From Washington: There is a certain breed of corporate theatre that plays well in boardrooms and collapses entirely on social media. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski provided a textbook example of late, when a video of him eating his own company's newest burger went from a politely ignored Instagram post to a global TikTok punchline in the space of a few weeks.
The clip, posted on 3 February to the McDonald's corporate Instagram account, shows Kempczinski seated at his desk with the chain's latest offering, the Big Arch Burger, positioned in front of him. His demeanour, best described as a man doing something out of professional obligation rather than genuine appetite, struck a nerve with viewers who were not expecting the head of one of the world's most recognisable food brands to look quite so reluctant about lunch.
As reported by Kotaku, Kempczinski refers to the burger throughout the video as a "product" rather than food, a choice of language that prompted considerable amusement online. Comedian Garron Noone, who stitched the video on TikTok, is credited by Australian media outlet Mediaweek with helping push it toward viral status, offering a wry running commentary on the CEO's performance. The clip's second life on TikTok revealed just how differently the same content lands depending on the platform and the audience.
The substance beneath the spectacle is, of course, a serious product launch. The Big Arch is marketed as the chain's "biggest and boldest" offering, featuring two quarter-pound patties, three slices of white cheddar, and a tangy proprietary sauce. At 1,057 calories, it nearly doubles the calorie count of the classic Big Mac. The burger debuted at McDonald's in Portugal back in 2024, before appearing at the chain's outlets in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
The US launch, which arrived on 3 March 2026 as a limited-time offer, is the commercial centrepiece of what McDonald's frames as a broader quality push. The launch is part of the chain's strategy to improve food quality across its burger, beverage, and chicken categories, according to Jill McDonald, executive vice president and global chief restaurant experience officer, speaking during a February earnings call. The strong performance of the Big Arch internationally has already earned the burger a permanent spot on the menu across the UK.
From a straight business perspective, the numbers give McDonald's genuine cause for confidence. New products, along with an upgraded value platform and successful promotions, helped the company achieve US same-store sales growth of 6.8% in Q4 2025 and 2.1% for the full year. McDonald's also saw strong performance from its Snack Wrap return in the US and the debut of McWings in Australia during the same period. For Australian investors with exposure to the company via the ASX's international equities market, those figures represent real returns on a brand that has weathered years of consumer price sensitivity.
The irony is that the CEO video, however unintentionally comic, may prove to be shrewder marketing than it first appears. In a media environment saturated with polished brand content, an authentically awkward moment from the corner office reads as human in a way that no agency brief could manufacture. The awkward clip of Kempczinski trying the Big Arch went viral "for all the wrong reasons," as Mediaweek put it, yet it has placed McDonald's newest and biggest burger in front of millions of viewers who might never have clicked a standard promotional video.
That said, the episode does raise fair questions about the gap between corporate culture and the product on the counter. When the chief executive of a global food chain refers to a burger as a "product" and delivers his endorsement with all the conviction of a man filling out a compliance form, it invites scrutiny. Critics on social media were quick to draw the contrast between Kempczinski's apparent enthusiasm for the Big Arch and the enthusiasm of the customers who actually eat at McDonald's every day. After years of price hikes and softening traffic, chains are now out to prove their burgers are still worth the cost, either by going bigger or going better. A CEO who looks uncertain about his own flagship product is not the most compelling argument for value.
Labour advocates have raised a separate, more pointed concern. Critics note that McDonald's 2024 profits exceeded $8 billion while median worker pay remains around $12 per hour, and the contrast between a multimillionaire CEO's public persona and the economic reality of frontline staff has not gone unnoticed. Those concerns predate the Big Arch video, but they form part of the broader context in which any McDonald's executive communication is now received. The Fair Work Commission in Australia has its own ongoing debates about minimum wages in the fast food sector, and moments like this one tend to feed those conversations regardless of their intended purpose.
The counterpoint, and it is a legitimate one, is that Kempczinski has presided over a genuine operational turnaround. Since becoming CEO in 2019, he navigated the company through the pandemic by accelerating digital initiatives like app-based ordering and delivery partnerships. Global comparable sales rose 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025, including a 6.8% increase in the US, suggesting that whatever his on-camera charisma, the underlying business strategy is sound. The ACCC has noted the concentration of fast food markets in Australia, making the performance of global players like McDonald's relevant to domestic competition considerations as well.
The Big Arch video is, in the end, a small story about a big burger. But it doubles as a useful reminder that modern corporate communication is an unforgiving medium. Kempczinski's office lunch has been dissected by millions of people who would otherwise have no opinion about his taste in food. Whether the burger finds a permanent home on menus in the US and, eventually, more broadly in markets like Australia, will depend on what customers think of it rather than what the CEO appeared to think of it on 3 February. The original Instagram clip remains available for anyone who wants to form their own view on the performance.
Reasonable people can disagree about whether the Big Arch represents genuine value at over 1,000 calories and a price point approaching $10 in some US markets. What seems harder to dispute is that the burger, and its reluctant chief advocate, have sparked a conversation about authenticity in corporate promotion that no marketing budget could have bought. Sometimes the most effective advertising is the kind nobody planned.