In 2010, Chipotle ran an ad campaign about Chipotle ad campaigns. The premise was that Chipotle's ad agency was telling the company to put its complaints about factory farming on the back burner and instead focus on its big burritos.
Like much of Chipotle's marketing, the campaign allowed the brand to have it both ways: The company would be seen as a rebel, while shoehorning in a conventional product pitch for those big burritos. A year later, with approximately $800 million in revenue, Chipotle dropped the product pitch altogether with "Back to the Start," a video that featured a farmer who rejects the increasingly industrialized nature of his profession.
At the time of this writing, "Back to the Start" has logged more than 8 million views — quite a feat for what is essentially a treatise on modern agriculture. While the subject matter doubtlessly resounded for many, the unique execution was also part of the video's draw. The ad, created by CAA Marketing, combined an inspired pairing of artist and song (Willie Nelson and Coldplay's "The Scientist," respectively) with stylized CGI that rendered humans and pigs as spherical objects with skinny, dangling limbs.
This year, Chipotle brought CAA back for a sequel of sorts. "The Scarecrow" applies aspects of the previous ad's formula: Once again there's some inspired CGI (this time with more of a Tim Burton-esque feel). There's also a sober — even depressing — message: The happy farm of yesteryear has been replaced by soul-less factory agriculture. Finally, there's the offbeat artist/song combo (Fiona Apple singing Willy Wonka's "Pure Imagination").
The video was a hit; it now has more than 11 million views on YouTube, adding up to 49 years' worth of viewing. Additionally, Chipotle reports that the video also generated more than 12,000 Facebook posts. On Twitter, there were 31,000 tweets from more than 26,000 unique users, generating 126 million impressions. Press coverage also netted more than 500 million impressions.
Using a basic cost formula of $10/CPM to purchase media, it would cost about $5 million to purchase media with the reach generated via such press coverage. "While all of this comes from relatively early in the film's run, it certainly points to success, given that the purpose of the film was to educate people about issues in agriculture and spark conversation about these issues," says Chris Arnold, a rep for the chain.
Given such numbers, "The Scarecrow" was one of the top viral videos of 2013. In mid-December, Unruly ranked "The Scarecrow" as the No. 55 most-shared video of the year. "There is no doubt that it's a stunning piece of work with some incredible animation, but recent research has found that sharing is not really about creative appeal, but more about emotional appeal," says Ian Forrester, Unruly's insight director.
Forrester says research suggests that viewers are more apt to share ads that generate strong emotional responses. Consumers are 30% more likely to share ads that evoke positive emotions than ads that elicit negative ones. "However, what makes 'The Scarecrow' so clever is an unusual combination of both positive and negative responses," he says. "The ad is like an emotional rollercoaster; viewers are really put through the wringer."
There's a downside to stirring up strong emotions, however. In positioning itself as a public advocate for sustainable agriculture, Chipotle opened itself up to critics. Eager to capitalize on the video's appeal, some outlets ran take-down pieces on "The Scarecrow," including Mother Jones, which pointed out that Chipotle has genetically modified foods on the menu, and that its pigs aren't necessarily frolicking in a field before they're slaughtered. Most damning, however, was this Funny or Die video, which purported to expose Chipotle's motives (previously obscured by a socially conscious pitch):

Chipotle's not the first brand to present itself as an agent of change. Hayes Roth, CEO of branding consultant for Landor Associates, says a good parallel to Chipotle in the beauty industry is Dove. Over the last decade, the Unilever brand has critiqued the airbrushing and unrealistic standards of the beauty industry's marketing with its "Real Beauty" campaign. The strategy, which was originally viewed as risky, has now been credited with reviving the brand. (Indeed, Dove had the most-viral ad of 2013.)
It doesn't work for everyone, though. As Roth points out, BP tried the same tack with its "Beyond Petroleum" campaign. That resonated very well — right until the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which prompted critics to use the high-minded marketing messaging against the brand.
Such a fate — perhaps in the form of an E. coli poisoning episode — could conceivably befall Chipotle as well. Barring that, though, Chipotle has an airtight response to critics: We're just starting a conversation. "Chipotle is willing to have a conversation with anyone," says Todd Hunter, the creative director at CAA. "It is willing to back up its stance."
Indeed, the chain has even won praise from the exacting PETA, which dubbed it the "Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurant Chain" of 2013. Lest anyone get too carried away, PETA spokesman Jordah Uhl expressed reservations about the rest of Chipotle's menu that was even more damning than Funny or Die's lampoonery: "The 'Scarecrow' video was moving, and we hope that everyone who watches it realizes that, no matter how animals used for food are raised, they are still crammed onto trucks and sent to slaughterhouses, where they have their throats slit, are electrocuted or are scalded to death — because there's no such thing as 'humane meat.'"
That type of dissonance — between the slaughter of animals and the tasty food on one's plate — is familiar to any thinking gourmand. Chipotle at least deserves credit for attempting to broach the issue. While other fast food brands focus on getting you worked up for that first bite, Chipotle is more concerned about how you feel after you finish off that burrito.
Image: YouTube/Chipotle