Rhetoric Class assignment about Visual Analysis about Ad. (College level, 1400-1600 word)

John Smith

Prof. Riley

RHET 1302

Date

Chipotle’s Values

During a time in which the advancement of food science and logistics allows for the mass

domestication of animals for the food industry, which leads to a low standard of living for the

animals and a drop in the quality of the food. Chipotle wishes for the audience, those who are

unaware of how Chipotle raises their animals or are skeptical of the methods used in their

rearing, to know that it has recanted any unethical or inorganic production methods. In their

“Back to the Start” short film, Chipotle uses ethos in depicting their farms and farmers as

ordinary people, and pathos in illustrating the grotesque inhumanity of factory farming as well as

illustrating their efforts in disassembling this inhumane practice in favor of returning to their

authentic domestication process. A Toulmin strategy is employed by Chipotle throughout the

video as well, as the call to action is not explicit but rather inferred. Chipotle effectively

illustrates in this commercial through the aforementioned strategies their refutation of factory

farming in favor of traditional domesticating methods.

Chipotle depicts their farmers as ordinary people, operating in traditional farming

conditions that the layman has come to expect. Outdoor environments, free and open spaces

where the animals roam and eat, as well as the cultivation of natural, organic ingredients. In the

beginning of the video, we see a lush green field as the camera slowly pans over a family with

their infant baby. The camera then pans even further to show a small, intimate farming operation.

This image allows Chipotle to play off the popular image of “farming” in the United States, a

farmer and his family yielding a harvest, or with their small domesticated group of animals.

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Chipotle mentions on their website that they believe “it is more about what you do than how big

you are”. By beginning the video with the picture of a small, intimate, and family operated farm

Chipotle connects a portion of their mission statement with their advertisement. Chipotle also

closes the video with the deconstruction of the factory farm into the smaller, more intimate one

we see at the beginning. Only this time, Chipotle’s brand is proudly displayed when the farmer

puts a box of ingredients into one of their trucks. Chipotle’s website also reads that they

“develop close relationships with many of the farmers, ranchers, and other suppliers”. Chipotle

accentuates this mentality with the interaction between one of their corporate trucks, and a small-

time farmer. This connection between what they say on their website, and how their brand is

portrayed in the advertisement, being close to the wholesome farmers who cultivate their

ingredients, provides support through ethos in effectively visually conveying their mission

statement.

Pathos is used through the depiction of factory farming as an inhumane, streamlined

process, involving harmful antibiotics and chemicals. After the ordinary family farmers grow,

the scenery transitions from an intimate farm aflush with vivid greens to a conveyer belt flooded

with dreary greys. Pigs that once roamed free in their pens and fields, are now positioned single-

file falling onto a conveyer belt and pumped into a machine filling them with unlabeled

chemicals and antibiotics. Meanwhile, the inhumanity of this process is accentuated as Willie

Nelson’s “Back to the Start” reaches a lyrical portion detailing “the questions of science” more

specifically “science and progress”. This visual depiction of the inhumane nature is condemned

by the Chipotle brand in their mission statement on their website. Chipotle claims that “there is

no place for nontherapeutic” or for “added hormones”. Despite being a corporation servicing

numerous regions with hundreds of restaurants, Chipotle wants you to know that the visual

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horrors illustrated about factory farming and inhumane animal domestication, that are often

practiced by their fellow food industry compatriots, are not practiced by Chipotle. Along with the

mindless use of antibiotics used to ensure a statistical increase in profits, Chipotle wants to

contrast their mission statement of encouraging a high standard of living for the animals with the

grotesque reality of factory farming. “We set a minimum space requirement for the animals

producing the meat” boasts Chipotle on their website, a stark contrast to the living conditions the

animals in the video experience. As the camera pans along the truck fleet delivering this mass-

produced meat, there is also a clear depiction of factory farming tarnishing the environment.

Numerous factories pumping a mysterious green liquid into numerous water supplies and ponds,

creating untold adverse effects on the environment. Chipotle’s mission statement boldly asserts

that “Every choice we make…affects the bigger picture; the health” of the planet. Chipotle wants

the public to know the adverse effects corporate domestication and farming has on the

environment with their depiction of the mysterious green liquid, and that they are aware that

every small misstep can have larger effects on the environment. By employing the use of pathos

through providing grotesque imagery of factory farming, from the inhumane treatment, to the

irresponsible use of antibiotics, and the adverse effects it has on the environment Chipotle

effectively separates their mission statement from the practices utilized in the video by the

corporate farms.

They utilize pathos again in the depiction of the farmer going “back to the start”

regarding traditional farming methods, by disassembling this unfeeling corporate machine in

favor of the intimate farming procedure displayed at the beginning. The farmer is walking along

and is conscious of the suffering that the food industry perpetuates when all the sudden he begins

to act. He, by hand, deconstructs this inhumane farming practice and reinstates the original,

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intimate farming method he began the video with. By showing the redemption of the food

industry, through Chipotle’s effort to deconstruct factory farming in favor of the same traditional

methods it was built upon, Chipotle evokes an emotional call to action. Even going so far as to

sloganize their efforts through the message of “cultivating a better world” on a sign in big bold

writing at the end of the video. This is also one of the largest parts of Chipotle’s mission

statement on their website as well. They are directly “supporting efforts to shift the future of

farming and food” and inviting you to join along, stating that they hope that you “join us as we

continue to learn, evolve, and shape what comes next on our mission to make better food

accessible to everyone”. After the imagery of the deconstruction of the horrific farming practices

is displayed, Chipotle proudly illustrates their brand and mission statement in visual form. By

using the direct slogan “cultivating a better world” they are able to influence the audience to join

their brand in reversing the damage factory farming has done in favor of “cultivating a better

world”. Chipotle’s utilization of pathos through the image of the deconstruction of a grotesque

industry, and then the return of farming to traditional roots in association with their brand, and

thus their mission statement. Although not a direct call to action, Chipotle’s slogan in this ad

infers that a better world is possible.

The visual argument chipotle provides is done in a Toulmin style. Nothing Chipotle does

directly asserts or contradicts their mission statement, but rather infers it through implications

that the audience can interpret. The transition process depicts a favorable situation and then a not

so favorable situation, followed by a return to a favorable situation. There is no direct assertion

however, that one is preferable to another, the user is left to interpret that. The lush, vivid field is

usually interpreted as something pristine, or pure, but not necessarily universally. The transition

to the dreary factory farm is a good implication, but not a direct assertion. As perhaps there is a

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portion of the audience that perceived factory farming’s efficiency as preferable to any inhumane

practices it perpetuates, it simply illustrates a situation that Chipotle perceives to be as the reality

of the practice. Finally, after the extended depiction of the industrial domestication and farming

process, a return to the initial vivid, green imagery is undertaken by the farmer. Once again, this

is not directly asserted as the preferable situation but is implied as such and likely interpreted as

such by a portion of the audience. Then, with the illustration of the “cultivating a better world

slogan”, the audience is essentially left to fill in the mental blank of what that “better world”

most likely is.

In this Toulmin style visual argument put forth by Chipotle, they effectively illustrate

their pro-environment and anti-factory farming mission statement through the use of pathos in

imagery and transitions as well as ethos through clever placement of their brand in association

with ordinary farming techniques. Chipotle’s brand continues to grow and flourish, and one

would think that they would transition to a more profitable scheme, one in which questionable

moral business practices might be instated to preserve profit margins. Even in 2018, food

industry titans like Tyson Chicken, are caught perpetuating these horrific animal domestication

techniques that Chipotle illustrates in their advertisement. However, despite their growth,

Chipotle does not wish to take a rent-seeking direction, but rather one in which environmental

sustainability and high standards of living for animals under their brand’s watch is assured.

Chipotle’s environmentally and morally conscious business practices should serve as a reminder

to the food industry giants that not all corporations are abandoning humane and intimate

practices in the pursuit of profit, and that even individuals as Chipotle outlines in their mission

statement can help define the future of the food industry. In this visual representation of their

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mission, Chipotle illustrates a world they believe that the modern food industry should return to,

and are indirectly asking for your help in cultivating it.