McDonald's Short Ad with CEO Chris Kempczinski (CCS)
- rheabasur
- Mar 8
- 2 min read
Nothing unites the internet quite like watching a CEO attempt to look natural while eating a burger from his own fast food chain.
Earlier this year, Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald's, appeared in a short promotional video trying one of the brand’s burgers. The promotion was meant to demonstrate authenticity, since CEO Kempczinski would be the one conducting the casual taste test. It was also supposed to feel natural, almost like a behind-the-scenes lunch break moment instead of a professional commercial.
Instead, the video quickly started circulating across TikTok and X, with reaction memes and parody recreations.
Viewers immediately took notice of small details that made the moment feel oddly corporate and humorous. Some people mentioned that Kempczinski called the burger a “product,” others pointed out that the entire video felt like a presentation, and the most popular moment was the teeny-tiny bite Kempczinski took of the “product,” which many viewers joked about. People weren’t just watching the ad, they were analyzing it. Online criticism followed a combination of those joking that the CEO looked like he had never eaten McDonalds and people questioning whether the moment was authentic or just a staged marketing move to seem relatable.
Such a big reaction across platforms is exactly what makes moments like this interesting from a marketing perspective. Even when audiences make jokes surrounding a campaign, they’re still amplifying its overall outreach. Due to the mass amounts of feedback it got, the clip spread far beyond the brand’s original post, transforming a simple “Lunch with CEO Chris Kempczinski” video into a viral discussion about how companies try to appear relatable through advertising.
In a digital world where most people scroll past thousands of advertisements every day, getting people to stop and react is half the battle.
The best part? One man, and a single awkward bite, probably created more engagement than a perfectly polished Mcdonalds commercial ever could.
Comments