Chipotle Cultivate Foundation Keeps Branding in the Background for Message Films on Sustainable Agriculture

Corporations trying to be hip can come across as tone-deaf when they try to co-opt pop culture to send a branding message. But burrito-monger Chipotle is doing it right, working with agency CAA to commission haunting, genre-bending music videos promoting its Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which works to raise awareness about sustainable agriculture. In August, the Mexican food chain debuted “Back to the Start,” an animated short decrying factory farming set against the backdrop of Willie Nelson crooning a Coldplay song. Now, it’s back with “Abandoned,” a four-minute film set to a cover of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O that raises awareness of its annual Halloween-themed Boorito fundraiser.

“Abandoned” works because it feels like a music video, not a message film about the plight of American family farms. Only at the very end of the clip is Chipotle’s branding established, along with a pitch for Farm Aid. It’s directed by David Altobelli, whose other music video work includes similarly moody, unhurried clips for Philip Selway, Cults, and Sia. (As one YouTube commenter cracked, “It’s as if Chipotle hired Don Draper.” That’s a compliment, right?) If Chipotle continues choosing collaborators who lavish this kind of understated care on music and images, this will be a series to watch.

Credits

Director: David Altobelli [web site]
Producer: Jonathan Wang
Exec. Producer: Danielle Hinde
Prod Co.: Doomsday
Agency: CAA & Chipotle

DP: Larkin Seiple
Editor: Luke Lynch
Production Design: John Furgason
AD: Jesse Fleece
Stylist: Robert Eggars
Music Producer: Justin Stanley
Colorist: Gabriele Turchi

Starring: Atticus Maloney, Morgan Christopher Cohen, and Matthew Weschler