Chipotle is targeting big food chains and virtual video games in a new ad.
The Mexican food chain, posted "The Scarecrow," a three-and-a-half minute animated anti-big food video and downloadable game.
Despite the logo name only appearing in small print in the game's beginning and displayed only after the video is over, food critics are taking the video as a challenge to the fast food restaurant competitors.
According to USA Today, the video is a part of a four-part series, that will be posted in 2014. For Chipotle, it's all about linking its name with the strong millennial values to eat better, eat local and brand lightly.
"We're trying to educate people about where their food comes from," Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing officer at Chipotle told USA Today. "[Millennials] are skeptical of brands that perpetuate themselves."
In the game and video, a scarecrow emerges on a mission to bring wholesome food back to the average family by providing an alternative outlet to processed foods. In the film food production is ran by fictional evil crows. The scarecrows are displaced from their traditional jobs on the farm and are forced to work for the evil crows by helping them maintain their unsustainable processed food system.
"The crows control the scarecrows," Crumpacker said. "It's a parallel of the industrial food system in the U.S., which is upside down."
According to USA Today, the project was created with Academy Award-winning Moonbot Studios. Chipotle will be giving away up to 1 million buy-one-get-one offers to consumers who successfully play the game.
"Chipotle's marketing strategy makes sense because the ecosystem of advertising has fundamentally changed," said brand consultant David Vinjamuri. "Chipotle is replying on social messages to connect the message to the brand."