Mouthing Off | McDonald’s CEO’s burger blunder video shows the problem of lacking a common touch
Chris Kempczinski’s timid taste test of McDonald’s new Big Arch sparked a slew of trolling responses from Burger King, Wendy’s and A&W
A PR disaster erupted for McDonald’s last week when, in a social media post, its CEO showed little hint that he was “lovin’ it” when eating the company’s new hamburger.
The American fast food chain’s chief executive, Chris Kempczinski, posted a clip of himself taste-testing a new menu item called the Big Arch. Unfortunately, it went viral for all the wrong reasons.
The CEO’s video had, as the kids would say, no rizz. It looked awkward and forced, and there was little feeling of ravenous hunger as he took a small bite from the burger.
Instead, the jumper-wearing executive came across as so timid and milquetoast that it wouldn’t surprise me if black pepper was too spicy for him.
The corporate talk did not help. He claimed the new burger, which contains two quarter-pound patties, is a “product” they have “tested” in other countries, making it sound more like a lab-manufactured shampoo or body lotion than something to devour for lunch.
In his moment of truth, Kempczinski took a bite that many people would say was tentative at best. It barely made a dent. Naturally, he was mocked online mercilessly.
Then the fast food competition started trolling.