Fast Food Flashback is a series that looks back at discontinued fast food menu items.
The Jack in the Box Colossus Burger was introduced in 1994. It featured two 1/4 lb beef patties, three kinds of cheese, and EIGHT slices of bacon. I remember eating a couple during my college days, when I thought I was invincible. So invincible that I ignored all the calories, fat, and sodium the burger had and didn’t care about the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak that happened prior to the release of the Colossus.
Speaking of the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, apparently the Colossus was originally the Monster Burger, which was found to be the cause of the outbreak. A promotional price caused a great demand for the Monster Burger, which in turn caused employees to not cook the beef for an adequate amount of time or at a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria.
The Jack in the Box Colossus was the first burger I purchased that made the Big Mac seem so small. It really was Colossus and I vaguely remember having a hard time wrapping my mouth around it. I don’t remember what it tasted like, but I imagine I must have enjoyed it if I ate two of them. According to Calorie Count, the Colossus had 1100 calories, 84 grams of fat, 220 milligrams of cholesterol, and 1510 milligrams of sodium.
I don’t remember how long Jack in the Box’s Colossus Burger was around, but it somewhat lived on in the late 1990s in Jack’s Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, which at the time had two 1/4 lb beef patties, three slices of cheese, and eight slices of bacon. The current version of the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger has just three strips of bacon, but I’m sure I could purchase extra bacon and experience the Jack in the Box Colossus once more, if my arteries wish to go down memory lane.
Do you remember the Jack in the Box Colossus?
Used to come in nice aluminum foil wrapper… so good.
Ilove this feature!
I don’t remember the sandwich but I do remember the e coli outbreak. I was in 6th grade at the time and I our School purchased their hamburger patties from the same distributor as Jack in the Box. Thankfully we didn’t get tainted meat but there was still paranoia. The school then changed where they got their meat. Not because of the outbreak. But because it was too expensive.
Cool new series, keep it up! Wish I had a Jack in the Box in my area.
Don’t remember the burger, but do remember the commercial.
I remember I just went to Jack in the Box once in a while until the e Coli outbreak. They assured everyone that California was ok, and they were selling everything at 50% off. I loved the Big Deal. Less than $2 if i remember.
OK, well that Wikipedia article said it did happen in CA. Hmmm
Can you do one of these on the bbq burger Burger King had in promotion of Men In Black 2. I just want to feel like I’m not the only person who remembers them.
I know people that still won’t go to Jack in the Box because they remember hearing about this, despite the fact that nearly every other fast food chain has had a e coli outbreak over the years. This outbreak was an industry changing event. Jack in the box came up with new procedures and the rest of the industry followed suit, one of which was the cooking of burgers to 155 degrees. This is why most fast food burgers nowadays are pretty dry. When I was a kid I remember restaurants would actually serve burgers and ask you how you wanted them (ie, you could order a burger “medium”). It was fairly common to get burgers that were still pink in the middle at various places. Not anymore, now the policy is “cook the hell out of everything”. Anyway, Jack in the box is one of my favorite fast food places, and I have eaten there for years with no issues.
Very cool. This was before I even knew what Jack in the Box was. My first item I tried from there were tacos in the late 90s.
Im the guy in this commercial. This was a very fun and technical spot to shoot. I had no idea about the Ecoli thing in relation to this particular spot as some of this info here is new to me. Here is a funny bit of behind the scenes info. I was a 10 year veggie when i shot this. There was a young production assistant on set and her 1 job was to hold the bucket for me. Yap. I never swallowed anything. We did multiple takes of me chomping on that burger…. poor girl kept holding the bucket for me.. ? The set took i believe 3 weeks to be built. This director had also hired me for a Bud Dry Why ask Why commercial. So 1994 was good for my commercial acting. One of my friends just sent me this link so i have not seen a clean cut of this for a long time. We did multiple endings as well. Crazy days in advertising.
Thanks for sharing that!
Ho Flano, I hope you are well.
I haven’t seen this commercial in years. I recognized you right away and was so happy to hear you – YES a talking part in this commercial. I remember the Bud Dry one as well with Ian Zieringand.
Every year in the same class together since Mrs. Jon sons 2nd grade all the way to Mango. I was do excited when all the switching started in 7th grade; on A days and B days we has the same exact schedule. You didn’t notice, I did. My 5th grade crush.
Stay humble and happy