Chipotle is known for serving their monstrously big burritos made to order. During this Sunday’s airing of the Grammy Awards on CBS, Chipotle will debut its two-minute “Back to the Start” short film that tells the story of a simple farmer. Over time, the small farm turns into a mega meat producer, where animals are no longer able to graze and eat off the land. Instead, they are enclosed in windowless buildings where they are fed and then prepared for processing, after which the meat is transported to large trucks that enter into a labyrinth of highway systems. The farmer isn’t satisfied with the practice. He makes the decision to change and revert back to the old ways, utilizing sustainable agricultural practices. Instead of a line of trucks taking the food away, we see a small Chipotle truck and the farmer setting the box in the back.
The two-minute film is visually very appealing. Made with stop motion animation, the visuals are simple and clean, the same words I think of when I see a chipotle advertisement. In their print ads, there’s always a lot of white space. In their short film, there is a notable amount of green space, further emphasizing the message that green is better, for both the farmer and the livestock, and presumably the consumer who is part of the scheme that makes this whole cycle work.
The film has no spoken dialogue. Instead, Coldplay’s song “The Scientist” is sung by Willie Nelson. Interesting that they should choose this song. There are undertones deeper here than just sustainable farming. When I first viewed this film, it made me think about fairness, understanding, and left me analyzing how in the world we’ve come to end up the way we have. The song discusses science and progress, we’re reminded that no one said it was easy… as we go back to the start. As consumers, we tend to prioritize our wants over our general needs. I fully admit that this is the case for me for a majority of my purchases. But this ad tells an interesting story, not just about food. I believe it also parallels the everyday lifestyle, the stresses and problems that we face, the changes we choose or don’t choose to make.
When I finished watching the film for the first time I thought, “wait a minute, isn’t Chipotle owned by McDonald’s? I really don’t think of sustainable farming practices when I think of McDonalds.” Well, I decided it was time to educate myself on the hard facts and I found that McDonald’s had made a minority investment in Chipotle in 1998, when the chain first launched. Chipotle became wildly popular over the years following and in 2006, McDonald’s pulled out its investment shares totaling around $1.5 billion. Not too shabby for McDonald’s, which invested $360 million when Chipotle was the new kid on the block in 1998. Back to answering my question, chipotle’s new ad campaign does indicate that the franchise supports sustainable agricultural practices. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more and more of this as the ad campaign continues. Nice ad Chipotle.
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/chipotles-famous-willie-nelson-spot-getting-run-tv-138155
It's funny that you chose this ad because it caught my attention last night too! As it was playing, my first guess of the advertiser was not Chipotle. But I thought it was a very interesting way to convey their message that they provide fresh meat and produce to their consumers. I think it will work well for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd did you notice the plug for buying Willie Nelson's version of "The Scientist" on iTunes at the end??