Chipotle Mexican Grill announced the launch of the “As Real as It Gets” advertising campaign created to support the company’s commitment to using only real ingredients. The launch of the campaign follows the recent announcement that Chipotle is the only national restaurant brand without added colors, flavors, or preservatives—artificial or natural—in any of the ingredients it uses to prepare its food (except for lemon and lime juice, which can be used as preservatives, though Chipotle uses them only for taste).
The “As Real as It Gets” campaign includes a series of videos with Sam Richardson, Jillian Bell, and John Mulaney ‘getting real’ as they lounge inside a surprisingly spacious burrito voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. The comedians get real by revealing their fears, desires and secrets inside the burrito. The campaign also features radio, outdoor, digital video and banners, and social advertising that similarly conveys Chipotle’s commitment to being real.
“In a world full of fakery and half-truths, it’s invigorating to hear a brand tell it like it is,” says Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer for Chipotle. “This campaign challenges the conventions of fast food advertising by being completely real—not only about our food, but about the world we live in—and it does so with an optimism and playful humor that’s very much in line with our brand.”
Developed with Venables Bell & Partners, “As Real as It Gets” represents the company’s first use of national broadcast television as a significant component of an advertising campaign. Last year, Chipotle tested television advertising in some markets, but this campaign represents a broader use of video across broadcast, cable, and digital.
“We’re thrilled to help create the next chapter for this great brand with a campaign that conveys Chipotle’s commitment to doing the right thing and offering real, quality food,” says Will McGinness, partner and executive creative director at Venables Bell & Partners. “We set out to avoid all the conventions of fast food advertising. Using humor and a commitment to telling it like it is, we cut through the clutter of confusing claims, limited time offers or farmers holding produce, and created a campaign that is very true to who they are.”
Media planning and buying for the campaign was done by MullenLowe MediaHub.
The release of the “As Real as it Gets” campaign supports Chipotle’s commitment to using only real ingredients in its food. The company recently announced that it had rolled out new tortillas—used for their burritos, tacos, and chips—that eliminated the use of preservatives and dough conditioners leaving the brand with only 51 real ingredients that are readily available at a farmer’s market or grocery store. The milestone furthers the company’s mission to ensure that better food, prepared from whole, unprocessed ingredients is accessible to everyone.
Chipotle has championed quality ingredients and the use of local, organically grown produce when practical, dairy from cows raised in pasture, meats from animals raised without hormones or non-therapeutic antibiotics, and the use of ingredients that have not been genetically modified throughout the company’s tenure.
