Authenticity is key in today's media landscape. When an endearing interview about corn was remixed into a viral sensation, some brands may have just responded with a social comment or used the content’s trending sound.

Having spotted this growing trend early, Chipotle tapped into fans' love for Chipotle Corn Salsa, creating an authentic connection with the Corn Kid himself all within 17 hours. By proactively engaging with the timely conversation and building upon it, Chipotle showed how brands can become an integral part of a trending conversation leading to its best performing social content ever and 1.2B PR impressions.

In the summer of 2022, an interview with 7-year old Tariq started to take over the internet. The adorable kid described his favorite food, corn, while enjoying it on camera. The interview was then dueted and remixed by a popular TikTok musician, and within days, it became an internet sensation.

Chipotle knew they had to act fast. As a brand with its own famous Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa, they recognized an opportunity to connect with their audience in a unique way.

The brief was clear: find an authentic way to join the ‘Corn Kid’ conversation that would be shareable and stand out from the crowd. The objective was to create an organic narrative that would resonate with Chipotle fans and press.

As Tariq's passion for corn spread into every corner of popular culture, Chipotle recognized the need for a fresh approach to engage its audience. Acting fast and staying true to the brand, an ingenious concept was born that would resonate with Chipotle fans and beyond.

The idea was simple, but highly relevant: take the iconic Chipotle ordering experience of selecting ingredients down the line, but make it just about… you guessed it… corn.

Once it was confirmed that Tariq was a true Chipotle fan, the team knew they’d struck gold. From concept to completing the shoot, the entire process took a mere 17 hours, leaving fans, and press, in awe of the brand's speed and creativity.

Chipotle’s innovative strategy has earned the brand recognition for its ability to leverage real-time opportunities, supercharge its super fans and expand its fandom. When ‘Corn Kid” started going viral, Chipotle seized the opportunity to connect with its corn salsa fans in an authentic and unexpected way.

As part of its strategy, Chipotle focuses on creative collaborations that resonate with Gen Z. Rather than just using the trending Corn Kid sound, Chipotle took it a gigantic step further by partnering with Tariq to create an organic, custom video that captivated the attention of its audiences and press nationwide.

In 17 hours, Chipotle reached out to Tariq and produced a fully edited video and the internet took notice. Not only did Chipotle become part of a trending conversation but it took the lead in shaping it. When media covered Corn Kid it was irresistible for them to cover Chipotle.

Chipotle became the first brand to team up with the internet sensation, Tariq, to create an authentic and uplifting video celebrating its Corn Salsa. The creative execution showcases Tariq's twist on the iconic Chipotle ordering process as he chooses corn as the sole ingredient for his burrito bowl, mirroring his love for corn expressed in his viral interview.

Chipotle proactively reached out to Tariq's team to ensure he was a genuine fan of the brand before quickly confirming the partnership. Within 17 hours, the organic video was produced at his local Chipotle and ready for Chipotle's social media channels, including TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, where it rapidly surpassed the average number of views for a Super Bowl ad in the same year. The press were quick to take notice and cover Chipotle's collaboration with Corn Kid, driving headlines and giving the brand credit for authentically engaging in a cultural conversation.

Chipotle’s Corn Kid video nearly broke the internet, driving engagements and impressions in the high millions with overwhelmingly positive sentiment.

Press took notice as they covered Chipotle’s Corn Kid in more than 745 stories, garnering 1.2 Billion PR impressions, including coverage in The New York Times.

With more than 125 Million organic video views, Corn Kid is Chipotle’s #1 top performing post ever across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

With a total talent and production budget under $25k and $0 in paid media, more people watched Chipotle’s organic Corn Kid video in 2022 than the TV broadcast of the Super Bowl that same year (where a :30 second ad spot cost approx. $6.5M to secure). Chipotle's video also drove more than 3x the viewership than Game of Thrones was reported to have secured in its final season.

The organic video inspired more than 19 million owned engagements, from comments, likes and beyond with over 1.4 Million shares alone on Instagram driving true virality.

Through its collaboration with Corn Kid, Chipotle reinforced its understanding of earned media to quickly and authentically participate in a timely conversation. The brand's connectivity to culture made it irresistible for the media to cover Chipotle's Corn Kid campaign.