Good morning. If your feed suddenly turned into fast food CEOs eating burgers, welcome to the internet this week.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski went viral for his Big Arch Burger taste test - a video widely dissected for what went wrong. But the brand may still come out ahead: early sales are beating expectations, and Kempczinski’s follower count has jumped 30% since posting it, per The Wall Street Journal. The bigger takeaway? On today’s internet, relatability beats authority. McDonald’s leaned into the moment too, poking fun at itself and engaging with the commentary - a reminder that sometimes the best crisis response is simply playing along.

Also: Expo West - the Super Bowl of CPG in Anaheim - wraps up today. We’ll break down the biggest trends next week, but one early signal from the show floor: beef tallow is having a moment.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Also, McDonald’s UK’s late-night camera roll OOH, Chupa Chups’ Impossible lollipop, Johnsonville x Keurig Dr Pepper’s “fizzy glizzy” collab and Rubbermaid x Max Greenfield’s “Neat Freaks” campaign.

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Feed intelligence & AI tips

Media Moves & Intel:

  • Miranda Nazzaro, formerly reporter at FedScoop, is now senior technology reporter at The Hill.

  • Emily Ngo, formerly political reporter at POLITICO, is now writer and editor at NBC News for The Inside Scoop, a daily newsletter that delivers essential news and insider perspective to NBC News subscribers.

  • Ernesto Macías, formerly entertainment editor at GQ, is now global entertainment director at i-D.

  • Fortune is launching a daily business news show that will focus on “must-know weekly business news across core coverage areas, and Fortune 500 coverage.”

  • Axel Springer, the parent of Morning Brew and Business Insider, has acquired Bisnow, a commercial real estate media and events business.

  • Yahoo has sold tech news site Engadget to Static Media.

  • Layoffs were announced this week at Nexstar-owned stations including WGN-TV (Chicago) and KTLA-TV (Los Angeles).

Also... see the path a raindrop would take to the ocean from anywhere on Earth with River Runner Global, an interactive tool by graphics journalist Sam Learner.

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