Jack in the Box JACK -2.28% is jumping on the virtual bandwagon.

In an effort to promote its new Jack’s Brewhouse Bacon Burger, the fast-food chain had a virtual-reality film produced to give “an immersive experience.”

My hope: being able to taste and smell a burger without the guilty calories.

The (virtual) reality: sitting in a bar with two women on one side eyeing my burger, while a rowdy man on the other argues with the bartender. After the bartender serves a beer (which I can’t actually drink in real life), Jack--the chain’s iconic mascot with a pointy nose and yellow hat--serves up the burger himself.

The fast-food company, known for its wonky TV commercials, is taking its first step into marketing in virtual reality, an area that advertisers have for years been saying is poised to take off. According to estimates from research firm Forrester, approximately 52 million units of virtual reality will be in enterprise and consumer use in the U.S. by 2020.

Even Jack in the Box admits virtual reality may not be quite ready for the mainstream, at least when it comes to promoting a juicy cheeseburger. The VR experience was designed specifically for members of the media to get as close as possible to Jack and the new menu item, according to Richard Cran, ‎vice president of marketing communications at Jack in the Box. The chain has no locations in New York.

“The days where TV commercials and a banner ad look exactly same, personally, I don’t think and we don’t think is the most engaging way to tell a story to customers. But you need to have some narrative thread that links all the pieces, even though they may be a little different,” said Mr. Cran. “The press got the thread presented in a way that was very personal and one-on-one, and VR enabled that. Our consumers broadly will get that through television and streaming video and digital television.”

Ty Henderson, a marketing professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said virtual reality presents a strange rift in the marketing industry. For food companies, it could leave a weird aftertaste with consumers, whereas VR may be a more appropriate fit for the automobile industry, he said.

Mr. Henderson said multi-platform marketing strategies playing with virtual reality could gather buzz for a company, but he said it may not be effective for advertising. The technology is expensive and production can be costly.

Mr. Cran declined to comment on how much the VR experience cost to produce but said its public relations agency worked with a partner that provided a good value for the content.

This isn’t likely to be Jack in the Box’s last foray into an alternate reality. Mr. Cran hinted that the company may be looking to get in on the Pokémon Go mobile gaming craze that’s bringing augmented reality into the mainstream.

Corrections & Amplifications:

Jack in the Box’s new burger is called Jack’s Brewhouse Bacon Burger. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the burger was called Jack’s Bacon Brewhouse Burger.

Write to Cassandra Jaramillo at cassandra.jaramillo@wsj.com