• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 11, 2018

Chipotle Mexican Grill sold out the scratch-and-sniff versions of its trendy Giphy stickers within a day of their debut.

The restaurant brand created the “real-life,” aromatic, limited-edition stickers to mark and build on the the success of its digital Giphy stickers, which have now pulled more than 100 million views.

Giphy and other GIF platforms like Tenor now offer libraries of stickers: small, movable versions of GIFs that can be added to photos posted to Instagram and Snapchat.

Chipotle's new real-world stickers recreate some of the brand’s most popular Giphy stickers on Snapchat and Instagram. Examples include “Would Rather Be At Chipotle," "Less Talk More Guac" and "Salsa Flame," which feature scents of smoky adobo, roasted cumin, and flaming chili, respectively.

They began being sold on the Chipotle store just yesterday, for $3 for a pack of three — and they’re now sold out, according to a message from the brand next to the item in the online store. 

“Bad news — apparently, so many people wanted this burritoful product that we just don’t have any left in stock,” says the message. “The artisans at [sustainable clothing maker] Loomstate are busy making more, and we’ll have them available here the moment they come in. Please check back with us soon.”

The message also helpfully notes that “if you’re here for the smell of smoky adobo, flaming hot chili and freshly squeezed lime, you can always find them for real at your local Chipotle.”

"We've seen tremendous enthusiasm for the Chipotle Giphy stickers since they launched on Snapchat and Instagram, and love that these give people the freedom to express themselves in creative ways on social media," said Tressie Lieberman, vice president, digital marketing and off-premise at Chipotle.

"As we continue to push the bounds on digital and social innovations, we're also seeing a demand to bring many of these digital experiences into 'real life,' which is why we wanted to create these fun scratch-and-sniff stickers for our fans."

Chipotle was one of the first major brands to launch stickers on Giphy, in June 2018. The company worked with designer and Instagram pro, Pablo Rochat to create designs inspired by popular fan conversations across social media. It used lessons learned from experiments to create a sponsored sticker pack on Snapchat.

The brand reports that it continues to experiment with Giphy stickers to promote new products and “insider Chipotle tropes.” Most recently, it debuted a new sticker, along with the Snapchat sticker pack, to celebrate National Guacamole Day and the launch of its large-size guacamole side.

Chipotle adds that it plans to continue to expand its Giphy stickers. In addition, its next app update will allow fans to easily send Giphy stickers via SMS.