They are a “product” and their CEOs treat them as such

The endless story of managers determined to project that image of closeness and familiarity returns again and again, but it no longer works as before. On too many occasions, seeing them look for that unnatural naturalnessinstead of reinforcing the brand, opens the door to an uncomfortable conversation where each gesture goes viral and is overanalyzed.

A few weeks ago it was Chris Kempczinski, CEO of McDonald’s, where in a viral video He takes a hilariously small bite of his new burger (or, as he insists ad nauseam, his new “product”). The result produces between laughter and discomfort and of course, and the worst thing for the brand, a zero desire to try that ‘Big Arch’.

Of course, other leading fast food brands such as Burger King or Wendy’s slipped out and rushed to parody the scene, marking the distance and greatly enjoying their products in equally forced videos.

From “prize food” to product

In one of the first scenes of ‘The Killer‘ (2023), the thriller directed by David Fincher, its protagonist played by Michael Fassbender defines his personality before the viewer with a very simple gesture: he buys a one-euro hamburger from McDonald’s, takes away the bread and eats the meat for its caloric content and protein balance. What three years ago was an example of how meticulous a murderer was in fiction, has become a reflection of how we see fast food in a world where macros they direct our diet.

Returning to Kempczinski, and beyond the anecdotal, the viral or the easy joke, there is something that appears quite clearly: we have gone almost without realizing it from seeing fast food as a guilty pleasure or a reward meal, to perceive it as a product designed and optimized.

Gradually we have managed to separate the fast food of the traditional idea of ​​food; we have become Fassbender. What is striking on this occasion is that this delegitimization does not come solely from the consumer, but comes from above. So, what happens when not even those who produce these dishes really consider it “food”?

We cannot know with certainty whether Chris Kempczinski’s statements, in which he claims to eat at his restaurants up to four times a weekthey reflect reality. What does seem evident is the contradiction: they sell products that they themselves avoid or delegitimize, in a very similar way to what happens with CEOs of large technology companies like Apple or Meta, who strictly limit the use of screens for their children despite the fact that they live off those same products.

The first case was that of Steve Jobs’ children raised without an iPad in their hands, but this fact has been played non-stop in the Silicon Valley environment. A mismatch between the public image and private decisions that we now see in the restaurant industry.

The change in terminology is not a whim of a CEO, but is directly related with social perception of fast food. What was once a modern, convenient and somewhat functional concept has become a food that is really criticized, observed, and consumed with greater suspicion, especially by millennials or Generation Z. These generations, more aware of the ingredients and the impact that these ultra-processed foods have on their health, have transformed the way we consume and relate to food.

In the United States, for example, the popularity of slop bowls (what we also know as poke bowls), with customizable, efficient and, in principle, healthy salads and bowls, they demonstrate how food has sometimes become functional, aesthetic and even somewhat performative.

From the illusion of the healthy bowls of chains like ‘Chipotle’ to spaces that are standard bearers of life healthy like supermarkets’Erewhon‘, with concepts such as macrobiotic diet and smoothies with spirulina that makes your wallet shake, consumption linked to a lifestyle more than the food itself is evident.

Assembled food, not cooked

If a few years ago concepts such as food were questioned and entered into continuous debate transgenicToday, in an era that is very aware of healthy living, what has been altered is our way of understanding consumption, nutrition and our relationship with the products that fill our plates.

In parallel, the extreme industrialization food has also transformed what we eat; Although it is true that culinary tradition remains deeply rooted in many countries, certain foods or “products” such as slop bowls They seem more assembled than cooked, turning them into a functional product ready to be sold and consumed but completely removed from the experience of “feeding.”

They are closer to what we could call food engineering, with a logic of optimization where they provide us with the necessary nutrients, with durability, but far from concern for flavor or culinary creativity; almost as if we were talking about “astronaut food“We find therefore that even foods that seem healthy They are designed for marketing.

In recent years, a growing part of society has stopped associating these chains with “food” in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, European and American studies show that many consumers see ultra-processed foods as artificial and unnatural, mentally classifying them in a different category to “real” foods, even though they consume them occasionally for convenience or pleasure.

McDonald’s or Burger King operate right in that field, where you consume for that very specific pleasure they generate. You don’t want just any hamburger, you specifically want what a Whopper or a Big Mac makes you want.

Eat to create your identity

Social networks also play an essential role in the perception of food as a product through an insatiable search for the viral, iconic or instagrammable. With different challenges or viral challenges, the attempt is to capture attention in seconds and for that product to be seen, shared and consumed. However, this search for virality is not the exclusive heritage of these fast food or ultra-processed food chains.

The rise of the trend healthy has adopted exactly the same dynamics: from recipes with the label RealFood to healthy versions of dishes or desserts such as a chocolate cake without flour, butter or sugar that goes viral not only for its nutritional contribution, but for what it represents on an aesthetic and symbolic level. They function as a declaration of intent, marking distance from these processed products and projecting a certain image of lifestyle and habits.

So, whether they are smoothies with spinach and apple or the CEO of a chain of fast foodthey all end up operating under the same visibility system, reinforcing an increasingly present idea: in this digital world, food is less and less food and more and more content.

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