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Now that their recent scare with tainted food supply has passed, Chipotle has decided on another tactic to make me sick.

Bad advertising.

I submit Exhibit A.

 

Let’s dissect this ad a bit and see if we can figure out where things went wrong.

Normally, I’d advise against using sepia tone on a food ad, because people generally don’t like eating things that are brown. Especially things that are supposed to be fresh.

In fairness, the tortilla strips, beans and the bowl which is probably made from recycled materials are all items one would expect to be brown, but there are some green avocado’s peaking out, which I’m sure some client asked to “pop” and some art director determined would look more appetizing if a consumer thought they were a couple days past their expiration date.

I think those maroonish things are diced tomatoes, but I can’t swear they aren’t uncooked bacon bits, which might taste delicious, but would probably wreck the user’s colon later in the day.

Now, about that headline.

I have seen several other executions in this campaign, and they all have some bad piece of wordplay relating to the product, but this is the one that really goes for it by making not one, but two awful affronts to the English language.

Let’s first discuss porkadise.

And, let’s be clear, I love carnitas. I love bacon, and ham and most parts of a pig when prepared in the traditional way.

Chipotle has pretty good carnitas, but I would say they are about average when compared to other eateries that traffic in slow-cooked pork.

Again, slow cooked pork is better than most foods, but I can walk less than 500 feet and choose between Chipotle, Qdoba and a place called Ocho that all serve this dish, and I’m pretty sure they all source their product from the same vat in the middle of downtown somewhere.

What I’m trying to say is that “paradise” is a bit of a stretch.

And now, a bit about Milton.

Is man’s fall from the grace of God really the image you want to conjure up when people are deciding on whether or not to eat one of your burritos?

Or, worse, does ordering this bit of dead pig make up for the sins of our ancestors and show God that we are ready to bask in his glory once again? Just let us polish off this brown rice, and we’ll be ready for divine salvation.

Lastly, here is how the cover of Milton’s great work looked when published oh so long ago that S’s looked like F’s.

  
I’m just saying, Porkadise Loft would have been a much better ad for this downtown media placement.

THAT’s a building I’d want to live in.


Photo credit: thornypup via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

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