever the reason is — and they’re not telling — Jack in the Box is handing out free tacos today.

If you have had Jack in the Box tacos before, you know that they are as far from being Mexican food as you can get while still using a tortilla, but free food is free food — right?

Tempting trends

Giving away free food has quickly become a widely used method for generating business. Of course, this promotional tool has been used since long before we were in a recession, but it appears to me to be more common now.

Of course, only businesses that can afford to give out free products can do this, otherwise they’d have to hand out payroll loans in place of their employee’s paychecks. But big chains like Jack in the Box don’t even flinch about handing out a few thousand free tacos.

Free food frenzy

Case in point, Jack in the Box isn’t the only place handing out free grub today. The other free food distributor today is Domino’s, though the pizza chain is only giving out free stuff in Washington, D.C.

To celebrate Obama’s birthday, Domino’s is giving out free Chocolate Lava Crunch Cake, a brand new menu item they chose to introduce on Obama’s birthday. All month long, anyone can get free cake with order of a BreadBowl Pasta. To sweeten the deal, everyone who can prove it’s their birthday can get a free piece of cake this month.

Free tacos for everyone!

So, while Domino’s is handing out free cake to certain people on certain days with certain purchases, all you need to do to get free tacos from Jack in the Box  is print out a coupon. National food chains that do giveaways have widely adopted this method because making customers go through a little bit of effort to get free stuff helps stores to keep from being totally overrun with clientele clamoring for free food.

Oh, and when I say free tacos, I do mean tacos plural. Download this coupon from the Jack in the Box web site, and you can pick up two free tacos at any participating location.

It’ll work. It always works

Food giveaways are so popular now because they are effective. They get people in the door at restaurants and in general manage to get their brands in people’s heads. Free samples are a great way to get people to come back later and buy a new product.

Often people want to try new things, but they are concerned that they won’t like it. This was particularly true in the case of KFC when it introduced grilled chicken after decades of being famous and well-loved for fried chicken. Free coupons got a lot — and I mean a lot — of people to try the new product. Giving stuff out for free makes customers much more likely to try something because they aren’t worried about paying for something they end up hating. So, if you’ve never tried the tacos from Jack in the Box, today’s the day!