Secret Weapon Marketing, the Santa Monica, CA-based ad agency founded by Rick Sitting is closing its doors after 27 years. 

Sittig issued a statement indicating that the agency will shutter on September 15. 

The agency is known for its nearly two-decade-long relationship with the fast-food chain Jack In The Box.  

Sitting worked on the account at Chiat Day. When the agency and client parted ways in 1997, Sittig founded his own agency with Jack In The Box as a charter client. He frequently voiced the character of “Jack” in ad campaigns for the company. 

Jack In The Box and Secret Weapon parted ways in 2015. 

For a time the agency was also the AOR for the San Diego Honda Dealers Association. That relationship followed a campaign the agency developed for the SoCal Honda Dealers, “Helpful Honda.” The campaign — documenting random acts of kindness by Honda employees — expanded to North Texas in 2017 and notched several awards, including MediaPost’s Marketing Automotive Awards in 2019. 

The closing announcement was delivered in the form of a “break up” letter with advertising.  

“Dear Advertising,” Sittig wrote,  

“You’ve been great. Really. Our 41-year relationship has been amazing. You’ve taken me on incredible adventures I could not have imagined growing up in small-town Illinois…Driving thru the Amazon rainforest in the first Nissan Pathfinder…Writing, directing and voicing Jack Box and filming him at the Vatican…Watching David Letterman smack the Energizer Bunny with a baseball bat…Surprising real people with simple and sometimes life-changing gifts courtesy of the Helpful Honda dealers. Watching God lose at tennis.”   

But, he added, “It’s obvious we’ve grown apart. We used to be crazy fans of big ideas like Dos Equis’ The Most Interesting Man in the World and Bud Light’s Real Men of Genius and Apple’s Mac vs PC and Got Milk? But lately, I’ve noticed your obsession with data and analytics, and I’m sad to say, Advertising, you’ve gotten dull. We’re not a good match anymore. I’m breaking up with you.” 

 In closing, he added, “Thank you to all the alums, clients and crew who made it happen and made it fun.”