The Hidden Cost of Silence

Creating Teams and Cultures that Embrace Dissent

By now we’ve all probably seen the video of the McDonald’s CEO, Chris Kempczinksi, attempting to eat the new Big Arch burger.

@nypostUsers on social media immediately jumped on McDonald’s CEO and Chairman Chris Kempczinski for treating the burger like a foreign object and doubted whether the CEO even enjoys chowing down on his company’s menu items. Full story at the link in bio.

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This is obviously meant to be a big moment for McDonald’s as they’re launching a new burger. But it turned into a top 5 meme-able moment of the week.

Chris takes what I can only describe as the most reluctant bite in fast-food history. He refers to the food as “the product.” He looks as if he’s being held hostage and reading a demand note from his captors.

So naturally, all of us on the internet have enjoyed commenting and creating parodies. But there is a deeper problem that this is exposing. Not just for McDonald’s, but for every organization and leader.

The Problem

This video of the CEO of McDonald’s wasn’t a spontaneous post. He didn’t grab his phone and a burger to create a quick video the way many of us do. Teams of people created this, with dozens of individuals involved. McDonald’s is one of the largest fast-food chains and largest employers in the world. Nothing is created or posted without multiple levels of review.

And nobody stopped this video.

@prodity.cothe importance of having a team that will speak up

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