Chipotle: Back to the Start

I'm not sure if they are in Europe or not, but if they are I have never heard of fast-food chain Chipotle but this short film is produced by them to highlight what I am told are their sustainable farming methods (or the methods of those they source their ingredients from). I am not sure if the reality is totally as the film shows it, but the plot here sees a traditional farmer move towards much more industrialized and mechanized methods of food production before he regrets his decision and longs for the old days back.

The message is a nice one (although again I would say the film is a commercial so may not fully be representative of the reality) and the film is nicely engaging in how it delivers it. The film flows to the right in terms of space but also in terms of time and we see a farm turn into a factory and then back again. It is cheerfully animated so it is easy to forget that ultimately these cute pigs we see are just raised for slaughter, but it is an understandable look and feel. The invention is there in the small detail and I very much enjoyed the look of it throughout. Under the visuals we have a Coldplay track, but wait, it is a cover sung by Willie Nelson, which is perhaps a little bit too heavy on the "reflective" and "good ol' days" buttons, but it still works and it does set the mood.

I cannot comment on the content of the message as it relates to Chipotle (after all, they paid for this to be made – it wasn't the case of Kelly being inspired by their methods to make this short) but although it is a commercial, it does work anyway. The animation is very smooth and cleverly done, the use of Nelson sets the mood well and ultimately the message is a good one and one worthy of supporting – whether you support it specifically at Chipotle or not.