The Scarecrow (3:23)
IMDb; Limbert Fabian; Vimeo; Wikipedia; YouTube

So, I guess this is basically an ad for Chipotle restaurants. It came out in September 2013, but I didn't become aware of it until June 2014, when I was looking for an older short film with the same name. There have been lots of films, both long and short, as well as TV episodes and such, with "Scarecrow" as the title or part of the title, and I really had no clear idea of what I was looking for. (I think I eventually found it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.) But about 99% of the pages I found when googling "scarecrow short film" were about this one, so I thought I might as well check it out. It really is some great animation, over which plays a dark, haunting cover of "Pure Imagination" by Fiona Apple (of which you could buy the mp3 on iTunes, at the time this short came out, and I probably did, but years later I checked again and it's gone, now). The film is about this scarecrow who works at a giant food corporation, and as he goes about his day, he sees all these horrible things that the corporation does to its livestock. Finally, he goes home to the farm, and gets the idea to start his own all natural restaurant, I guess. And at this point, the song becomes lighter and happier. And we're meant to equate the scarecrow's little roadside stand with real-world Chipotle restaurants.

So, basically the film/commercial is an indictment of the various practices of the food industry, touching on a few points that have been popular in recent years for just about everyone to condemn but not actually do anything about. And the film is definitely full of feels. And it has apparently received a lot of praise. But one site I randomly clicked on was about people in the farming industry who are upset by its inaccurate portrayal of their practices. Which may very well be a legitimate grievance for some farmers, I don't really know. Also I guess there's some kind of mobile phone game that ties in with the film, but I didn't have any kind of cell phone, at the time this came out, nor would I be interested in the game. Still... the film itself is worth watching.

There's also an amusing and insightful parody called "Honest Scarecrow" on Funny Or Die, which you should totally check out after you've watched the original film.