Confront the Bullies

Some of my good friends in the agriculture industry – people I respect a great deal and care very much about – are suggesting that ag needs to leave the Chipotle ad alone and stop drawing attention to it.

May I suggest that is a potential mistake.

We talk a lot about transparency and I couldn’t agree more.  But ignoring this video and on-line game is less than transparent.  It’s almost like we’re hiding from it.

If you think no one’s paying attention to this campaign, just Google “Chipotle Scarecrow.”  A few of the articles you will find are:

• You Want to Watch Chipotle’s Amazing ‘Scarecrow’ Video – Slate (a Washington Post Company)
• Chipotle Returns to Animation to Support Sustainable Farming – New York Times
• Chipotle ‘Scarecrow’ Ad Will Make You Feel All the Feelings – Huffington Post
• Chipotle ‘Scarecrow’ a Moving, Impressive Ad – United Press International (UPI)
• Chipotle targets Big Food, skips big branding – USA Today
• Check Out Chipotle’s brilliant, haunting ad – MSN Money
• INTERVIEW: The brilliant minds behind Chipotle’s ‘Scarecrow’ ad – The Week on-line magazine
• Chipotle takes on Big Agriculture in ‘Scarecrow’ ad – UpStart Business Journal
• Chipotle Scarecrow: Evil Crowbots in Chipotle Game fall to ad’s food message – Examiner.com
• Chipotle and ‘The Scarecrow’: Possibly the ad of the year? – ChicagoNow.com

Still think agriculture should not reasonably but boldly address the misinformation proffered by this campaign?