Chipotle's Halloween Costume Discount Forces Staff To Make The Tough Calls

When I saw Chipotle's announcement that it will bring back the "Boorito" discount this Halloween, I had but one thought. The discount—a $4 entree for any customer wearing a costume after 3 p.m. on October 31—begs the question: What constitutes a costume? Chipotle says it's leaving that up to staff to decide.

Stuck in the fine print, the rules of Boorito state: "Limit one Boorito per person; must be in costume to qualify. Determination of whether a 'costume' qualifies for the offer is at the sole discretion of Chipotle restaurant personnel."

Well, this seems like a potential rat's nest. My dad likes to complain about the trick-or-treaters who show up at his house without costumes—I shrug and counter that the world has bigger problems—but maybe we're just talking about different ideas of what constitutes a costume. Is a neon yellow dress a costume? Is a cowboy hat a costume? (Not where I live in Montana.) Is a soccer uniform a costume?

Hopefully, Chipotle employees err on the side of costume inclusivity—I mean, what do they care how many $4 burritos they hand out?—to avoid potential arguments. But if they need some helpful guidelines for costumes, we have their back:

• Baseball hat, with accompanying glove and team shirt
• Bedsheet ghost
• Wigs obviously not intended to pass for a person's actual hair (proceed with caution)
• Inflatable instruments
• Real instruments
• "Sexy" versions of unsexy occupations (proceed with extreme caution)

• Baseball hat, sans glove or team shirt
• Pajamas
• College T-shirts
• Flannel shirts
• First responder uniforms, worn by actual first responders