Chipotle Mexican Grill needed to do something. In February, the fast-casual restaurant brand reported that traffic to its restaurants fell for the fourth straight quarter to end 2025, and it was projecting flat same-store sales growth for 2026. At that point, the company’s stock had dipped by about 33% over the last year.
The brand needed a boost, and it just made a major move to get it. Chipotle named award-winning marketer Fernando Machado as its new chief brand officer.
Machado’s last CMO role was with plant-based food company NotCo, which he joined in 2023 after two years as CMO at Activision Blizzard. But he’s best known for his epic run of success—and industry accolades—at Burger King from 2014 to 2020 (the last three years as global CMO for BK parent company Restaurant Brands International).
On Chipotle’s latest earnings call on April 29th, CEO Scott Boatwright highlighted Machado as an award-winning, globally-recognized brand leader. “His proven track record of building iconic brands, driving category-defining innovation and leading customer-centric marketing strategies is exactly what we need as we continue to elevate our brand, deepen guest loyalty, highlight the value of our real food, and accelerate our long-term growth,” said Boatwright.
At first glance, hiring a proven and celebrated marketer to reverse a sales slide looks like a no-brainer. But there’s also an argument to be made that Machado’s stunt-heavy strengths are a mismatch for Chipotle’s largely earnest brand image.
Combining the sensibilities that tried to usurp the Belgian monarchy and promote moldy burgers with a brand that makes sincerely sweet animated short films is definitely a risk that Chipotle is hoping will pay off.
Let’s break it down.
