Chipotle Doesn’t Include Latino Writers in 'Cultivating Thought' Cup Campaign
Adding a bit of literary insight into consumers' fast food meals is a very good idea. After all, who doesn't like to read excerpts from short stories, poems and essays while drinking a bubbly soft drink and munching on chips?
Chipotle decided last week first to capitalize on the idea. According to the Huffington Post, the Mexican-like fast-food chain has begun a campaign called "Cultivating Thought," in which the company will begin bedazzling their drink cups and burrito bags with the pieces of stories written by 10 different authors.
The brainchild of author Jonathan Safran Foe, the campaign will use pieces written by Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, George Saunders, Michael Lewis, Sarah Silverman and Foe, among others. However, none of the selected authors are Mexican or Latino.
Now, many are asking why the company excluded of Mexican, Mexican-American and other American writers of Latino descent from the campaign. Why aren't Richard Rodriguez, Junot Diaz or Daniel Alarcon on the Chipotle paper ware?
According to the Los Angeles Times, Latinos, especially Latino writers, are wondering the same. Gustavo Arellano, editor at O.C. Weekly, added his thoughts on the issue.
"In Foer's world, Latino authors simply don't exist and simply don't appeal to his Chipotle worldview of what the chain is advertising as 'Cultivating Thought' -- the only Mexican cultivation the two approve for their beloved burritos is the tomatoes harvested by Florida pickers," he told the Los Angeles Times.
Other writers and activists expressed similar feelings. Lisa Alvarez and Alex Espinoza, two other writers, began a Facebook page called "Cultivating Invisibility: Chipotle's Missing Mexicans" protesting Chipotle's lack of representation.
Meanwhile, other establishments have capitalized on the controversy. Flacos, a chain from Berkeley, California, began handing out blank cups to customers so they can tell their own stories, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Chipotle, on the other hand, has begun damage control. Chris Arnold, the chain's spokesman, told Fox News Latino that the company considered the campaign a "learning process" and that they had asked 40 authors, including Latino authors, to contribute but only 10 agreed.
"If we move forward with this program, we will certainly look to add to the diversity of contributors, and believe we will be in a better position to attract a wider cross-section of writers with something to point to and given how well this program has been received," Arnold said.
However, the Latino literati are skeptical. Author Michelle Serros told Fox News Latino that no one in the Latino literary community has heard of such outreach to the Latino writers. Hopefully, Chipotle can find one or two Latino authors good enough to grace the sides of soda cups; after all, GMO-free food should not be an equal replacement for cultural appropriation.
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