A heartwarming short film– a marketing scheme in disguise?

A seemingly thought-provoking film made to raise awareness about sustainable food production turns out to be an advertisement for a widespread fast food chain’s new game campaign.

This video starts with a simple yet clear message: the harsh reality and cruelty of animal farms worldwide. The protagonist, a scarecrow, is seen as an innocent victim being controlled by robotic crows. The scarecrow represents Chipotle. Typically, a scarecrow is a protector used to keep crows from harming a farmer’s crop. By presenting themselves as the scarecrow, Chipotle presents themselves as protectors of food and sustainable food production. There is a factor of irony here, as the non-protagonist scarecrows fail to protect the food from crows and are instead being controlled by the mechanical crows. 

A compelling use of pathos is seen throughout the whole video.  Halfway into the video, there are many cows stuffed together in metal boxes that are only the size of their bodies. One cow looks back and seems to say, “Help” with its eyes. The cow is depicted with doe eyes, seeming almost human-like. These cows are being trapped under the surveillance of mechanical crows. Instead of being typical crows, these crows are presented as ‘mechanical,’ convincing the viewers of the lack of empathy these crows have for the harsh industrial environment. Furthermore, the crows being portrayed as machines connects them to the mechanical aspects of industrial farming. The crows are often perched on scarecrows' shoulders, evoking the image of the ‘devil on your shoulder.’

As the video ends, the protagonist (Chipotle) rebels against these huge industries and decides to open his own environmentally friendly store. The scarecrow (unsurprisingly) serves a fresh burrito bowl (an extremely unsubtle reference to Chipotle’s menu), and all the people are seen moving away from the heavily industrialized food to line up for the scarecrow’s natural food.

Overall, this advertisement was very effective in moving people by appealing to their emotions. Though there was controversy around the message behind the video, it can’t be denied that the advertisement was successful in bringing attention to Chipotle.