Meaningful or Manipulative – or Both?
A friend showed me a commercial yesterday that has gone viral in the last week (apparently, I’m behind the curve these days).
So, what do you think?
I have to say my reaction was mixed, to put it mildly. I wrote my friend:
WOW. First I thought, Who are the subversive geniuses doing this? Then at the end I thought . . . Chipotle?!?
It’s not that Chipotle (which was once owned by McDonald’s but isn’t anymore – and who counts among its organic and humanely pasture-raised meat suppliers Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms) is bad – it’s just that it’s a huge corporation, ya know? We’re not used to having huge corporations give a damn about these things. In fact, we’re used to them operating on the attitude of anything-for-a-buck (which includes we-don’t-give-a-sh**-about-your-health).
As a painful example, just last week Whole Foods was in the news. A former employee says the corporation trained its employees to lie about carrying products containing GMOs.
So, do the people who profit from Chipotle really care? Is the scarecrow for real? Or is it all just a brilliant scheme to sell burritos?
And here’s another thought: are we growing too cynical?
Who would blame us if we were, but wouldn’t it be nice to keep hope alive? When I read this article in the The Washington Post that shares a Funny-or-Die parody I have to admit I felt sadder than the scarecrow.
What are your feelings on this?
–Sandra Knauf
florasforum 