Wendy’s is weighing in on the burger debate!
The chain’s U.S. President Pete Suerken shared a video on Wednesday, March 4 trying one of Wendy’s iconic Baconator burgers a few days after McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski went viral for his reaction trying the new Big Arch burger.
In the new video, Suerken could be seen showing how the brand’s Baconator burger was made from scratch as he put some patties on the grill. As he flipped them over, he repeated Wendy’s infamous expression that the burgers were “fresh, never frozen.”
He also could be seen working the ice cream machine and making a Frosty he remarked, “Is this set up today? Oh wait, our machines are always working.”
The comment appeared to be a dig at McDonald’s, as customers have previously complained on social media that the food chain’s ice cream machines are often broken. A website tracker was even set up to let others know which McDonald’s locations had working ice cream machines.
Suerken could then be seen sitting down with the burger — alongside a Frosty and some fries — unwrapping it and then taking a big bite out of it. He could be seen taking a few more bites as he said, “this is exactly what a good hamburger should be.”
To top off the video, he dipped a fry into the Frosty and ate it before commenting, “Excellent.”
Wendy’s recent video prompted a slew of comments, noting the burger wars. One person wrote, “my goodness, move aside COLA Wars of the ’80s (and ’70’s) – the burger wars of the 2020s are here!”
Another person said, “now i know this a play into the other burger videos but they played this well. from the pairing with the frosty, machine always working, and even him sizing up the burger – nice!”
His video comes on the heels of Kempczinski’s video, in which he could be seen taking a bite of McDonald’s Big Arch burger and commenting, “I love this product. It is so good… I’m gonna do a tasting right now, but I’m gonna eat this for my lunch, just so you know.”
Fans online quickly criticized the video for seemingly being inauthentic, including one who wrote, “That was the smallest first bite I’ve ever seen.”
Another questioned, “What’s the opposite of genuine and authentic? 😂,” while others honed in on the fact that Kempczinski referred to the burger as a “product.”
In response, Burger King shared its own TikTok video on Monday, March 2 showing its U.S. President Tom Curtis taking an enthusiastic bite of the brand’s Whopper burger.
In the video, he could be seen commenting with a laugh, “Only one thing missing — a napkin.” Burger King captioned the video, “Thought we’d replay this.”