--- title: Chipotle Tweets Sex and Drug References description: Chipotle’s latest marketing strategy to win back customers certainly got the burrito chain plenty of attention. canonical: https://time.com/4482128/chipotle-burrito-tweet/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-07T15:40:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:15.349Z og:title: Chipotle Tries to Win Over Millennials by Tweeting About Sex and Drugs og:description: It started with a simple question og:url: https://time.com/4482128/chipotle-burrito-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85ee0d0270c6da4/6988a51797cdff30bb6adb69/chipotle-tweet-sex-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: A Chipotle Restaurant Ahead Of Earnings Data og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chipotle Tries to Win Over Millennials by Tweeting About Sex and Drugs twitter:description: It started with a simple question twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85ee0d0270c6da4/6988a51797cdff30bb6adb69/chipotle-tweet-sex-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chipotle Tries to Win Over Millennials by Tweeting About Sex and Drugs > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=820f58f3-e7c6-4069-a0ed-7413a166d6f7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune Fortune Sep 7, 2016 3:40 PM UTC  A steak burrito is arranged for a photograph with a drink and bags of chips at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in Hollywood, California, U.S., on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. A steak burrito is arranged for a photograph with a drink and bags of chips at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in Hollywood, California, U.S., on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. Patrick T. Fallon—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune Fortune Sep 7, 2016 3:40 PM UTC Chipotle’s latest marketing strategy to win back customers certainly got the burrito chain plenty of [attention](http://nypost.com/2016/09/06/chipotle-tweets-about-sex-and-drugs-to-get-customers-back/), but that doesn’t mean it was good publicity. The fast-casual restaurant chain, which has had a rough year of declining sales following a string of high-profile food safety issues, tweeted out a message on Tuesday that was [mostly chided](http://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-tweets-about-sex-and-marijuana-to-win-back-millennials-2016-9) as a lame attempt at courting millennials, even if it did manage to go viral. Yesterday afternoon, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Twitter account posed its more than 800,000 followers the seemingly innocuous question, “How many burritos?” But the post included a multiple-choice poll with two symbolic numerical options: a sexual reference (“69”) and a drug reference (“420,” which refers to the unofficial holiday celebrated by marijuana smokers on April 20). > [](https://twitter.com/ChipotleTweets/status/773237114221703168) More than 82,000 people had voted in the poll by early Wednesday morning while the post had been retweeted 6,000 times and “liked” 3,800 times. Still, the tweet also made Chipotle the butt of more than a few jokes, with the apparent attempt to endear the brand to young diners seen as juvenile at best, and offensive at worst. The first user to respond to the tweet [advised](https://twitter.com/prettyalec/status/773237269515866112) Chipotle “you gotta chill,” while other responders disapproved of the tweet, with one [likening the joke to](https://twitter.com/joeyalf/status/773237476185870336) “someone’s Dad trying to be cool.” Chipotle has been [hit hard by food safety concerns](http://fortune.com/2016/07/07/chipotle-tweet-sick/) stemming from a string of E. coli and norovirus outbreaks, and the chain has gone out of its way to win back customers, with [free burritos](http://fortune.com/2016/03/16/chipotle-burritos-giveaway/?iid=sr-link7), [happy hour alcohol specials](http://fortune.com/2016/08/10/chipotle-cheap-booze-specials/?xid=soc%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter%5FFORTUNE), and a [customer rewards program](http://fortune.com/2016/06/27/what-chipotle-is-doing-to-win-you-back-this-summer/?xid=soc%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter%5FFORTUNE). But those attempts have not kept theChipotle’s comparable restaurant sales from dropping [more than 26%](http://ir.chipotle.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=194775&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2187323) in the first half of 2016, while the uptick in promotions has hurt profit margins. Chipotle’s share price had dropped nearly 15% from the start of 2016 before receiving a bump from Tuesday’s news that activist investor [Bill Ackman had taken a sizable stake](http://fortune.com/2016/09/06/chipotle-ackman/?iid=leftrail) and will hold discussions with executives related to governance and financial matters, as well Chipotle’s strategic plans. Ackman thinks shares are undervalued, which means he could push for major shakeups to the company’s management and its business model. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/09/07/chipotle-twitter-69-420-poll/) _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://www.fortune.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4482128/chipotle-burrito-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4482128/chipotle-burrito-tweet/"},"headline":"Chipotle Tries to Win Over Millennials by Tweeting About Sex and Drugs","datePublished":"2016-09-07T15:40:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:15.349Z","description":"It started with a simple question","url":"https://time.com/4482128/chipotle-burrito-tweet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85ee0d0270c6da4/6988a51797cdff30bb6adb69/chipotle-tweet-sex-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tom Huddleston, Jr. / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf85ee0d0270c6da4/6988a51797cdff30bb6adb69/chipotle-tweet-sex-drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Chipotle Restaurant Ahead Of Earnings Data","caption":"A steak burrito is arranged for a photograph with a drink and bags of chips at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in Hollywood, California, U.S., on Tuesday, July 16, 2013.","creditText":"Patrick T. 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