Hasta La Creative!

Coming on the heels of last year’s “The Scarecrow” campaign, Chipotle has just revealed the trailer for its upcoming original comedy series “Farmed and Dangerous,” produced in collaboration with New York-based studio Piro.

The Chipotle-sponsored series offers a satirical look at “the lengths to which corporate agribusiness and its image- makers go to create a positive image of industrial agriculture.” “Farmed and Dangerous” imagines a fictional product called the “PetroPellet, a new petroleum-based animal feed created by fictional industrial giant Animoil.” Animoil runs into a PR shitstorm, however, when security footage of an exploding cow goes viral. Buck Marshall, played by Ray Wise of Twin Peaks fame, is the Industrial Food Image Bureau member charged with damage control, and seems willing to go to any lengths to make his little problem go away. The show also stars Eric Pierpoint (of Parks and Recreation).

Like “The Scarecrow,” the new series doesn’t actively promote Chipotle, instead positioning the brand as the alternative to the industrial farming giant the show documents. “We think of ‘Farmed and Dangerous’ as a values-integration rather than typical product- integration,” explained Chipotle chief marketing and development officer Mark Crumpacker. “The show addresses issues that we think are important – albeit in a satirical way – without being explicitly about Chipotle. This approach allows us to produce content that communicates our values and entertains people at the same time.” It also allows Chipotle to position itself against the shadiness of large agricultural business without making any specific promises or concessions — although they claim to have a “commitment to finding better, more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients it uses” and have announced “plans to eliminate GMOs from the ingredients it uses” in 2014. The approach is nothing new for Chipotle, as its evolution can be traced back to the award-winning 2011 spot, “Back to the Start.”

The debut episode of “Farmed and Dangerous” will be avilablee for free on Hulu starting on Feb. 17, with further episodes slated to premiere on consecutive Mondays. Season one of “Farmed and Dangerous” will be made up of four half-hour episodes, but “the storyline is designed to be extended to additional seasons” should the effort prove a success. Head on over to the “Farmed and Dangerous” official website for further details. Credits after the jump. continued…

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