Brief:

• Chipotle Mexican Grill is challenging TikTok users to shoot a 53-foot basket for a chance to win burritos and tickets to a future NBA game. The fast-casual chain recruited Trae Young, a Chipotle "superfan" who plays for the Atlanta Hawks, to promote the "53 ft. Shot Challenge" on the social video app, per an announcement emailed to Mobile Marketer.
• To participate, TikTok users need to create a video of themselves shooting a 53-foot basket and pair it with a video of Young by using the app's "duet" feature. Chipotle is asking entrants to tag the video with its @Chipotle handle and put the #Chipotle53 hashtag in the caption. Fifty-three represents the number of ingredients in Chipotle's food.
• The effort is the latest TikTok effort from Chipotle, a brand that has pioneered campaigns on the social app. Several personalities from sports entertainment company Dude Perfect will participate in the challenge, along with several projected first round NBA draft picks and other sports influencers. 

Insight:

Chipotle aims to engage its target audience of young adults and teens with the 53 ft. Shot Challenge on TikTok, whose 100 million users in the U.S. are mostly comprised of Generation Z consumers. By offering a chance to win food and tickets to a future NBA game, Chipotle is providing greater incentives for people to participate in the challenge by creating their own videos and pairing them with Trae Young's original video. That social sharing will help extend the reach of the campaign, as TikTok's algorithm highlights videos that are most likely to go viral.

@thetraeyoung

Duet my shot & you could win 53???? & ???? 2 a pro ???? Game ##Ad @chipotle , use ##chipotle53 ##sweepstakes noPurchNecUSonly.1entryonly.rules:chip.tl/53

♬ original sound - TheTraeYoung

Chipotle also recruited a broad range of athletes, celebrities and influencers to participate, which will boost the campaign's visibility on social media. Among its partners on the campaign, Dude Perfect has built a following of 53.6 million subscribers on YouTube, making it the 12th-most popular channel on the platform, according to Brandwatch. Dude Perfect, which often features trick shots and athletic stunts, is well suited for the challenge. With almost 11 million followers on TikTok, Dude Perfect can help Chipotle reach a broader audience.

Chipotle has been active on TikTok in the past couple of years as the app gained widespread recognition. That started in 2019 with Chipotle's "lid-flipping" challenge that demonstrated TikTok's power to quickly engage a mass audience. Since then, the chain has run multiple campaigns on TikTok, most recently with last week's influencer promotion for the return of carne asade to its menu. Before that, Chipotle partnered with a TikTok creator house to promote a new group-ordering feature in its app, and ran its second "Unlock the Guac" challenge on TikTok as part of its yearly celebration of National Avocado Day. In June, Chipotle celebrated Pride Month with a "Lunch & Listen" session with influencers on TikTok to raise money for charity.

Chipotle's basketball challenge is a sign that brands are still developing campaigns for TikTok, which faces the possibility of being banned in the U.S. because of national security concerns. TikTok's parent company ByteDance is seeking a deal to avoid a ban, though the result of those talks remains uncertain.