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Why Last Night’s Big Win For Chipotle — Featuring Willie Nelson & Cold Play — Didn’t Even Happen On TV

February 13, 2012 — 1

UPDATE: Thanks to Chiptole for reaching out this morning after they read this post.  Turns out, McDonalds divested its share of Chipotle years ago, so Chipotle is not a “Golden Arches” company anymore.  Which might explain…

The most important thing about last night’s Chipotle commercial PSA wasn’t even the spot itself.   It was something worth more than all the media McDonald’s Chipotle bought.  And it didn’t even happen on TV. 

Johnny Kelly’s CG-animated ad for Chipotle

First, in case you missed it, here’s last night’s spot, created by animator Johnny Kelly, featuring Willie Nelson covering Cold Play’s “Back to the Start.”  It’s Chiptole’s first ever national campaign:

Yes, the spot’s really, really good.  

Yes, it premiered during the Grammy’s, reaching many millions of viewers who’d never seen the brand on TV before. 

Yes, positive interest in the brand spiked 1750% in the first minute after it launched.

Yes, sales of the original Cold Play song shot up on iTunes, immediately.

Yes, Willie Nelson made some cash and can now buy some weed Chipotle for himself.

Yes, tweets like this are all over the twittersphere:

Krista

@kristainchicago Krista

Social media at work. I had to rewind the dvr to watch the chipotle commercial. Because of twitter. And then I downloaded willie nelson.

But what really mattered most happened next.  Chipotle’s own employees took to social media to reinforce the campaign’s credibility:

 

voltaman33 (17 minutes ago)

I work at Chipotle and they do go back to the start. No hormones, RGBH, and most is organic. Truely a great movement: Food with Integrity.

When the very people who handle and prepare your food — not the marketing tools who engineer image — take to the interwebs to share their pride in the company’s message reality, Chipotle wins. 

When a McDonald’s company launches a local farming, sustainable living campaign and it doesn’t blow up in its corporate face, Chiptole wins.   That, yo, is something media dollars can’t buy. 

I never thought I’d say this, but Chipotle wins.  

 

 

News

“Shh Don’t Tell Steve” My Favorite Follow On Twitter

November 13, 2009 — 3

telephone_shhh

I feel like there’s a series here. I do.

I mean, if shitmydadsays can develop a series for CBS inspired by his tweets, which my friends think will fail (but I don’t), this is even better and more us.

Here are some recent tweets from this guy Steve’s roommate. The set-up is that Steve doesn’t know his roommate’s tweeting his every move. Fake? Yes, but still great…

Overheard Steve and BG coming out of his room. Steve: “What? I showered.” BG: “Did you use soap?”
about 16 hours ago from web

Steve on ditching class this semester: “You just say you’re not feeling well, they assume you have swine flu, so you’re golden.”
about 18 hours ago from web

Steve finally crashed. Place smells like Totino’s pizza rolls, Jack Daniels and B.O. I don’t know if I can live like this much longer.
7:07 PM Nov 11th from web

Here’s some from last week…

Steve is hitting the gym. Said that he likes to go when the women’s yoga class is happening so he can watch it from the treadmill.
2:52 PM Nov 6th from web

Steve’s room still a mess from Halloween. Air Fresheners hanging and 1/2 filled beer cups makes it smell like a Christmas Tree Lot/Dive bar.
1:33 PM Nov 6th from web

And more…

Steve’s Dad called to tell him that he can’t use the emergency credit card to buy stuff from our Liquor Store or to buy Paintball supplies.
5:27 PM Nov 2nd from web

Steve apologetic about Saturday. Cleaned up sink, but maintains position that he wasn’t “that bad”. BG maintains Steve was a “jerk…again”.
3:03 PM Nov 2nd from web

Steve threw up in our kitchen sink because he thought it would be “rude” to skip line for bathroom. People starting to call it a night.
1:46 AM Nov 1st from web

News

My Twitter Attacked By A Colon-Cleansing Spam

October 29, 2009 — 24

At 5pm today, my assistant ran into my office, screaming that my Twitter account was under attack. Attack? Yes. Someone (or some robot) figured out my twitter password and began spamming everyone I know with messages about how much I love a new colon cleansing product. Colon cleansing!

So if you got spammed by me on twitter today, I’m sorry. And to the one assface who sent me hate mail (as if I intentionally spammed you, you dick), I hope your colon rots.

Look at me, I’m getting all belligerent. Maybe I could use a good cleanse. (My wife’s been telling me to do a juice diet.)

The more I poked around about colons on the web, the more I became convinced that people who scrub their colons are happier than the rest of us. They’re free. They’re jubilant. There’s a bounce in their step.

HERE’S A REAL ACCOUNT OF HOW IT FEELS TO CLEAN YOUR COLON:

It really was the most unusual feeling. Once that first piece came out I was so happy to fast!! When I saw what was in me, I just wanted it all out. And for the next four days, it came out five or six times a day. Of course the first thing I did was email pictures to my mom. My subject line read, “It’s gross & it’s mine!!”

Would you like to see some pictures of some really happy people?

(WARNING: Don’t click here if you are not prepared for some serious shit, I mean it.)

News

We Had A Tiff, Now He’s Got One With Conan O’Brien, But Newark Mayor Cory Booker Is My Friday Follow On Twitter

October 2, 2009 — 2

It’s hard not to be inspired by what Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s accomplished so far in the city I grew up next to and terrified of. Did you catch Mark Levin’s Sundance Channel documentary on Cory last week? Last I remember, Newark’s where my grandpa got mugged in the pharmacy he owned. 

The new Newark =  tough on crime, community revitalization, Kenneth Cole, public-private partnerships and economic development.  Nice!

I follow Cory on Twitter because he’s mostly a great twittererer. For example, he recently used Twitter and YouTube to launch a manhunt for a suspect who shot a 4 year-old girl on a playground in Newark:

And it worked: The next day, “due to enormous public pressure,” the suspect turned himself in.

By making his leadership transparent, Cory stands in stark contrast to his predecessors (many of whom have gone to jail after being mayor), keeping us invested in Newark’s progress as it struggles to become a safer place and rediscover its old glory. Twitter means the passion — and the tactics — of Cory Booker are visible, measureable and real.

And he doesn’t back down. Like, for example, the thing with Conan O’Brien. You wanna treat Newark as a punchline? Cory punches back:

So after further consideration (and some Yom Kippur), I feel badly for getting on Cory about his flirtation with Kenneth Cole, a few weeks ago. It started when Cory began quoting Kenneth Cole on twitter. No one should ever quote Kenneth Cole, he does enough of that on his own stupid bilboards for the last decade. So I had to interject. Here’s our exchange, word for word, starting with his tweet:

From Cory Booker:
Before u judge, walk a mile in the person’s shoes, & if u still don’t like them, at least your a mile away & have their shoes (via Ken Cole)
8:43 PM

From Ross Martin:
You’re a brilliant guy, @CoryBooker, a true leader. Many of us are already backing you. So you don’t need to quote someone like Kenneth Cole
8:52PM

From Cory Booker:
He is a good friend and a leader in many important causes. Proud of him and proud to quote him.
8:55 PM

Then, not hours later, Kenneth Cole himself started following me on twitter. Creepy!

Ok, Cory — I’m sorry I ragged on your friend Ken Cole. Listen, I’ll make it up to you. I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I love the Newark Public Library, which is actually an awesome place. We can go have coffee in the special collections section, which is surprisingly terrific, and talk about doing a reality show.

Wait, did you just call me?

News

I’m Following A Flight Attendant

September 18, 2009 — 113

What airline? She won’t tell. All I know is that we are going to go for pizza next week, as soon as she lands.  It’s Friday, and my Favorite Follow today on twitter is Heather Poole, a flight attendant.

[ME.jpg]

Heather’s pretty genius, with a following all her own. Her fans call themselves Laviators, a word that just entered the Urban Dictionary.  Laviators are travelers who take photos of themselves and make music videos in airplane bathrooms.  We could do a whole series of these.  I’m publicly daring Chester French to make a video on one of Heather’s flights.

Call them at 617-830-2532 and tell D.A. they gotta do this.

Flying me 021

One of my favorite sections of Heather’s blog, not surprisingly, is Crew Confessions, in which her anonymous colleagues can truly speak their mind about how fucking annoying we all are on their flights.

Some real flight attendants’ confessions:

I only give buddy passes to people I hate. Then I can gleefully relish when they get stranded in Senegal for 10 days. – Bob, the singing pilot

My fantasy: I have my wife dress up in a polyester uniform which she has worn for the last 3 days, and has gotten drink stains on. Then she locks me in a dark closet… – Bob

You can’t even touch a stripper – what makes you think you can touch a Stewardess? I’m wearing polyester, my work shoes are strictly for comfort and I like to be in bed by 10pm whenever possible. Which part of “Never poke the Stewardess” do you not comprehend? – Anonymous

A passenger demands a beer. the crew smiles graciously and says “I will be back with your beer Sir”. He then says : “I want it now!” loudly. he replies, “of course sir, I will get it now”. He goes back to the galley. Picks a nice, warm heineken, shakes it, and goes back to the customer with coasters, nuts, and every possible tidbit to make him happy. Seconds later he hears his whole area laughing their heads off. The twat had beer all over his face… Neighbours cracking up next to him telling him to ask politely next time and avoid self-embarrassment. – Anonymous

I once rebooked a woman into a different (read: crappier) seat on a flight because we had difficulties with her reservation and she called me all sorts of names in another language she didn’t think I or my co-worker understood! – Anonymous

Wanna know what my flight attendant fantasy is? A 20 hour layover where we can SLEEP & EAT! – Shelby

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