2 min read- A video of McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski went viral after the way he ate the chain’s newest burger.
- Executives at other chains, like Burger King and Wendy’s, have chimed in with response videos shading the Golden Arches.
- Social media fans are taking sides, making comparisons, and predicting which chains will get involved next.
In the midst of major geopolitical turmoil, there’s another conflict brewing: a civil war among fast-food executives.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has been under widespread public scrutiny after tentatively tasting the chain’s newest burger. Fans accused Kempczinski of looking “disgusted” after taking a tiny bite and mocked his awkward use of the word “product” to describe the food.
It should come as no surprise that other executives have capitalized on the backlash. Just yesterday, Burger King posted a video of its president, Tom Curtis, taking a messy, enthusiastic bite of the chain’s new-and-improved Whopper. When a social media account directly compared the two viral videos on X, BK’s official account responded with some subtle-but-not-subtle shade:
And now, the beef continues—and this time, it’s fresh, never frozen. Wendy’s U.S. President Pete Suerken appeared in a video in which he made his own Baconator, then took not one but four bites of it on camera.
Suerken escalated things further by directing even more shade at McDonald’s. “Is this set up today?” he asked about the Frosty dispenser in the Wendy’s kitchen. “Oh, wait—our machines are always working!”
And the ever-sassy Wendy’s X account had to get a lick in, too:
Public reactions have already started flooding in. Some people have astutely noted that all three executives look… strikingly similar. “They look like the same person,” one Reddit user wrote, while another joked that they were all grown in the same “generic CEO factory.” Until someone other than a graying white guy joins the fray, we’re inclined to believe it.
Others are busy predicting how more chains might get involved. “Would love to see the CEO of Five Guys step in and see what he’s got,” one user wrote. Another added, “Still waiting for the Taco Bell CEO to blackout with a Crunchwrap.”
At this rate, we can probably expect several other fast-food chains to follow suit. And like any other viral trend that gets co-opted by corporate executives, it’ll probably get old fast.