Image courtesy of Fortune
Written by Robert Covington
Lincoln University, PA—In the age of social media, companies are always looking for new ways to appear relatable to their customers. The latest marketing experiment making its way across the internet is surprisingly simple: CEOs sitting down and eating their own food on camera. What started as a single promotional clip quickly turned into a viral trend, producing equal parts marketing, memes, and mild embarrassment for some of the executives involved.
The moment that sparked the trend came when Chris Kempczinski posted a video tasting a new burger for McDonald’s. Instead of looking like a typical food review, the clip felt more like a boardroom presentation with a burger sitting in the middle of it. The CEO carefully took what viewers jokingly called a “corporate bite,” describing the sandwich as a “product” rather than, well… a burger. The internet did what the internet does best and immediately turned the video into a meme.
Soon after, competitors joined the fun.
Executives from chains like Burger King and Wendy’s began posting their own videos, enthusiastically eating their burgers in what felt like a strange new corporate food challenge. The tone was clearly competitive: who could appear the most authentic while eating their own menu item on camera? What began as one awkward promotional video evolved into a full-blown fast-food “taste-test war” across social media platforms.
Despite the jokes and criticism, the marketing stunt actually worked. The original video generated massive online attention, with millions of views and billions of impressions across social media. Analysts estimated that the viral moment alone produced tens of millions of dollars in brand value for the company, proving once again that attention—good or bad—still drives business in the digital era.
Still, the humor behind these videos points to something deeper about food culture in the United States.
When the executives responsible for a product appear hesitant, robotic, or overly cautious while eating it, viewers naturally start asking questions. If the people running the company look unsure about taking a bite, it makes consumers wonder about the quality of the food itself. The reactions may be funny, but they unintentionally highlight a larger conversation about processed food, fast-food culture, and the expectations Americans have come to accept from large restaurant chains.
Of course, the irony is that none of this really slows the brands down.
Even when a CEO becomes the subject of thousands of memes, the restaurants remain packed, and the drive-thru lines keep moving. Americans may laugh at the awkward burger bites, but they still buy the burgers anyway.
In the end, the CEO taste-test trend might reveal something more about consumers than corporations: we know the food isn’t perfect, we joke about it constantly, yet the popularity of these brands continues to grow.
And perhaps that is the most American part of the whole story.
