McDonald's latest menu launch has turned into a marketing chew toy for the internet—and its biggest rival. The flap began when McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a promo video last month of himself sampling the chain's new Big Arch burger, which officially rolled out Tuesday. On camera, he calls it "a big bite for a Big Arch" while holding a burger that appears barely touched. Viewers quickly pounced on the tiny bite and his promise to "finish this for lunch," with commenters calling the clip awkward and strangely corporate, NBC News reports. "He's acting like he's afraid of it," one viewer wrote.
Brands joined in, too. Mini Cooper's Instagram account joked it would start test-driving cars "1 metre at a time." Burger King dropped a five-word burn—"we couldn't finish it either"—that drew tens of thousands of likes. Then, on the Big Arch's launch day, Burger King posted its own video of president Tom Curtis taking an enthusiastic bite out of a Whopper, captioned, "Thought we'd replay this." Viewers noted the difference between Curtis' and Kempczinski's burger reactions, with one commenter writing, "Now THAT'S a man bite," USA Today reports.
Burger King insists it's all coincidence. A spokesperson told NBC the Curtis video wasn't a response to McDonald's but part of an ongoing push to spotlight the "recently elevated" Whopper. "We believe leadership should genuinely enjoy and stand behind the food we serve," the spokesperson said. The New York Post gave eight staffers Big Arches and revamped Whoppers and while one staffer preferred the Big Arch, Burger King was declared "the king of our newsroom."
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