Hartleb 1

Ben Hartleb

ENGL 137H-006

Dr. Miles

5 October 2016

Rhetorical Analysis of Chipotles The Scarecrow

Chipotles hit 2013 advertisement, The Scarecrow, has been lauded as a brilliant piece

of advertising used a unique artistic approach to hammer home a strong anti-factory message.

Before watching the video, many might think that this perspective is gleefully ironic, that

Chipotle is exactly the sort of company they are preaching against: a power-hungry, multi-

billion-dollar organization who cares more about their bottom line than they do the quality of

their food or the happiness of their customers. However, by using a variety of rhetorical appeals,

mainly playing off their audiences emotions, Chipotle is able to transform their appearance from

a giant, faceless company, to one that cares about sustainability and change. They understand that

Americans consume a plethora of cheap, easy to get food, and they are trying to capitalize on this

group by marketing themselves as a better alternative to the typical big food corporation. This

point of view is extremely important to recognize, as it plays a key role in the ethical appeals

made throughout the video. This subtle manipulation of the audience is what truly made this

advertisement so unexpected and impressive. Chipotle is able to take the audience on an

emotional ride in this video, influencing them into thinking that chipotle is a flawless

organization that everyone must buy from. They are able to masterfully create a foreboding tone

through heavy use of pathetic and ethical appeals and push the audience in an urgent call to

action. Everything in the ad lends itself to this end goal, from the characters, to the scenery, to

the artistic style and music.

 Hartleb 2

The most heavily utilized method of rhetorical appeals in the video is the repeated use of

emotional and pathetic appeals accomplished by the vivid imagery displayed throughout, both

visually and audibly. The initial scene of the video features a vibrant, sprawling farm with

melodic music in the background. As the camera zooms out, it becomes clear that it was merely

an old painting on the side of a wall, and the surrounding area is revealed to be a desolate

wasteland devoid of any happiness or optimism. The protagonist, a wide-eyed and downtrodden

scarecrow, trudges in to work at the ominous and dark factory, with his prospects looking as

bleak as the scene around him. In the background, and high in the rafters of the factory, the black

robot crows with beating red eyes are always watching. Ironic it seems, that the scarecrow is the

one being controlled by the crows, further reinforcing the idea that there is something wrong

with this picture. Throughout the film, Fiona Apples chilling rendition of the classic Pure

Imagination reminds the audience that this world is anything but paradise. It provides a stark

contradiction to the pure imagination, joy, and wonder of the factory shown in The Willy Wonka

Chocolate Factory where the song is originally from. The practically lifeless workers churn out

100% Beef-ish lumps in the most grim and melancholy ways possible.

Chipotle is able to lay the groundwork for their argument by simply relying on creating

such a striking dichotomy between these two basic concepts, good and evil. The scarecrow

versus the crow, farm fresh versus factory made, pure imagination versus total lack of fantasy or

compassion. Chipotle versus big food. They are able to hammer home the good guy versus bad

guy mood by following the scarecrow on his journeys after work, where the evil crows lead him

to peer through the cracks of an all-natural sign, only to find robot-injected animals and a

hoard of cows jammed into tiny metal boxes quivering in fear. The scarecrow boards up the

animals, turns away, and lets out a long sigh with a drawn out expression and a haunting
 Hartleb 3

wordless melody in the background. The video then pivots quickly with a major thematic

transition around the two-minute mark, the music shifts away from the depressing minor key, the

colors become more vibrant and lively, and the scarecrow has an idea after looking at Chipotles

iconic red pepper. Filled with optimistic and eager ambition, the videos hero goes home, gathers

his fresh fruits and veggies, then heads in to town with renewed confidence and faith in the

world. Apples tone has shifted, with the scarecrow setting up a stand in the city as she sings,

Want to change the world? Theres nothing to it, and a banner unfurls which reads, Cultivate a

Better World. By the end of the three-minute video, Chipotle has concluded its full frontal

assault on the audiences emotions and managed to tap into raw anger and sadness directed

toward the nameless monsters who would dare treat these animals so poorly, all while setting

themselves up as the heroic alternative.

Looking back at the video analytically, however, it becomes clear that while Chipotles ad

was extremely effective at getting its audience fired up and on their side, the actual content of the

video lacks any real substance. The tone was created by weaving menacing scenery and

unpleasant symbolism into a story where the audience could not help but root for the little guy,

being Chipotle in this instance. In reality, the audience did not come out of the video knowing

any more than they did beforehand. There were no facts or figures present to show how Chipotle

differs from the norm and is able to provide clean, healthy food. In fact, there was nothing even

directly trying Chipotle as an organization to the scarecrow and being depicted as the hero. Every

major theme in the video relied on the audience blindly trusting their emotions and thinking with

their hearts rather than their heads, a strategy that clearly did work in their favor. The nearly

complete lack of logos makes is quite a wonder that the advertisement was able to be as much of

a success as it was.
 Hartleb 4

It is also important to recognize what Chipotle has gone through since the video was

released, namely their highly publicized 2015 e-coli scare. At the time of the video, they were

able to make very effective ethical appeals, presenting themselves as a very credible insider to

the big food business. They were simply the company with a heart and the one that wanted to

cultivate a better world. In retrospect, keeping in mind their public health scandal, it begs the

question of whether or not that persona is also just a well disguised hoax and that Chipotle is

actually not the good-natured company they claim to be. It made this supposed commitment to

sustainability and well-being feel like a cynical manipulation of the audiences emotions.

Overall, this idea adds in to the general theme of the video; in actuality, it is an oversimplified

dichotomy between two very basic ideas, and one that clearly does not have a lasting impact on

the audience as a whole. It was heavily praised upon its initial release and has over 16.5 million

views to this day, yet it did nothing to prevent the negative press generated by their e-coli

scandal. Their overdone emotional appeals and lack of credible, logic-based arguments seemed

to be their downfall in the end. The video was an extremely effective short-term call to civic

engagement, generating important conversation and buzz against the big food industry via its

over-the-top cinematic style, but lacked the sustenance to have any prolonged appeal.
 Hartleb 5

Works Cited

Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Scarecrow. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 11 September

2013. Web. 2 October 2016.