Chipotle’s gone digital. And no, I’m not talking about 3D printed burritos. I’m talking about Farmed and Dangerous, a four-episode TV miniseries created by Chipotle execs that became available on Hulu February 17th. Although I personally could watch a whole show dedicated to mouth-watering footage of the popular Mexican chain’s menu, this satirical project focuses on the issues surrounding industrial agriculture.
You’re probably wondering how satire and industrial agriculture fit together, at least I know I was when I first heard about this odd makeup of a television show. Apparently the answer is as simple as two words: exploding cows.
BusinessWeek explains how this is the main problem in the miniseries. To put it briefly, a fictional company Animoil tries to market a new animal feed made of petroleum, PetroPellet, even though it causes cows to blow up. Bon Appetit also reveals that Chipotle’s chief marketing officer Mark Crumpacker liked the original script presented by the director, but insisted it be funnier.
When the show’s trailers hit the Internet there was some initial confusion whether it was a TV show or an ad campaign. I guess Chipotle has decided to put sustainability before profits, as the show doesn’t directly feature the restaurant or its products. You can’t deny that there are some ulterior motives, like pushing their organic agriculture marketing campaign, but hey, they managed to find a pretty creative way to do it.
The way I see it, Chipotle is genius. They combine some of the greatest things about society into one TV show: entertainment, sustainability and most importantly, food. Watching Farmed and Dangerous makes me appreciate its humor and underlying message, while automatically associating all of these things with Chipotle. I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing more restaurants trying out these creative marketing strategies too.
If you’re looking for more info about exploding cows and all of that good stuff, check out the Farmed and Dangerous website here. Bonus: John Sloan (who plays Chip Randolph in the show) isn’t too hard on the eyes…
Bravo Chipotle, bravo.