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Suzanne Tullo
Jordan Canzonetta
WRT 1051
19th of October 2014
Corporate Persuasion Using Rhetoric
Today in the U.S some of the most widely used crops are GMO, such as sweet
and field corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and squash (Food Dialogues). A GMO is a
genetically modified organism. The use of GMO’s is restricted in over 60 countries
around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all European Union countries.
(NonGMOproject.org). More and more people have learned about GMO’s and how they
are affecting our health and wellness. The large corporate company Chipotle has put out a
short movie that shares their efforts and views on GMO’s and their use. Chipotle’s
Scarecrow video is a cartoon that shows a story of an industrial worker throughout his
workday. Throughout the film, the Scarecrow realizes his country’s farms are being
replaced with large agricultural factories. Chipotle’s video allows them to use the fear of
consumers to skyrocket their business.
In figure one shown to the bottom left, a chicken is being injected with a chemical
to make it larger and contain more meat. The
chicken is in an industrial agriculture factory. The
chicken is being injected to make it more profitable;
Figure 1.
the more meat on the chicken increases the monetary
worth of it. It is clear that this chicken is not an all-natural chicken once it is injected.
While being injected, the chicken is being held by two robots. This appeals to the
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viewer’s memory. When a viewer is watching this, one may think back to the last time
they consumed chicken or chicken product. By placing this scene with the chicken
injection early on in the film, it begins to get the audience contemplating where their food
is really coming from. Chipotle has shown various examples of what they are not. In
doing so they persuade their viewers to purchase their food. Consumers justify eating
chipotles food, because they have established they are better than other corporate food
companies.
Another important thing to notice in figure one is the setting in which the
injection is taking place. It is very dark and there are no windows, meaning that no
outside passers-by can view what is going on inside the factory. Chipotle emphasizes the
dark, dreary, and secretive setting that the chicken is in. Chipotle does this because the
audience will begin to correlate chemical injections being hidden by corporate companies
as they are in this short movie. This draws attention to not only the act being done, but to
the fact that it is carefully hidden from people outside of the factory. Chipotle controlled
the elements of the scene in order to paint a picture of the consumer’s food being
injected, while they not knowingly understand or are aware of what is going on behind
these closed factory doors.
Chipotle makes no mistakes by almost scaring its
viewers into wanting to know what is being done to their
food, before it reaches their plate. In Figure two an image
of a cow connected to a milking machine is shown. There
Figure 2.
are several dozen cows in the image that appear to be connected to similar machines.
Chipotle zoomed in and brightened the facial expressions of the cow in the center. The
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cow appears to be depressed; its eyes are displaying pain and suffering. This screenshot
of the cow appeals to the audience’s logos. The cow is in obvious suffering, this appeals
to the audiences Pathos because chipotle has created an image where they want you to
feel guilty. Chipotle uses ones Pathos to make the audience feel guilty for eating Dairy
and meat products that they aren’t fully educated on. This is significant because Chipotle
is able to convince you that corporate companies who use these types of methods on their
agriculture are not safe, and to stay away from. This in the long run will bring Chipotle
more monetary development.
Up until this point Chipotle’s film has focused solely on what is actually
happening to the poultry and meats inside the factory. In
figure three, there is a screenshot of a box that is stamped
reading “100% Beef-ish”. The labeling on the container is
Figure 3
discrete. Upon first glance the audience might think it reads just “100%
Beef” but it does not. The scenes leading up to this image has made this discrete label a
very big deal. Chipotle uses the element of Ethos. This triggers a doubt in the factories
credibility where the beef product is coming from. Chipotle uses this discrete labeling
tactic to challenge the credibility of the company and its products. By labeling the box of
meet “100 percent Beef-ish” it makes the consumer wonder what “ish” really is because
it is not clarified. Chipotle is able to make the audience question all companies that use
vague labeling or do not label at all.
Figure three also organizes the information the audience has seen very well. The
audience up until this point has seen the process the
animals go through before the product reaches them. In
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Figure three the organization of information is essential. The way the audience looks at
this specific scene is carefully planned out. The first thing that is brought to the
audience’s attention is the box with the Beef labeling on it. The second things the
audience’s eyes are drawn to are the round jugs of milk. The audience first looked at the
label. The milk jug and other box of food in the scene are not labeled. Chipotle did this
intentionally so that the audience begins to question the credibility of the other products
that are not labeled as well.
In figures 1,2, and 3, chipotle has emphasized how industrialized food companies
are lying to their consumers. Chipotle has also showed the audience how unhealthy these
products are. In figure four, an image of a perfectly
shaped red jalapeño pepper is shown. The image is
very light hearted and happy, the colors are bright.
Figure 4
The pepper is being picked by the scarecrow in the
video and is framed very well. Chipotle frames the pepper in a wholesome light, the
surrounding vegetation is healthy and the scene looks generally happy. The red Jalapeño
pepper that they displayed was glowing and healthy. The thought Chipotle made the
audience get when they saw the pepper was wholesome and natural. The frame makes the
audience associate happiness and healthiness with farm fresh foods. Chipotle is
subliminally showing the audience what farm fresh foods are as appose to the dark dreary
products that were shown in the factories.
Immediately after Figure four was shown. Figure five is, clearly a chipotle basket
with freshly cooked food in it. The labeling that it is a
chipotle product is omitted; instead they used a highly
Figure 5
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recognizable symbol to their company, the basket. By omitting the labeling they allow
the reader to associate healthy, fresh, naturally grown local crops with chipotle and the
red chipotle basket. The red pepper that was shown in figure four rights before this scene
is the same hue of red as the basket color. This can persuade the audience to identify the
fresh wholesome red pepper with the chipotle. By flashing the image of the red pepper
before the Chipotle basket scene, the audience is forced to make the connection that
chipotle is wholesome and honest to their consumers. This puts chipotle in a positive
light to possible consumers.
Although American consumers have a wealth of knowledge at their finger-tips,
they tend not to follow logical arguments about avoiding potentially harmful foods.
Chipotles effectively use fear to captivate their audience. Combined with the fact that
Chipotle already has a strong relationship with American consumers, this video with its
emotional appeal increased Chipotle’s business and ultimate success. Chipotle proves
that a strong use of visual rhetoric can not only influence profit, but also influence the
essential choices of their consumers. This Scarecrow video shows businesses are capable
of making money as well being a role model business.
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Works Cited
"About." The NonGMO Project RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
"GMO." Food Dialogues: Farmers & Ranchers Committed to
Continuous Improvement of How We Grow & Raise Food. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
"The Scarecrow." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.