The Denver Egotist has come out habañero-hot against the latest work for burrito kings Chipotle, done by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. And they might just have a point.
The emperor’s new clothes look a lot like Taco Bell’s old hoodies.
Granted, any Denverite and especially any ad-monkey Denverite is going to be pissy about work done for the Denver-based Chipotle by an out-of-state hotshot agency. In fact, any agency following the brilliantly scattered and genuine big foil torpedo work of the late-90s/early-aughts was destined for ridicule by legions of barbacoa-devouring Chipotle loyalists. TDA, as close to Denver as you can get without actually being a tight-jeaned, be-vested, check-out-my-black-lab Broncos fan, did some decent and close-in work for Chipotle not long ago, and even that had a hard time standing up to the legendary billboards armed with nothing but a smartass headline and a shiny, iconic brick.
But the work done by BSSP is a complete 180. Even if it were the absolutely best marketing direction to take (and that remains to be proven…this is a test-market trial of the menu), this stuff was guaranteed to infuriate an incredibly loyal, marketing-savvy fan base.
Read The Egotist’s take on it and see what you think. We think they’re maybe a little over the top in terms of outrage. Seriously, do they just want Chipotle to do the same outdoor they’ve been doing for, what, ten years? Brands evolve, markets change, and both sometimes drastically. Do we agree with the low roller menu? No. Do we think Chipotle should just keep doing the same damn thing that worked in 1999? Um, hell no.
And if you’re wondering why we’re talking about all this, (a) a few of us here at Marlin are recovering Coloradans and (b) Chipotle rocks our mouth holes. Often.
Addendum:
The Egotist has now taken things one step further.
