Schaumburg student's burrito dream realized

Keep an eye out for a new Chipotle ad featuring a burrito popping out of a fax machine.It was produced by a group of Northern Illinois University students, two of whom are from the Northwest suburbs."Just the Fax" -- a video ad by students Chris Darkes of Schaumburg, Brittany Samson of Huntley, Sara Honchar of Freeport and Joe Giorgi of Rockford -- took home top honors in a national advertising contest by Chipotle.The NIU team of students will split the first-place prize of $15,000 with a student team from Chapman University in California. NIU will also get $7,500 from Chipotle.The idea for the ad came to Darkes in a dream. To win, it beat out 45 other ads submitted by a total of 18 schools. Judging was done by the restaurant chain's marketing department.Judges looked for creativity and originality, consistency with brand and production value. They found all of the above in "Just the Fax" because the spot uses no dialogue while telling the story of a famished officer worker, played by Darkes, whose Chipotle burrito order arrives in a rather unconventional way -- a fax machine.There are no specific plans right now on how the ads will be used.Last year's winning spots were displayed during the holidays on the big screen in New York's Times Square. One spot also ran during the BCS championship football game, and some were used in movie-theater advertising.Video entries from all 12 finalists are posted at chipotle.com.