After McDonald’s posted a video widely mocking its CEO, competitors posted videos, jokes and unrelated fights on social media.
Burger King appears to be overshadowed by viral McDonald’s taste test
After McDonald’s CEO Christopher Kempczinski’s Big Arch taste test went viral, other fast food bosses decided to get in on the fun.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski’s Big Arch Burger tasting video has sparked an ongoing social media scrum with fast food brands joining in, some trying to change the narrative.
As the March introduction of McDonald’s biggest burger ever approaches, a video from February of Kempczinski biting into the Big Arch has surfaced. “I love this product,” Kempczinski says in the clip before sampling the burger. “It’s very delicious. I’m going to try it now, but I’m going to have this for lunch, just to be sure.”
Business news site Inc. noted in its account of the incident that “sharp-tongued viewers first zeroed in on the morsels of food that Kempczinski timed to remove from his XXL burger throughout the 81-second video.”
Competitors Burger King and Wendy’s came under fire after they released lewd videos of their executives happily stuffing themselves with hamburgers.
McDonald’s attempted to regain control of the situation with an Instagram post gently poking fun at Kempczinski’s failure. “Take a bite of our new product,” was the same explanation the CEO gave for Big Arch.
Competitors were not ready to stop this move. Jack in the Box posted a video of its Jack mascot saying, “Just a bite? We don’t do that here.”
A&W Canada invited Kempczinski to lunch with taste tester Allen Lulu, who posted a video on TikTok of him munching on a Teen Burger, saying, “We love this product and most people call it a burger.”
Following this, Chris Dull, CEO of Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, posted a video on Instagram of himself “eating burgers as usual,” devouring the chain’s menu throughout the day.
In addition to hamburgers, there are also fast food chains that use chicken and biscuits.
The online food fight has escalated beyond just burgers. When Wendy’s announced on March 5 a new competition to hire a chief tasting officer with a salary of $100,000, Popeyes echoed X, saying, “To be fair, we really need to hire someone to taste our food.”
Wendy’s retort: ”It’s a flor pie.” In response, Popeyes suggested, “Your new chief tasting officer might make a better comeback🤡.”
Things got even more heated when Church’s Chicken announced its comeback to Popeyes. “And who taste tested your biscuits?? 👀” Popeyes’ response: “It’s great to have you in the conversation again.”
The discussion turned to the quality of each chain’s biscuits, with nearly 1,000 comments received.
Another chicken player, Kentucky Fried Chicken, also joined the fray on Friday, March 6th. In a video posted on the social media platform, KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan Gillespie said, “I’ve seen a lot of CEOs talking about burgers lately… Good for them. At KFC, we leave the beef to the boys. We don’t use the product. We just have finger-licking delicious chicken.” Tan Gillespie then took a bite of KFC’s chicken. sandwich.
Mike Snyder is a national trends news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, and X, and email him at: mike snyder & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
