McDonald’s has had it occasional kids book in a Happy Meal promotion but Chipotle is going all out with the introduction of a new author series, Cultivating Thought curated by Jonathan Safran Foer. The series of “two-minute reads” presents:
the words and whimsy of thought-leaders, authors and comedians through unique, you’ll-only-find-them-here essays, each illustrated by a different artist. We’re hoping this will allow people to connect with the musings of these writers with whom they may or may not be familiar and create a moment of analog pause in a digital world, provoking introspection or inspiration, and maybe a little laughter.
An analog pause in a digital world – I love it – but this is as much about access as it is a digital reprieve. It is safe to say a high proportion of low income families eat at fast food restaurants, some quite a bit. We also know the lower your family income the less chance your house is brimming with books so any chance to offer a reading opportunity has to be seen as a positive.
As Foer told Vanity Fair, “What interested me is 800,000 Americans of extremely diverse backgrounds having access to good writing. A lot of those people don’t have access to libraries, or bookstores. Something felt very democratic and good about this.”
Whatever the brush back, it’s worth it
Cultivating Thought – Author Series.
Jonathan Safran Foer brings litertature to Chipolte Cups (really) – LA Times