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 blames his mother after a recent taste test disaster.
Kempczinski, who was the subject of widespread backlash after eating a McDonald’s Big Arch Burger on camera, told The Wall Street Journal that his mother encouraged him to be careful about his manners, especially at the dinner table.
“The reason I blame it all on my mother is because she told me, ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full,'” Kempczinski told WSJ columnist Tim Higgins.
In this viral video, a fast food executive takes a bite of a burger before holding it up to the camera. There was immediate criticism online, with some speculating that the CEO might be eating McDonald’s.
This moment prompted several other fast-food executives, most notably Burger King and Wendy’s, to add their own burger taste tests.
“And I think maybe in that case I should have just said, ‘You know what? Hell, I’m going to talk with my mouth full,'” Kempczinski said.
McDonald’s CEO unfazed by backlash over taste test
Kempczinski thought it was “great” that people were talking about the Big Arch, but was largely unaffected by the criticism thrown at him.
“And I think you have to have a thick skin in general when you stay on social media,” Kempczinski said.
Kempczinski didn’t realize “something was going on” until one of her children called her to tell her it had spread “and not in a good way.”
“And then, yeah, I started getting texts and emails and phone calls,” Kempczinski said. “You know, they’re always like, ‘Hey, have you seen this?'” And by the 1,000th time, they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve seen this before.’ ”
The internet influences McDonald’s CEO again
Kempczinski is once again the target of the internet, this time over a McNugget taste test.
In addition to discussing the viral moment in WSJ, Kempczinski and Higgins also nibbled on McDonald’s chicken nuggets on camera.
Kempczinski bit into about half of a McNugget and prefaced it by saying, “I’m looking forward to eating every delicious bite.” The clip had more than 500,000 views on TikTok as of April 9th.
“The nugget bite was worse than the hamburger bite,” one Instagram user commented on the video shared by WSJ. “Will I ever see him again?” said another Instagram user.
Similar sentiments were expressed on TikTok.
“This is painful to watch,” a TikTok user commented on the WSJ video. “Damage control isn’t working,” someone else chimed in.
Contributor: Greta Cross, USA TODAY
