Farmed & Dangerous

Brief:

Chipotle wanted to continue their conversation around industrial agriculture in America. But they wanted to do it in an entertaining way.

Solution:

Working closely with Chipotle, we conceived, wrote, produced and directed the four-part satirical series "Farmed and Dangerous,” focusing on the fictitious (but scarily close to reality) Industrial Food Image Bureau (IFIB) and the world of industrial farming. We also surrounded the show with a universe of elements designed to build awareness and get people talking. These included social teasers, print ads, merchandise and much more. Additionally, we partnered with the Huffington Post to create “Food for Thought,” a place to continue the conversation about farming and food.

Results:

By conservative estimates, the show delivered 800% ROI. It was found by Participant Media to be one of the most effective pieces of content ever created, and won three Cannes Lions and two Clios. “Food for Thought" became the most successful social impact section in Huffington Post history. And the show continues to give back to Chipotle; it was recently licensed to StudioCanal for distribution on their Canal+ channel. In effect, Chipotle is being paid for their advertising!

The 120 minutes of entertainment (which was Hulu’s most successful premiere at the time) contained over fifty key messages that Chipotle wanted to convey and gave birth to endless content pieces released throughout the year on social, not to mention events, PR, print, POS and more.

As documented in the New York Times, third-party research (The Participant Index) showed that Piro’s show for Chipotle was more influential in changing behavior than 98% of cause-related movies and TV shows of past years (a list that included Oscar-nominated film and documentaries including Food Inc. An Inconvenient Truth and more).