We wanted Chipotle to stand for being “As Real As It Gets”. Not just when it comes to food, but also when it comes to culture.

It is a campaign that celebrates candor, transparency, and honesty in ways that are self-aware and self-deprecating. In these films, a larger than life Chipotle Burrito is used as a metaphor that represents ‘all things real’. This burrito serves as a confessional to visitors— a safe space where people can enter to confess their thoughts, fears, and secrets.

Upon entering the surprisingly large and sophisticated space, our guests are greeted by a piano player and an all-knowing voice from above who acts as their guide to help them get honest with themselves. The voice of this self-trained, malevolent therapist is played by Jeffrey Tambor.

Comedian John Mulaney comes upon a larger-than-life Chipotle Burrito. He enters inside to find a surprisingly large and sophisticated space where he is greeted by a piano player and a voice from above (played by Jeffrey Tambor). The voice of the burrito acts as a sort of makeshift therapist who asks that John share something ‘real’ about himself. John confesses that despite being a comedian, he was terrified of crowds as a kid. He shares that he is writing a book about it. The voice of the Burrito suggests some less than helpful and insulting book titles for John. 

We are just 15 days into the campaign but the reactions so far have been very positive.

On the latest earning calls with Wall Street analysts, the CMO declared the campaign to be a “playful and humorous effort aimed at rebuilding the brand narrative and stressed that it is considered a brand building effort”

The national TV launch is the first time Chipotle has engaged in significant broadcast campaign. The sales figures are a closely guarded financial secret at this point (until the next quarterly earns report) but the share price has rebounded and is trading at a 52-week high.