Amazing new Chipotle commercial

[Son of Gob]

This aired tonight during the Grammys. Thanks to chiffon for finding the video.

[Son of Gob]

1. This comment on Youtube made me laugh

terrible commercial. congrats on losing hundreds of commercial farmers business, Chipotle
bn12345ify 6 minutes ago

[chiffon]

2. Wow. Talk about timing...I luvs me some Willie

How apropos!

“Willie Nelson calls for Occupy the Food System”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101613834

[WheelWalker]

3. Just saw it.

Fantastic. Loved it. However, I truly don't know what "Chipotle" is.

[Son of Gob]

5. They are a fast food burrito chain

I've never really cared for their burritos but I like the message they're sending.

[rexcat]

18. Since McDonalds sold them...

they have improved their products and do support the small, non-corporate farmers. If one does go out and eat "fast" food they are a better alternative than McDonads, Burger King, etc. but nothing beats a local independent restaurant.

[KansDem]

20. Thanks for this information!

I hadn't realized McDonald's sold them. I may give them a try!

(I've been avoiding McD's since the 1970s for a variety of reasons)

[davidlynch]

4. That was really something else loved it my wife made me stop what I was doing to watch it on Tivo.

[BadGimp]

6. you guys know who owns Chipotle right?

think golden Arches...

don't get fooled again people..

[Son of Gob]

8. I read they haven't owned Chipotle since 2006

EDIT : They did, this blog explains it well - http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/06/does-mcdonalds-own-chipotle-mailbag/

It was then in January 2006 that McDonalds said goodbye to Chipotle, spinning off the company in an IPO on the NYSE, saying they wanted to concentrate on their core business.

Technically though, that was not the end. McDonalds continued to hold a large amount of class B shares of Chipotle for another 6 months, and these class B shares contained over 80% of the voting rights to the company. McDonalds then authorized the final divestment deal in October of 2006 whereby their own shareholders could exchange McDonalds stock for the remaining class B voting shares of Chipotle. According to SEC documents, this was done for tax purposes.

So, since October 2006, Chipotle has not been owned by McDonalds but much of the company’s DNA and supply chain management is likely taken directly from McDonalds. Chipotle now trades as an independent company on the NYSE under the call sign, CMG.

The video highlights Chipotle’s commitment to buying from pasture-raised hog rearing operations. Many of these operations are small in nature, so there is an implicit commitment to sustainable farming practices. We cannot be sure of exactly how local or regional Chipotle’s supply chain (those are trade secrets), but in the fast food arena, they are the leader in this space. Chipotle was the first restaurant to remove rBGH for all their milk products, buys from family farms and makes a real, financial commitment to sustainable meat.

Video at link - http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7857921

[Son of Gob]

7. From the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/click-track/post/coldplay-bested-by-chipotle-commercial-with-a-willie-nelson-cover-of-their-song/2012/02/12/gIQAoa7k9Q_blog.html

Coldplay bested by Chipotle commercial with a Willie Nelson cover of their song
By Maura Judkis
It was not a tough act to follow: A too-long Coldplay performance that made all but the band’s biggest fans yawn. But Coldplay’s Grammy performance was quickly followed up by a better one — a Coldplay song, “The Scientist,” covered by Willie Nelson, in a commercial for Chipotle.

The commercial actually debuted online in August, but the contrast of it following a Coldplay performance was a stark one: Grammy viewers tweeting along called it the best Grammy performance, even though it wasn’t even part of the show.

Chipotle encouraged viewers to download the song on iTunes, with proceeds benefiting the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. The two-minute-long commercial, which is the company’s first national television spot, highlighted Chipotle’s sustainable farming practices. The commercial was named AdWeek’s second-best commercial of the year.

From AdWeek : http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/10-best-commercials-2011-136663?page=9

Chipotle served up the most stirring and thought-provoking environmental spot of 2011 with this stop-motion gem from CAA and Nexus director Johnny Kelly, with a major assist from Willie Nelson. Having pioneered the use of organic, locally grown ingredients in fast food (and launched a foundation to support sustainable farming), Chipotle wanted to communicate its green philosophy in an artful and poignant way.

The resulting spot tells the story of a farmer who builds his small operation into a giant industrial machine—penning in his animals, fattening them with chemicals, chopping them up in slaughter machines, and polluting nearby rivers in the process. Eventually he has a crisis of conscience, and reverts to his old way of doing things—releasing the animals to roam and graze, adding wind turbines to his fields, and giving his organic, free-range meat to a visiting Chipotle van. The visuals are breathtaking. But what makes the spot truly transcendent is the music—a commissioned cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist" by Willie Nelson. The song is lyrically perfect, emotionally rousing, and sung gorgeously by the 78-year-old country legend.

Overall, the spot is a marvel of craft, visually and musically. And it answers its own call, with all proceeds from the sale of Nelson's song on iTunes going to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

[starroute]

9. I'd never heard of them before today -- but there's an article on them in Slate

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/02/chipotle_is_apple_how_the_burrito_chain_is_revolutionizing_fast_food_.html

Hunting for business success stories in a recession is a difficult (and sometimes depressing) task. Most of the feel-good stories seem to come from the high-tech world and the burgeoning app economy. One important exception is Chipotle Mexican Grill, a company that shows there’s clearly room for growth and innovation in even the most basic sectors of the economy. . . .

Chipotle’s growth since its 2006 IPO should be seen as a great American success story. There’s nothing new about fast food, of course. But it’s not as if Steve Jobs invented the cellphone.

In many ways, the Chipotle burrito is very similar to the iPhone. Founder Steve Ells invented a way to maintain the basic speed and experience of the standard fast-food experience and make the quality of the food a little better.* The better food costs a bit more money, but consumers turn out to be happy to pay a premium for a superior product. A similar insight is behind privately held Five Guys, a burger-oriented fast-food concept that’s also grown rapidly over the past several years. At the other end of the health spectrum there’s Chop’t, the assembly-line salad chain that’s taken New York and D.C. by storm but hasn’t yet gone national. All three chains are, in their different ways, raising the bar for food quality in a quick-service setting.

[Son of Gob]

10. Good article

Thanks.

[Son of Gob]

11. REALLY Cool Behind the Scenes Making of the Commercial

If you have 8 minutes to spare watch how they made this.

Also the New York Times had a good article about this a few days ago - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/business/media/chipotle-ad-promotes-sustainable-farming.html

Instead, Chipotle took a more upbeat approach, creating an animated film with puppets to show a family farmer switching first to factory farming, then back to the sustainable approach of turning animals out to pasture. After showing the film, called “Back to the Start,” first online and then in movie theaters, the company decided to turn it into its first national commercial. The two-minute ad will be shown on Sunday’s Grammy Awards telecast, and viewers will be urged to download, via iTunes, the song that accompanies it — a Willie Nelson rendition of “The Scientist” by Coldplay.

The proceeds from the downloads are to go to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. Chipotle’s founder, Steve Ells, started the foundation last year to encourage sustainable farming methods and family farming. A major selling point for the fast-food chain, whose 1,230 outlets brought in nearly $2.3 billion in sales last year, has been the fresh and sustainably grown ingredients, including pork and beef, in its burritos and tacos.

National television is a new tack for the 19-year-old company, which has produced some advertising on local television but mostly has employed radio, billboards and digital advertising. The Grammy Awards, which this year will feature performances by Bruce Springsteen and Adele, among others, is a much bigger arena. Last year the telecast drew more than 26 million viewers, the most since 2000, and at least that many are expected to watch this year’s ceremony.


Chipotle, which does not employ an advertising agency, devised its marketing approach based on its own research, which it said showed that 75 percent of its 800,000 daily customers came for the taste, value and convenience of its food. Those are positive reasons, but expected for any food franchise that wants to be successful. So to get customers more passionately involved, the company decided it “needed to have a general, higher-level message and to tell the story in a more approachable way,” said Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle’s chief marketing officer. “And we wanted to make the message interesting and entertaining,” he added.

[denbot]

12. I'm still pissed I spent almost $13 there last Thursday for a burrito, chips and a coke.

Pissed, but if Chipotle's is commited to substainable practices I'll eat there again.

[Son of Gob]

13. Yeesh, I didn't realize it was that expensive

It's been about 5 years since I've been to one. I don't care for rice in my burrito and I prefer refried beans to actual pinto beans or black beans.

[JI7]

16. if you don't get the chips and soda it will be under 8 dollars

[Firebrand Gary]

14. Thanks to Son of Gob for posting this.

If we want messaging that promotes our ideals and beliefs, its important that we recognize it when they do.

[Son of Gob]

15. Thanks alot Gary

Alot of people saw this on the Grammys. So hopefully word of mouth leads more eyeballs to see the commercial and more importantly the message. This needs to go viral.

[qb]

17. Their burritos are damn tasty... and so large I often split one with my son.

[a kennedy]

21. This video won the top award.....I did like it very much.

An emotion-provoking campaign for fast food company Chipotle Mexican Grill took the top awards in the film and branded content categories at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Chipotle worked with Creative Artists Agency to create a short, animated film that promoted its use of food from sustainable farms. That "back to the start"-themed clip showed a famer who realized that he had turned his property into a factory-like setting where animals were cooped up, processed and then sent off to be eaten. After some self-reflection, the farmer decides to transition back to more sustainable farming method

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/livefrom/post/2012/06/chiptole-wins-big-at-cannes-ad-fest-/1#.T-ZbG46f-5Q

[Son of Gob]

22. Wow, that's awesome

Thanks for posting!