# Chipotle Lid Flip

> Its agency reported 110,000 TikTok submissions in six days for an employee’s lid flip.

- Owner: Chipotle Mexican Grill
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Food & beverage
- Seed date: 2019-01-09
- Milestone date: Week of May 10, 2019
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 28 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Challenge, Platform jump, Press loop, Newsjacking, Maker origin, Real-world spectacle

## Summary

Chipotle shared an employee’s lid flip on Instagram, then sponsored a TikTok challenge with David Dobrik for Cinco de Mayo. The agency reported 110,000 submissions in six days. Chipotle said the partnership led to its highest digital sales day.

## Timeline

- 2019-01-09 — @chipotle (Instagram) — Chipotle posted Daniel Vasquez flipping a burrito bowl lid at its Frederick restaurant.
- 2019-01-14 — WMAR-2 News (Press) — WMAR reported more than 866,000 Instagram views of the Frederick employee’s lid flip.
- 2019-01-15 — Baltimore Sun (Press) — The Sun profiled Vasquez, who had learned the lid flip from a co-worker at another eatery.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/chipotle-lid-flip

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Chipotle Lid Flip.” Case HIS-00091. Spread Score v1.2: 28/100. Updated 2026-10-12. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00091