DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 10, 2017-- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced today the launch of the “As Real as It Gets” advertising campaign created to support the company’s commitment to using only real ingredients. The launch of the campaign follows the recent announcement that Chipotle is the only national restaurant brand without added colors, flavors or preservatives – artificial or natural – in any of the ingredients it uses to prepare its food (except for lemon and lime juice which can be used as preservatives, though Chipotle uses them only for taste).

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170410005857/en/

The “As Real as It Gets” campaign includes a series of videos with Sam Richardson, Jillian Bell and John Mulaney ‘getting real’ as they lounge inside a surprisingly spacious burrito voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. The comedians get real by revealing their fears, desires and secrets inside the burrito. The campaign also features radio, outdoor, digital video and banners, and social advertising that similarly conveys Chipotle’s commitment to being real.

“In a world full of fakery and half-truths, it’s invigorating to hear a brand tell it like it is,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer for Chipotle. “This campaign challenges the conventions of fast food advertising by being completely real — not only about our food, but about the world we live in — and it does so with an optimism and playful humor that’s very much in line with our brand.”

Developed with Venables Bell & Partners (VB&P), “As Real as It Gets” represents the company’s first use of national broadcast television as a significant component of an advertising campaign. Last year, Chipotle tested television advertising in some markets, but this campaign represents a broader use of video across broadcast, cable and digital. Examples of the ads from the campaign can be seen at http://www.chipotle.com/realcampaign.

“We’re thrilled to help create the next chapter for this great brand with a campaign that conveys Chipotle’s commitment to doing the right thing and offering real, quality food,” said Will McGinness, partner and executive creative director at Venables Bell & Partners. “We set out to avoid all the conventions of fast food advertising. Using humor and a commitment to telling it like it is, we cut through the clutter of confusing claims, limited time offers or farmers holding produce, and created a campaign that is very true to who they are.”

Media planning and buying for the campaign was done by MullenLowe MediaHub.

The release of the “As Real as it Gets” campaign supports Chipotle’s commitment to using only real ingredients in its food. The company recently announced that it had rolled out new tortillas — used for their burritos, tacos and chips — that eliminated the use of preservatives and dough conditioners leaving the brand with only 51 real ingredients that are readily available at a farmer’s market or grocery store. The milestone furthers the company’s mission to ensure that better food, prepared from whole, unprocessed ingredients is accessible to everyone.

Chipotle has championed quality ingredients and the use of local, organically grown produce when practical, dairy from cows raised in pasture, meats from animals raised without hormones or non-therapeutic antibiotics, and the use of ingredients that have not been genetically modified throughout the company’s tenure. To highlight its entire ingredient list, the company released a new section of its website dedicated to its ingredients at http://www.chipotle.com/real.

Chipotle defines “national restaurant brand” as any restaurant brand included in the Nation’s Restaurant News top 200 list (August 2016) having more than 100 total U.S. locations. The company’s statements that it uses no added colors, flavors or preservatives apply only to Chipotle branded restaurants operating within the U.S., and only to the ingredients used to prepare food and not to ingredients used in the beverages sold at Chipotle.

ABOUT CHIPOTLE

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in an interactive style allowing people to get exactly what they want. Chipotle seeks out extraordinary ingredients that are not only fresh, but that are raised responsibly, with respect for the animals, land, and people who produce them. Chipotle prepares its food using without the use of added colors, flavors or preservative typically found in fast food. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in Denver in 1993 and now operates more than 2,200 restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170410005857/en/

Source: Chipotle

Chipotle
Chris Arnold, 303-222-5912
carnold@chipotle.com