Chipotle just took its high-class fast-food ethos too far

When it comes to branding, Chipotle has officially jumped the shark.

The restaurant chain, which focuses on a fancier way of presenting fast food, launched bags and cups this week adorned with original text by famous authors such as Jonathan Safran Foer, Malcolm Gladwell, Toni Morrison, George Saunders, and Michael Lewis, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. You can visit VF's website to read each text in its entirety, although that might ruin your fun if you're planning to eat a burrito bowl later this week.

Foer, who first pitched the chain his idea, said the impetus for the project came about when he was sitting at a Chipotle and realized he had nothing to read — no book, no magazine, and, at the time, no smartphone.

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"I really just wanted to die with frustration," Foer told VF Daily, which sums up how I feel about this whole glorified PR blitz. Call me old school, but when I hit a fast-food place by myself, I'm not looking to feel smarter. I'm looking to feel full, you know, fast.

Decide for yourself by taking a gander at two of the new designs, below. --Sarah Eberspacher