In celebration of National Avocado Day July 31, Chipotle is hosting its first promotion – “Get in the Pit” sweepstakes – on the fledgling social media channel, Threads. The company claims to be the first major restaurant brand to host a sweepstakes on the platform, which first launched July 5 as an alternative to Twitter.
It’s too early to fully understand how brands will leverage Threads, which is part of the Meta suite of products, but it’s not too early to identify its potential. For context, 10 million users joined Threads in its first seven hours. According to Fast Company, it took Twitter over two years to accomplish that membership number. What’s driving this pace is simple: the app is linked to Meta’s Instagram, providing a built-in follower base.
For its part, Chipotle was one of the first brands to post on the platform and the brand already has nearly 100,000 followers.
Chipotle is no stranger to experimenting with new and emerging marketing platforms, leveraging Roblox, BeReal and TikTok well before most brands were doing so, for instance. This early-adoption approach is part of the reason the company was recently identified as one of Time’s 100 most influential companies of 2023, and why Chris Brandt, chief brand and marketing officer, was recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 20 “marketing rockstars” of 2023.
For its Threads promotion, followers have the chance to win two free tickets to concerts by their favorite artists. On July 31 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Chipotle will drop text-to-win codes via posts from @chipotle on Threads at the top of every hour. The 1,000th fan to text the code to 888222 each hour will receive a pair of tickets to a concert or music festival of their choice, for a total of 13 winners and their plus-ones. The sweepstakes is being held in partnership with Avocados from Peru.
Chipotle is also celebrating National Avocado Day by offering free guacamole with an entrée purchase to Rewards members who use the code: AVO2023.
"National Avocado Day, one of our most popular 'Chipotdays,' has long given our fans something extra to celebrate on July 31," Brandt said in a statement. "We're excited to continue the tradition this year by offering free concerts and fresh, hand-mashed guac to our fans."
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]