Does McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski Deserve the Grilling Over His Big Arch Promo?
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In a now-viral social media share meant to promote the new McDonald's Big Arch burger, CEO Chris Kempczinski issued an Instagram video which earned him a great deal of blowback -- in addition to several roasts from competitors.
In the video, a smartly dressed Kempczinski describes the Big Arch, pointing out the crispy onions just before delivering his "big bite for a Big Arch."
"It's a delicious product," the McDonald's CEO declared after showing off a bite that was described as "negligible" by NBC News' Matt Lavietes, who noted that several competitors had hopped aboard the video to "beef" with the red-and-yellow brand.
Whether the intent was meant to be tongue-in-cheek with his video or not, Kempczinksi soon became a viral figure for his video -- and not immediately in a good way. The bulk of online commentary around the video was negative, with common criticisms surrounding the seeming lack of authenticity from the McDonald's CEO in addition to the corporate-speak in naming the burger a "product."
'This almost feels dystopian. He’s acting like he’s afraid of it. And just to call it a 'product.' It just feels incredibly alien, makes me second-guess eating McDonald’s," one user declared. Several others described McDonald's products as "not real food" and "bio-engineered" in response to these sorts of replies.
Burger King, Wendy's, WingStop, Mini Roast McDonald's Over Big Arch Video
Competitor responses -- and even some from businesses outside of the food space -- were quick to pile on.
Burger King chimed in on Kempczinski's video, writing "We couldn't finish it either," while Wendy's wrote "We do love a square." WingStop penned a note reading "Is the big bite in the room with us?" while Mini Cooper's account wrote "Gonna start test driving our cars 1 metre at a time."
Burger King went so far as to post an apparent compare-and-contrast video on the day of the Big Arch's release, one featuring its president, Tom Curtis, taking a large bite of the restaurant's famous Whopper sandwich with aplomb. The video was captioned simply: "Thought we'd replay this."
Burger King reps played coy about the timing of the Curtis replay, however, suggesting that "We can confirm that this video was not created in reaction to anything."
McDonald's Leans Into Social Media Criticism
McDonald's, for its part, leaned in to the criticism with a bit of self-deprecating humor. In a Mar. 3 Instagram post, the Golden Arches posted a simple pic of the Big Arch burger with text reading "take a bite of our product" attached -- the caption itself reading "can't believe this got approved."
Some fans wrote that they enjoyed this positioning on the messaging front as a form of response, but critics continued to grill McDonald's over the issue. Jack in the Box posted "From one CEO to another: eat your product," while Wendy's quipped that "Your CEO views this as a threat."
Even Uno got involved, writing: "Uno reverse, you first," while Welch's Fruit Snacks got a laugh in with "Not y'all clocking yourselfs [crying emoji]."