By Heather Haddon and Jacob Bunge
It took only a few words mumbled with a mouthful of burger for Tom Curtis to strike a blow against his biggest competitor.
"Only one thing missing," the Burger King president said, wiping at his mouth with his hand after chomping into one of the chain's Whoppers. "A napkin."
Curtis' video clip, posted to Burger King's social media channels this week, runs about 13 seconds. That was all the chain needed to score a win against McDonald's, where a burger-eating video by that chain's chief executive is being roasted and ridiculed online.
On Wednesday, Wendy's joined in, with a video of its U.S. president eating nearly half a burger and dipping a fry in a Frosty.
It was a feisty move by Burger King, whose $11.1 billion in annual U.S. sales are dwarfed by the No. 1 chain McDonald's $55.1 billion , according to market-research firm Technomic. Right now, they're both promoting new burgers. McDonald's Big Arch officially launched this week, and Burger King has an updated Whopper.
On social media, chains are trying to turn their top executives into pitchmen. That means everything from their facial expressions to the size of the bite are replayed, scrutinized or skewered by millions.
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski has posted ruminations on food trends, management topics and the Golden Arches' menu since 2020. Often taped at his office at McDonald's Chicago headquarters, Kempczinski's posts generally don't go viral--until earlier this week when a video on the Big Arch burger that he had posted almost a month earlier took off.
"I don't even know how to attack it. God, so much to it," Kempczinski says in the clip. "Alright, the moment of truth. Mmm. That is so good. That's a big bite for a Big Arch."
Kempczinski, marveling over crispy onions and the bun's mix of seeds, displayed the two-patty burger for a close-up. That's when commenters pounced: "That was the smallest first bite I've ever seen." "Dude looks like a training video on how to eat a burger." Some tweaked the CEO for referring to the burger as a "product."
Kempczinski posted his Big Arch video on Feb. 3. Nothing much happened. Over the past week, comedy and news social media accounts spotted it and posted their own takes on the CEO's performance, giving it new life.
As Kempczinski's video racked up millions of views and thousands of comments, Burger King stepped in with its own.
Clad in an apron, Curtis scoops a Whopper off a kitchen counter, takes a large bite and nods to nearby colleagues, with sauce and a wide grin on his lips.
"Thought we'd replay this," Burger King wrote in the caption.
Hundreds of comments flooded in. "Looks like a guy who has actually been in one of his restaurants," wrote one Instagram user.
A Burger King spokeswoman acknowledged "the timing may seem quick," but said the video was part of the chain's "ongoing efforts" to promote the Whopper.
Curtis has been working to revive Burger King's domestic business since 2021, overhauling thousands of locations and pepping up the menu with items like Whoppers topped with fried pickles.
At Burger King, Curtis is known for spending time behind Burger King's counters and in its kitchens, and more recently, in front of the camera. The chain has made him a fixture on its social media accounts, pulling stunts including posting his cell phone number and encouraging customers to call him with their feedback.
On Tuesday, McDonald's itself got in on the joke, posting a photo of the Big Arch with the tagline "take a bite of our new product." The caption: "can't believe this got approved."
The viral dust-up is helping McDonald's where it counts -- at the cash register. "We're glad the Big Arch has everyone's attention, including competitors," a spokeswoman said. "Early sales are beating expectations."
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2026 14:42 ET (19:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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