News

Chipotle launches video series aimed at kids

March 22, 2017

Chipotle today released "RAD Lands," an original video series about food geared to kids between the ages of 7 and 10. The show is available exclusively on iTunes, according to a company press release. The unbranded series, created in partnership with CAA Marketing and The Magic Store (the team behind the Daytime Emmy-nominated series "Yo Gabba Gabba!"), features celebrity chefs, musicians and YouTube personalities. Its goal is to educate families about where their food comes from and how it is prepared, Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer at Chipotle, said in the release.

"Chipotle is ensuring that better food is accessible to everyone," he said. "We created 'RAD Lands' to educate young eaters and their parents about food in an entertaining and engaging way. We don't advertise to kids, so the show is completely unbranded. We hope that it sparks conversation and curiosity among families, ideally leading to smarter and more informed choices about food."

The main storytelling component of "RAD Lands" is an animated segment called "The Cultivators" that follows a small rebel squad's epic journey to help save the galaxy's plants and animals to preserve their access to real, fresh food. The squad is challenged by a nemesis trying to homogenize food across the galaxy and turn it all into highly processed junk food.

Season one will be available on iTunes in the US and Canada for $4.99. Alternatively, families can download the first episode for free and the remaining five episodes for $1.99 each. As part of the "RAD Lands" launch and to support school lunches, Chipotle will donate $100,000 to the Chef Ann Foundation, a non-profit organization that works with schools nationwide to provide the tools and resources they need to serve healthy, nutritious and delicious food to every student, every day, according to the release.

"Chipotle and the 'RAD Lands' series are a great fit with the values of my foundation," said Ann Cooper, founder of the Chef Ann Foundation. "We are thrilled with the generous support from Chipotle and iTunes through this program, and hope it encourages others to contribute what they can to influence future generations' views on food."

The culinary and musical talent appearing in "RAD Lands" includes chefs Amanda Freitag, Michael Voltaggio and Duff Goldman, along with musicians Neon Trees, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Biz Markie and Portugal. The Man, among others.

(Video courtesy of Chipotle.)