Chipotle: “Back to the Start” commercial

A lot of people tune in to the Grammy’s each year, which is perhaps why Chipotle chose to show their 2:20 minute commercial, “Back to the Start.”

In this video, consumerism and industrialization shines through a short clip of the farmer’s farm. Instead of free-range farming and organic feed, the farmer, throughout the commercial, is forced into an industrial farm. His pigs are injected with steroids, waste is poured into rivers, truck pollution runs rampant throughout the city, and industry takes over the farmer’s land. I have been reading a lot about this struggle to provide a balance of good food and good farming in my “Eating Your Ecology” class this semester. I have been learning that a lot of places throughout the country have begun going back to their practice of sustainable farming, and restaurants such as Chipotle only buy from small sustainable free-range farm. All in all, this commercial shows that the movement toward small farms is more accepted at this time.

The video itself is a new idea in the advertising world. Instead of showing a clip from 15-30 seconds long, Chipotle chose to take the entire ad segment to show their video. But why? Mashable muses that this ad ran so long because of its popularity. The song “The Scientist” by Coldplay, here made acoustic by Willie Nelson, is very popular within the music community. Coldplay’s music video to the song was nominated for best music video in 2004, and Willie Nelson has won 10 Grammys. Also, the show Chipotle film has been shown on YouTube (with 4 million views) and has been showing in movie theaters for over a year. Another concept that is new to the advertising world is showing commercials on YouTube before sending them to the big screen. This challenges TV as the conventional vehicle for advertising.

I am interested to see how more and more restaurants and food distributors are reacting to the push toward sustainable and organic agriculture. As I read more books in my sustainable agricultural course, I will be sure you fill you in! I love to see how the world is (finally) changing to help make the planet a better place.