Four NIU students took top honors in the Chipotle Mexican Grill’s National Student Advertising Contest.

The NIU team, which won on the strength of its entry “Just the Fax,” will split the first-place prize of $15,000 with a student team from Chapman University. On top of that, NIU will receive $7,500 from Chipotle as well, said Laura Vazquez, associate professor in the department of communication and the head of the NIU Student Film and Video Association.

The students who produced the video ad were Chris Darkes of Schaumburg, Brittany Samson of Huntley, Sara Honchar of Freeport and Joe Giorgi of Rockford. The ad was for Chipotle’s “30 Seconds of Fame” contest.

“It’s exciting. I never really earned something before,” said Samson, a senior communication media major. “After we heard, we were going to Chipotle for lunch to celebrate.”

Vazquez said the team deserved to win for the amount of hard work and creativity involved in producing the ad.

“I am thrilled to have very talented and creative students,” Vazquez said.

Two teams of NIU students made the top 12 of the competition, Vazquez said. Eighty schools participated, and two teams from each school were allowed to enter, said Darkes, a senior communication media studies major.

Darkes, who said he created the idea for “Just the Fax,” said it came to him in a dream.

“In this lucid dream where everything just really meshed together, the idea came to me,” Darkes said.

The students divided into teams and developed their own storyboards, Vazquez said.

Seeing the end result was a satisfying experience, Samson said.

“I think it is really awesome to see something that you did get recognition,” she said.

Darkes said the competition will help prove to future employers that the next generation can hold its own in the advertising business.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for corporations and companies to see how much talent and creativity there is out there,” Darkes said.