AdMiration feature: Chipotle’s “Unfolded”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to Chipotle’s “Unfolded” ad, which highlights the importance of sustainable farming and the use of real ingredients in their food. 

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens to a shot of a Chipotle burrito bowl placed in front of a paper bag with the Chipotle logo and the words “for Real” underneath. The scene then dives into the paper bag, where an animated film begins, showcasing a red paper truck filled to the brim with fresh food as a rendition of “She's a Rainbow” by Halsey starts to play. As the truck drives on from the initial farm stop, the scene unfolds into plentiful paper farmlands filled with farm animals, produce and energy resources like wind turbines and solar panels.   

The truck makes its way into the city and comes to a stop outside of a Chipotle storefront and begins unloading all the fresh produce. To close, the scene pans out as the words “Cultivate a better world” appear on screen and returns the the beginning shot of the Chipotle “Real food” bag with their popular burrito bowl.   

3 facts

• “Unfolded” performed exceptionally well in driving Sales Impact (92) and Brand Impact (73), ranking in the top 10% of US ads for sales impact and top 30% of all US ads for brand impact.

• With 82% of viewers remembering the brand (well above the 68% average), the ad successfully creates a strong brand connection. The ad also helps set Chipotle apart from other fast food brands (brand distinctiveness 3.9 vs. the 3.7 average).

• We see time and time again that animals are key drivers of positive emotion (and in this case, even when they're not real!) The presence of animals in the ad drove emotional engagement, with peaks of love reaching 16% when they appeared, highlighting their positive impact on audience sentiment.

2 learnings

• Being different from the category can help you stand out. Under 10% of advertising is set in a rural setting (and 80% of fast-food advertising is set indoors), making this ad highly different from what's expected. The unique setting combined with a beautiful visual style and compelling music from a popular artist produced a distinctive ad that audiences knew could only be for Chipotle.   

• Purpose-driven advertising works when it feels authentic. Chipotle’s commitment to real ingredients and ethical sourcing are real and don’t feel like green-washing to viewers. The execution of the ad is very authentic and does a beautiful job of demonstrating where the ingredients come from.

1 reflection

Is there something unique about your brand or positioning that would allow you to authentically break category codes, stand out and be true to your brand? Unlike most fast food ads, Chipotle slowed things down and embraced nature with this feel-good spot — taking on a tone that isn’t typical for the category. But just because it isn’t typical, doesn’t mean it can’t still ring true for your brand. Chipotle matched the style of their ad with their brand pledge to help support the future of farming and sustainability — a message which came through clearly.

Chipotle’s “Unfolded” was created to generate awareness for the future of sustainable agriculture. The animated film was produced by Venables Bell & Partners and brought to life by the Grammy-nominated artist Halsey. 

Halsey shares, “I had a blast collaborating with Chipotle on this creative piece that brings attention to sustainable agriculture and allowed me to cover such an iconic song in the process."

This ad is also the first ad by a restaurant to premiere a national TV ad in the metaverse, which premiered on Roblox in the virtual Carnitas Cinema within the Chipotle Burrito Builder experience. 

As part of Chipotle's larger commitment to give $5 million by the end of 2025 to support the future of farming, part of this campaign included pledging $2 million across leading universities to support educational programs that advance the future of farming, which includes four $500,000 contributions to:

• The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 

• Cal State Monterey Bay College of Science 

• Colorado State University College of Agricultural Sciences 

• University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences 

Chris Brandt, Chief Brand Officer at Chipotle, shares, "How we grow our food is how we grow our future. As a brand dedicated to agriculture that is good for both people and the planet, Chipotle is always exploring opportunities to advance the industry and support farmers. These impactful projects, headed by some of the brightest minds in ag innovation, create optimism for widespread adoption of sustainable agriculture and the future of real food."

Chipotle’s “Uncovered” ad resonated very well with consumers, scoring high in potential to drive short term sales, landing in the top 10% of US ads and the top 30% in potential for building the brand in the longer term (Sales Impact: 92, Brand Impact: 73).

The overall purchase uplift from the ad landed at 24% (compared to a norm of 19%) which is in line with the norm, but this increased even further among people under 36, landing at 27% — which is significantly above the norm!

The ad was also seen as highly distinctive among all viewers, with an ad distinctiveness score of 4.2 (compared to a norm of 3.8) and 5% talking about this spontaneously as their key source of likes. This can largely be due to the difference of this ad (slow-paced and emotive) when compared to the typical advertising styles for fast food brands (fast-paced and intense).

Another point of distinction was the setting of the ad. 80% of fast food advertising is set indoors and even outside of fast food advertising, under 10% of advertising is set in a rural setting, making this spot highly different from what's expected, appreciated by viewers and clearly for Chipotle.

Viewers found it easy to identify the ad was for Chipotle in spite of it breaking category codes, with brand recall landing at 82%, significantly above the norm of 68%. This is because the ad remained true to the Chipotle brand and just as importantly, the ad structure ensured Chipotle had a clear role in the action. 

Chipotle did a great job of introducing the logo in a way that allowed people to know who the ad was for early on without jarring with the action. The placement of the logo on the bag they dive into to see the “Chipotle world” as well as on the truck that’s followed throughout the story allowed people to easily recognize it's a Chipotle ad.

The combination of being highly distinctive advertising and being clearly Chipotle results in a brand distinctiveness score of 3.9, significantly above the norm of 3.7.

Viewers also found the ad to be relevant to them, with a relevance score of 3.8 (compared to a norm of 3.6). Some of the key category drivers here were the clear cues of freshness, resulting in 71% of viewers relating Chipotle with being fresh and 40% of viewers spontaneously talking about the freshness and quality of ingredients. On top of that, 20% of viewers also talked about natural ingredients as their key “like” which is a great indication of the narrative to implicitly communicate the naturalness of Chipotle.

The visual effects and experience also drove much of the “likes” from viewers, with 48% (almost half!) spontaneously talking about this as their key like, followed by 36% for the music. This makes for a really powerful experience, with the visuals and audio working together to set a mood that people really enjoy.

Overall, people really liked this ad! There are a lot of love and like reactions throughout the spot, with “love” outpacing “like” when the animals are introduced and spiking with the close ups of the pigs (with some also finding this moment funny) — making for an overall positive response to the ad. 

Here’s what some people had to say about the ad:

• "This ad showed me their entire process through animation which I really liked. They beautifully depicted the entire process of collecting their food from the moment it reaches the factory to delivering it. Their ad is very beautiful and I liked it."

• "It shows where the fresh food is coming from and is delivered fresh to the stores. It also shows energy sources in the ad for making / cultivating a better world."

• "I liked the animation style and the song synced well with what was going on in the ad. It also felt very positive in general."

• "I like the music and the animation is great. Promotes their fresh food and green energy."

• "I like the colors, it ties in with the message of feeling good about what you’re eating. And it is memorable."

• "I like the message and the graphics. Their message was made clear that they use fresh ingredients."

This was a positive, feel-good and musically charged spot from Chipotle that unsurprisingly resonated very well with consumers! What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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