From October 2015 through November 2015, more than 50 people have become sick from E. Coli after eating at Chipotle locations in Washington, Oregon, Kansas and Oklahoma. More recently, 80 college students in Boston became sick with the norovirus after contracting it from just a single Chipotle location. All told, by the time 2015 drew to a close, more than 350 people became sick after eating at Chipotle.

Because of this E. Coli scare, many people have lost their faith and trust in Chipotle, for they do not wish to also eat the contaminated food and contract this sickness. As a result, the restaurant company’s stock has dropped sharply, as they have lost many of their customers. To try to gain back their customers, Chipotle has invested in a very large scale marketing campaign program.

To begin with, all Chipotle stores will be closed on February 8th for a national-hands on team meeting to address this issue of E. Coli and to propose ideas to gain back customers and a more positive image. The stores will re-open that day at 3 P.M.

Then, and probably the one people will care about the most, the Chipotle executive team has also allocated funds to allow each individual store in its U.S. based locations to give away more free food than ever before – specifically, twice as much as usual. Each store will decide how to use its funds and what to give away, so the promotions will likely vary from store to store. The Chipotle executive team hopes that the free food will encourage people to once again eat the food from Chipotle. They hope that this in turn will attract more customers and gain back the public’s trust. An additional marketing campaign will begin in February to lure back its customers. Nikhil Patolia (11) said that “I still love Chipotle. Even with the E. Coli scares, I have still gone and eaten there many times. However, I’m glad I will soon be able to get some free food!” So Mustangs, get ready and look out for when Chipotle starts its give aways and promotions!