Your Chipotle Burrito Might Come Wrapped In Gold Foil. Here's Why
If you've been to Chipotle recently, you might've noticed that it's slowly getting rid of its signature forks — aka the gold standard of fast food utensils — and it's caused quite a bit of outrage on TikTok and Twitter. The new sub-par forks, however, aren't the only change Chipotle is rolling out. As announced on the fast food chain's official Instagram page, come July 23, burritos will be wrapped in gold foil instead of silver. The social media announcement was met mostly with confusion and intrigue rather than outright disappointment, prompting Chipotle to clarify in the comments section that there's no "Willy Wonka" golden ticket promotion, nor is there a "golden burrito" discount code. It's simply introducing a gold foil.
Chipotle officially confirmed in a press release that the gold foil isn't a permanent change, and it will only be available at participating locations during the 2021 Summer Olympics (via PR Newswire). "Our gold foil is symbolic of our support of American athletics and commitment to providing Real Food for Real Athletes," Chipotle's Chief Marketing Officer Chris Brandt explained.
Chipotle is big on supporting athletes
Not only does Chipotle have a secret menu, it also has a newly curated menu inspired by the orders of top athletes, and it was "Chipotle's largest celebrity-inspired menu launch in the brand's history" (via Chipotle). It's also the official sponsor of U.S. soccer, and gave away free burritos during the NBA finals, per U.S. Soccer.
The golden burrito is the first Olympics-related promotion Chipotle has done, but Delish reports that it isn't the first time Chipotle has ever used gold foil. Back in 2011, Chipotle did the same in celebration of its 18th anniversary.
Despite gold foil being a temporary change in support of the Olympics, Chipotle employees on Reddit still fear customers will find something to complain about. One Redditor is convinced that, "Customers will say we're giving them dirty yellow foils, complain, ask for the manager, and demand free food." Considering the fact that new forks were enough to get customers talking, and silver foil is so iconic that Chipotle even sells duffle bags versions of it on its online store, it's not exactly far-fetched to assume that not everyone will want to take home the gold.