The battle of the burgers is on. But at the center isn’t actual fast food: it’s viral moments with the companies’ leaders.
In case you missed it: Last weekend, an Instagram video of McDonald’s CEO and Chairman Chris Kempczinski—looking rather uncomfortable as he sampled his own company’s Big Arch burger, which launches today—was widely circulated and mocked across the internet. He took only one, small bite, and repeatedly called the food a “product.”
“I love this product,” Kempczinski said. “It is so good.” The comments were ruthless.
“From this video, it seems likely the CEO of McDonald’s has never eaten McDonald’s before,” one user wrote. “What a great ad for Burger King,” quipped another on Instagram. Skits parodying the video are also surfacing, and the memes are relentless.
McDonald’s rival Burger King—which announced an update of its signature Whopper for the first time in nearly a decade just last week—jumped at the opportunity to add to the pile-on.
A video of Burger King President Tom Curtis trying one of the company’s signature Whopper burgers was posted on the company’s TikTok last week, and on Monday, the account reposted a clip of Curtis taking a bite that appeared to be bigger than the one Kempczinski took of the Big Arch.
While Burger King didn’t name names: “Thought we’d replay this,” the TikTok caption read. It’s already been watched over 2 million times.
The comments section has predictably been dominated by viewers comparing the two. “This dude knows how to take a bite,” one TikTok user commented. Another wrote: “this marketing is low-key genius… they didn’t have to mention McDonald’s and we all knew.”
Commentary has spread to other platforms, like X: “Can’t believe the Burger King [president] just burgermogged the McDonald’s CEO with more aura than any corporate moid has ever had. Bro is frame dominant with a Whopper,” one user wrote. “It’s over for the golden arches.”
In both cases, the company’s executives have become the face of the marketing campaigns—though likely in McDonald’s case, not in the way they intended.
As far as Burger King’s retort: “The video wasn’t shot as a reaction to the McDonald’s video, but rather a testament about how Burger King’s [president] is demonstrating authenticity when it comes to engaging with the burgers and connecting with the staff,” Abena Anim-Somuah, food writer and special projects associate at PR and communications agency Daly, tells Fast Company.
“I think there’s this theme of corporate brands trying to establish relatability from the C-suite,” she continues, pointing to the success of shows like Undercover Boss and the prominence of corporate day-in-the-life content online.
This social media tit-for-tat also comes at a time where more CEOs are expected to occupy a role adjacent to influencers: camera-facing, social media-ready and attempting to broadcast authenticity to followers.
“People genuinely care about how those in leadership react to what they’re offering customers,” Anim-Somuah says. “Especially in food, where it seems like celebrities are taking the crown for running products—to see that a CEO is willing to get down and dirty is refreshing.”
This is far from the first time the two fast food chains have gone bite to bite over their burgers.
The marketing rivalry, spanning six plus decades, has produced some memorable campaigns over the years, with Burger King often taking the offensive approach. As far back as 1982, Burger King launched a series of national TV commercials featuring a young Sarah Michelle Gellar aggressively pitting the two patties against one another.
More recently, in 2018, Burger King launched their “Whopper Detour” campaign using mobile geofencing to target customers within 600 feet of McDonald’s locations. The push notification aimed to undercut potential McDonald’s customers by urging them to instead head to neighboring locations for a one-cent Whopper.
This latest move in social media strategy follows a similar playbook.
“McDonald’s set up the joke, and Burger King delivered the punchline,” Dayna Castillo, founder of the internet culture newsletter Silence, Brand!, tellsFast Company.
“It’s rare for a brand of this size to leave a visible gap in their public facing brand narrative. Burger King saw opportunity, and took it.”
For what it’s worth, McDonald’s is already trying to wrest the internet clout back from its rival: On Tuesday, McDonald’s posted a picture of the Arch Burger on X, writing simply: “take a bite of our new product.”