McDonald’s and Burger King have major beef, and not what is sold in their restaurants.
The food fight began when McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a video of himself eating the fast food giant’s new Big Arch burger on social media last month. The video was to promote the new product, launched on Tuesday.
“That’s a big bite for such a big bow!” Kempczinski said, holding up the burger with an insignificant bite mark.
The video went viral due to the apparent discrepancy. Social media users also began to wonder if Kempczinski finished the burger for lunch like he said he would in the video.
‘This almost seems dystopian. He’s acting like he’s scared of her. And just calling it a ‘product,'” one user wrote. “Feels incredibly strange, makes me hesitant to eat McDonald’s.”
“I ‘promise’ I’ll finish this by lunch!! I ‘swear’!!!” another wrote.
An Instagram account for automaker Mini Cooper also weighed in, writing: “We will start testing our cars 1 meter at a time.”
Burger King’s comment, which received nearly 71,000 likes, was brief: “we couldn’t finish it either.”
Then on Tuesday, the day the Big Bow debuted, Burger King posted a video of its president, Tom Curtis, eating its iconic Whopper cheeseburger on Instagram.
“Thought I’d replay this,” Burger King wrote in the caption.
The fast food giant denied the video was related to the dispute.
“We can confirm that this video was not created in reaction to anything,” a Burger King spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday. “While the moment may seem quick, the video was part of ongoing efforts to highlight the newly elevated Whopper and Tom’s direct engagement with Guests.”
“We believe leaders should genuinely enjoy and stand behind the food we serve, and it was important for him to experience the Whopper the same way our guests do as we continue to build momentum around our menu updates,” the spokesperson continued.
When asked for a statement, a McDonald’s spokesperson referred to a recent post on its Instagram account.
The post has an image of the company’s new burger, with the following caption: “Try our new product. I can’t believe this was approved.”
