- Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Chipotle Mexican Grill has launched a review of creative duties on its ad account following a split with DeVito/Verdi here.

The Denver-based client attributed the split to "creative differences." DeVito/Verdi, an independent agency, landed the business in January.

In a statement, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said the company was seeking a "long-term relationship" with an agency that would play an important role "communicating our mission of changing the way the world thinks about and eats fast food."

Media duties, at Results Media Group in Phoenix, are not in play.

Sequence, a San Francisco-based strategic marketing shop that already works for Chipotle, is managing the search. The process should be completed by year's end.

The fast-food chain last year spent about $6 million in major measured media, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. In the first half of 2008, spending was just shy of $6 million. Those figures do not include online ads.

Chipotle, which opened in 1993, now operates some 775 restaurants.