The Scarcrow and Chipotle

In the days before the digital world the key in the world of fast food was ease of access, location of, and sheer numbers of these restaurants. To raise awareness these chains sponsored events, both nationally and locally, to keep their band in the mind of the customer. Now with digital marketing these fast food brands are exploring different ways to remind customers of who they are, and in the case of Chipotle, their ‘organic’ food; that their food is fresh and not tampered by science.

Chipotle’s release last week of a viral video which also includes a game: The Scarecrow, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5ScS is a hunting animation reminding us of all the processed food which we as a society take as the norm. It reminds us of the battery  farms where animals never see light, are packed together in spaces which they cannot move and injected with growth hormones etc.

If you already familiar with the brand then as soon as you see the chilli pepper appear then you would know what the advert is for. However, as someone who has never eaten at Chipotle and is not very aware of the brand I only knew who the video was advertising at the very end when the Chipotle stamp appeared. But by that point I felt like rushing to wholefoods and never eating at a fast food restaurant again.

It is an extremely fine line to tread – to create a video which they hoped would go viral ,with a message similar of the movie Food Inc. and countless books and articles, to help differentiate their brand to other fast food companies. During the video a piece of meat is shown with the title of ‘beef-ish’.  Yet, seeing as Chipotle is owned by MacDonald’s I wonder if this was a sly dig at Chipotle’s ultimate boss. Even if not intended, it was enough to make me want to stay clear of companies like MacDonald’s forever.