Chipotle enlists RZA for new digital experience

To celebrate its commitment to using only real ingredients in its food, Chipotle Mexican Grill has collaborated with RZA, multi-platinum hip-hop legend and creator and producer of the Wu-Tang Clan, to create SAVOR.WAVS, an immersive digital experience that reinterprets each ingredient in Chipotle’s food as music and responsive visuals.

As the creative visionary behind SAVOR.WAVS, RZA composed sounds using various instruments inspired by each of the 51 real ingredients Chipotle uses to make its food. Those sounds were then paired with beautiful visuals also inspired by the ingredients. When combined, based on orders that customers compose, they create a unique visual song to represent any possible menu combination from Chipotle. Developed by Chipotle and CAA Marketing, this musical re-imagination of Chipotle’s ingredient statement is another example of how music and food can bring people closer together.

Customers can visit SAVORWAVS.com to compose their own individual order. As they build their order, the musical composition and visualization builds along with it, resulting in a stunning 360-degree visual experience that reacts in real-time to the movement of a mobile device.

“SAVOR.WAVS supports our commitment to using only real ingredients in our food — without any colors, flavors or industrial additives,” says Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer at Chipotle. “As a parallel to the way we cook, RZA used only natural instruments, and composed them such that each unique combination works beautifully together.”

RZA has a personal and thoughtful relationship with food and a reputation for bringing his creativity to life across a variety of mediums, making him a natural partner for SAVOR.WAVS.

“I’ve always believed food, like music, has the power to change our day and even shape our world,” states RZA. “SAVOR.WAVS continues to challenge us in how we think about food, what’s real and what’s responsible.”

Chipotle is the only national restaurant brand to use no added colors, flavors, preservatives (other than real lemon and lime juice) or other industrial additives in its food. True to that philosophy, RZA composed sounds to correspond to each of the ingredients on Chipotle’s menu working only with natural instruments.

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Take guacamole, for example: An avocado represents an instrument. In this case, a viola. When the instruments representing cilantro, jalapeno and all the other ingredients used to make guacamole are added, a full melody is created.

In addition to the music customers can make by composing their own orders, Chipotle engaged several other artists to compose their favorite Chipotle orders and remix them using their own individual styles. The musicians include Wu-Tang Clan, The Head and the Heart, Awolnation, GRiZ and PANG! The remix by Wu-Tang Clan includes members Raekwon, Method Man, Ghostface and of course, RZA.

Songs from these artists are available on SAVORWAVS.com, on Spotify and at Sound Cloud at Soundcloud.com/chipotlemexicangrill. Other artists who wish to make their own remixes can access the complete set of 51 original musical stems created by RZA at Soundcloud.com/chipotlemexicangrill.

This innovative experience was developed using the latest WebGL & WebAudio technologies and is best run on the latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, or using another device running iOS 9 or Android 4.2 (or above). Customers who participate in SAVOR.WAVS can also earn a buy-one-get-one entrée, while supplies last, to enjoy the real-life version of their favorite order.

Chipotle has a long history of sharing the creative power of music to help people better understand what’s in their food, including the reinterpretations of iconic songs in Chipotle’s award-winning animated short films, its Cultivate food, music and ideas festivals, curating the music in its restaurants and featuring musicians and music videos in RAD Lands, its TV series for kids and families.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com