Chipotle Mexican announced Chipotle superfans Azzi Fudd and Jaiden Fields will join Team Chipotle and become the brand’s first college athlete ambassadors.
Chipotle will collaborate with Fudd and Fields throughout the year to promote its “Real Food For Real Athletes” platform, which is focused on helping athletes of all levels perform their best through real food and real ingredients. They will also be the first college athletes to receive Chipotle celebrity cards, which are held by a small, elite group of celebrities, athletes, and influencers and grant access to free Chipotle.
Fudd is a highly accomplished and celebrated basketball player from Arlington, VA. She is a graduate of St. John’s High School in Washington, DC, where she was a 3x DC Player of the Year, 2x National Player of the Year, and 3x Gold Medal winner as a member of USA Basketball.
Jaiden Fields’ brother, pro football quarterback Justin Fields, previously teamed up with Chipotle to launch the Justin Fields Bowl featuring Sofritas, brown rice, fajita veggies, romaine lettuce, and guac, leading up to the pro football draft. Jaiden and Justin are the first siblings to score sponsorship deals with Chipotle.
Over the next year, Fudd will help Chipotle identify an organization close to her that supports underrepresented communities and have this group featured on Chipotle’s real change platform. Through real change on the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com, guests can round-up their change to the next highest dollar amount to support featured organizations driving real change and cultivating a better world. Since the program’s inception in 2020, Chipotle has raised more than $8 million for groups like the National Urban League, Kids In Need Foundation, and the Trevor Project, among others.
“Our real food has long been an integral part of elite college athletes’ diets, and we’re excited to finally begin fueling their careers in an official capacity,” says Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer. “In addition, we want to empower role models like Azzi to rally fans and give back to causes that are important to them through our real change program.”
Shortly after the NCAA’s policy change that allowed college athletes to profit off their name and likeness, Chipotle published a tweet on July 1 that encouraged fans to tag a college athlete that needs a Chipotle sponsorship (see here).
In response, Chipotle had thousands of requests for sponsorships from college athletes around the country and the brand has since responded by giving nearly 3,000 college athletes ten (10) free entrees in their Chipotle Rewards account to recognize their fandom.
Chipotle is committed to working with college athletes who are true fans of the brand. Its team is constantly using social listening tools to identify potential partners who are regularly talking about the brand on social media.
