McDonald's CEO's small bite of the new 'Big Arch' shows the risk of going direct to the public. I say keep at it, Chris!

• McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski is getting roasted for a video he posted. In it, he takes a small bite of the new "Big Arch."
• He's following the trend of CEOs who "go direct" to the public on social media. It can be tricky, but I support it.
• I also tried the Big Arch burger myself. You know what? It's good!

I'd been watching McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski's Instagram Reels videos for months now.

I was hooked — watching his soft-spoken style of dispensing life and business tips, usually filmed in his minimally decorated office. Sprinkled in every so often, he tried a new McDonald's item. I sent videos of his 2026 food trend predictions (fiber will be "big") to my colleagues and friends — Can you believe this very Type A-seeming guy is the McDonald's CEO?

(I'd been trying to get an interview with him for a while now! McDonald's PR hasn't returned my calls.)

So imagine my surprise when I saw Kempczinski ricocheting across the internet over the last few days. The exact thing I'd been fascinated by — him going directly to consumers with his thoughts on life, business, and McDonald's — had seemed to backfire when he took a bite of the new "Big Arch" burger in a video posted to his Instagram.

OMG, he barely touched it! That bite is too small! He doesn't even like the food! This guy — slim and trim — is the CEO of McDonald's?! That was the tone of the replies as his video gained viral momentum.

But, Chris — can I call you that? — after studying your social media for months — I just want to tell you one thing: Keep posting through it!

And also: I went to try the Big Arch myself for lunch on Monday. And you know what? It's good. More about that later.

McDonald's CEO's direct-to-customers social media is a trend

Kempczinski's Instagram feed, the thing I adored and later became the source of his mockery because of the dainty bite of the big burger — is part of a trend in corporate public relations.

It's about "going direct" — or having business executives or companies deliver their messages directly to the public, bypassing traditional media (like me) by posting on social media.

Elon Musk is the perfect example of this strategy (Regardless of how you feel about his tweets, you can't say he doesn't do a lot of them — and he reaches his audience — would-be Tesla buyers, xAI investors, whoever — directly, on a platform he owns, no less.)

Not everyone is a natural-born poster. Kempczinski, who's been McDonald's CEO since 2019, showed us an example of when "going direct" can … well, go sideways.

In early February, he posted the video taste test of the new Big Arch burger, which he sampled while sitting in his tastefully minimal office. Although he said he'd had it before and loved it, he went through all the tropes of a first-time taste test — marveling at the size of the bun, saying "here's the moment of truth" before biting in. (Spoiler: He loves it.)

His post backfired. Online reaction was swift: People found his demeanor stiff and awkward, and focused on the fact that he seemed to take a tiny bite, as if he didn't really want to consume the 1,020-calorie double-patty burger. At one point, he referred to it as "product," which people found odd.

McDonald's has now leaned into the online joke, tweeting about his "product" comment.

"How do you do, fellow biological life forms," tweeted someone about the video, referencing Kempczinski's slightly stilted delivery. Others noted his trim physique (he's a marathon runner), which seemed incongruous to someone who eats a lot of fast food.

Kempczinski is a Harvard MBA who previously served as an executive at Kraft, Pepsi, and the Boston Consulting Group. In one video, he talks about his best career tip, which is to stay organized. "If you go into my inbox, I have a very clean inbox. My desk is pretty clean. I don't have a lot of clutter on my computer," he says. You might more easily imagine him as the head of an accounting firm.

McDonald's is many things, but in the American imagination, it's still slightly sinful — it appeals to our gluttony and need for instant gratification. It makes sense that the head of a huge multinational billion-dollar corporation is a Type A, fastidious, and well-measured. But those attributes are in stark contrast to the ones we feel about ourselves sitting in the drive-thru.

Who is Chris Kempczinski really trying to reach with his McDonald's videos?

Like I said, I've been semi-obsessed with Kempczinski's Instagram Reels for a few months now. There's something wholesome about them, and yet I've wondered why he's spending his time making them. As far as CEOs go, he's not really a household name, although obviously, the company he runs is one of the most recognized brands on the planet. He doesn't have a ton of followers, and his videos mostly don't get many views.

Unfortunately, McDonald's hasn't replied to my requests for comment, but I do have a theory on Kempczinski's posts: He might not be making these videos for the burger-eating public, but for the nearly 2 million McDonald's employees out there.

He's perhaps speaking to the franchise owners who are seeking advice about running a small business, or to the teenager whose first job is at McDonald's. Those people probably care about what the CEO has to say about networking or public speaking. Basically, these videos aren't for us — they're for the McDonald's global workforce. These videos are meant for LinkedIn — they just happen to be posted on Instagram. Perhaps that's the disconnect; it's simply the wrong venue.

I tried McDonald's Big Arch, too

I fully believe that Chris Kempczinski does eat McDonald's several times a week, as he has said. I don't think he's lying. He seems like the kind of person who believes that discipline and hard work are required to get the job done (even if that hard work is eating fast food). I think the fact that he refers to the burger as "product" is just because that's how he internally talks about it.

And I believe him when he says the Big Arch is delicious because I went out and tried one myself this week. And, yes, it is delicious (the crunchy onions make it stand out). I even tried making my own review, which I posted to my Reels just like Chris:

I can see why people are mocking his videos — he doesn't totally sell the idea that he's simply ravenous for this sloppy burger. The juxtaposition of this guy — trim, buttoned-up — being in charge of guilty-pleasure food does seem like an interesting topic of conversation. (Chris: Call me!)

But I think he's being authentically himself — a seemingly bookish, cerebral guy who does enjoy a Big Arch burger (perhaps in moderation, since it does contain 76% of the recommended daily sodium).

I say: Keep posting, Chris!

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