McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski is blaming his mom’s advice for his infamous taste test of the chain’s Big Arch burger.
In a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kempczinski reflected on what went into his awkward bites of the fast food chain’s massive new burger in a video that went viral after it was posted in February.
Some viewers went so far as to suggest that Kempczinski looked like a vegetarian trying meat for the first time.
“I’m definitely not a vegetarian,” the CEO told the Journal. “I blame it all on my mom because she told me, ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full.’”
He added, “I think probably, in that case, I should have just said, ‘You know what? To hell with it, I’m gonna go talk with my mouth full.’”
In the viral Instagram video, Kempczinski told viewers how “unique” the new burger was due to its ingredients, which include two quarter-pound patties, three slices of cheese and crispy onions.
While sitting in a corporate setting and wearing a sweater vest, Kempczinski held up the burger and said, “Holy cow! God, that is a big burger.” He added, “I don’t even know how to attack it, there’s so much to it.”
He then took a small bite of the burger and said, “That is so good,” despite appearing slightly uncomfortable.
“Only McDonald’s could do this type of burger, but it also is unlike anything else on our menu. It’s a delicious product,” he said.
The video spread across the internet as social media users ridiculed Kempczinski, who has been the president and CEO of McDonald’s since 2019, for his awkward reaction.
Kempczinski told the Journal that he learned the clip was gaining traction once his kids told him, “Dad, you’ve gone viral — and not in a good way.”
“That’s when I knew, ‘Okay, something’s going on,’” he said. “And then I started getting texts and emails and calls. Invariably, they were all like, ‘Hey, you have you seen this?’ And it’s like, by the thousandth time, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen it.’”
However, he said that he did not focus on the backlash after the video, but was instead glad that it got people talking about the new menu item.
“I think when you go on to social media in general, you have to have a thick skin,” Kempczinski said.
The viral video sparked responses from other fast food brands, including Burger King, which shared a video of the restaurant’s CEO happily trying their Whopper.
