Chipotle is airing TV ads for the first time in 4 years as it bids to turnaround plummeting sales

Chipotle is broadcasting TV ads for the first time since 2012, AdAge reports, as the struggling Mexican food chain bids to revive declining sales.

The company has begun running a spot based on its online video series "Ingredients Reign" in Austin, Texas, Minneapolis, and San Diego, according to the report.

The animated campaign highlights the brand's "obsession" with fresh vegetables and "responsibly-raised meats".

The spot was created by ad agency GSD&M, which launched the online element of the campaign in September.

Here's a 30-second video from the series (a 30-second cut is usually the length of a TV ad, so this is likely to be the spot currently airing on TV):

News of the TV ad comes in the same week Chipotle announced its sales continued to plummet following the E. coli outbreak that affected its restaurants across 14 states a year ago. Revenue declined 14.8% to $1 billion in its third quarter, while same-store sales fell 21.9%. Chipotle increased its marketing and promotional spend to 4.8% of revenue in the period, compared to 2.4% of revenue in the third quarter of 2015.

The last time Chipotle appeared on TV was the 2012 Grammys, with an heartstring-pulling animated spot about sustainable farming, sound-tracked by a Willie Nelson cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist". The "Back to the Start" campaign went on to win a Cannes Lions Grand Prix award.

The "Back to the Start" ad: