How a CEO should eat a hamburger

A story editor of The New Yorker used to say: “A writer is a guy in the hospital wearing one of those gowns that’s open in the back. An editor is walking behind, making sure that nobody can see his ass.” 

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski needed someone to tell him his backside was showing before he posted his embarrassing February video touting the Big Arch, the company’s new premium-priced burger. Instead, he was roundly mocked on social media and in the news media for his stiff demeanor, corporate jargon and tiny bite of the 14-ounce, half-pound sandwich.

Kempczinski this month tried to put a good spin on all the bad publicity, telling The Wall Street Journal, “It means that people are hearing about Big Arch and then they’re going out and buying Big Arch.”

P.T. Barnum would smile, if only he had said something similar. But he didn’t.

Kempczinski’s Journal interview is an invitation to take a second look at his Big Arch video, drawing some key communication lessons for every executive.

The Big Arch post
While Kempczinski has worked to revive McDonald’s reputation for value, the Big Arch is his effort to compete in a growing sector of the market: more expensive and profitable offerings of chains such as Shake Shack and Five Guys. The company has been testing the sandwich outside the U.S. since 2024.

In this country, the Big Arch ranges in price from $7.46 to $12.99 nationwide, according to one study.

Kempczinski posted his video on Feb. 3, a month before the burger would be added to menus nationwide. He’s generally a bit dorky on social media.

“He doesn’t look like a man who eats McDonald’s,” Ellen Cushing, a staff writer for ‘The Atlantic wrote amid the reaction to the video. “In short, he’s a LinkedIn guy in a TikTok world.”

But the burger taste test made him appear even more uncomfortable. Reporters generally agreed with the social media reaction.

Kempczinski “bit into the burger tentatively, almost primly,” a reporter for The New York Times wrote.

Kempczinski “hesitantly lifted the burger to his mouth” and takes “a comically small bite,” a reporter for the New York Post wrote.

The video was “a cringe-filled distraction,” a reporter for industry publication AdAge pronounced.

Seizing on Kempczinski’s flop, competitors published videos showing senior executives taking vigorous bites. First, Burger King on March 2, followed two day later by Wendy’s.

Beware of jargon
Even the most awkward person can become comfortable with encouragement, coaching, training and repetition. But Kempczinski made one mistake that can quickly be corrected.

He called the burger a “‘product’ — an unusual moniker for a sandwich,” The Guardian said.

“Product” is jargon and it bedevils many corporate leaders when speaking to the public.

“The fact that he refers to the burger as ‘product’ is just because that’s how he internally talks about it,” a reporter with Business Insider wrote.

But he wasn’t talking to his CFO.

Approvals?
How did this video get through McDonald’s approval process? Did anyone speak up during the recording or later, during the review?

While all employees are often reluctant to speak up when they spot potential trouble, the problem is especially acute for one group of workers, according to management professors at ESMT Berlin and Simon Fraser University in the Vancouver, Canada metropolitan area.

Managers.

“They sense problems, relay critical signals, and coordinate responses that keep the enterprise agile,” they wrote last year in the Harvard Business Review. “When they don’t feel safe to voice concerns or admit mistakes, that feedback loop breaks.”

Did Kempczynski not listen? Or did groupthink set in and everyone believed the video was fine?

The company’s communication teams declined to comment.

McDonald’s comeback
McDonald’s subtly acknowledged the controversy with a March 3 social media post that showed a picture of the Big Arch with the caption, “Take a bite of our new product.”

Then McDonald’s communication team flexed its muscle: The bad video was actually good for business.

“According to a McDonald’s spokeswoman, early sales are beating expectations following the viral video,” Axios reported on March 12 in an article that didn’t mention any other marketing efforts.

Other publications took the same approach. If Kempczinski does another video as awkward as this one, we’ll know the strategy worked.

Journal interview
The Journal on April 6 published a video interview of Kempczinski by Tim Higgins and Higgins’ accompanying column.

Near the start of the video, Higgins asks for advice about eating on camera.

“Well, I’d say the biggest thing is just dive right in,” Kempczinski says with a laugh.

Of course he doesn’t do that. Instead, he bites into half of a chicken McNugget. But it results in a rare genuine moment.

Higgins says, “It’s a little weird to watch each other eat,”

Kempczinski laughs and says, “Yeah, well, imagine how I felt.”

Not “how I feel” eating in front of Higgins and this camera. Was it an unconscious reference to the Big Arch video?

Kempczinski doesn’t look comfortable in the video, which is more understandable when being interviewed by the nation’s leading business publication rather than recording with the company comms team. But still, perhaps video isn’t his best communications channel.

He offers a curious explanation for his small bite of the Big Arch.

“I blame it all on my mom, because she told me, ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full,’” he said. “And I think probably in that case I should have just said, ‘You know what? To hell with it. I’m gonna talk with my mouth full.’”

It’s a joke, poorly delivered. Humor may not be his best style of communication.

When Kempczinski was asked about the Big Arch video, he said he appreciated the publicity, nicely echoing the company’s talking points.

In his column, Higgins wrote, “It really shouldn’t be surprising that Kempczinski can come off as a corporate stiff.”

Really? Kempczinski himself gave the answer in his interview.

“CEOs, for better or for worse, in many cases, they’re the face of the brand,” he said.

To research this article, Tom Corfman ate a Big Arch. It is a messy sandwich. Tom’s a senior consultant with Ragan Consulting Group. Does your senior leadership team need to raise their communication skills? We can help with training and coaching. Email Tom to set up a free call with RCG partner Jim Ylisela.

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