McDonald's CEO has a new Instagram, and it reveals the fast-food giant's efforts to erase former executives' scandals
- McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski sent a message to employees on Monday, emphasizing the company's values - and launching his new Instagram account.
- Kempczinski's Instagram is as inoffensive and McDonald's-centric as possible, following 14 accounts including McDonald's partners such as Yoplait USA, Sprite, and Fanta.
- Kempczinski has worked to clean up McDonald's corporate reputation internally, after Steve Easterbrook was forced to step down as McDonald's CEO in November following an investigation into a relationship with a coworker.
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McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski has launched a new Instagram account in an apparent attempt to erase bad behavior from former top executives.
On Monday, Kempczinski shared a New Year's message with all employees. The message, which was obtained by Business Insider, congratulates employees on a successful 2019. Kempczinski says in the message that he is proud of McDonald's work to create opportunities, build community, and collaborate on solutions.
"All of this is underpinned by our core values, which are the bedrock of our company," Kempczinski writes. "We must now champion and apply them more evenly across the three-legged stool to be even stronger."
In a post-script, Kempczinski shares that he also has a new Instagram account.
"P.S. I am excited to share that, starting today, you can follow me on Instagram @chrisk_mcd. I'd love for you to be my first followers," Kempczinski writes.
Kempczinski posted his first photo - a headshot - on Instagram early Monday morning. The caption reads: "Opportunity, Community, and Solutions: three things that make me proud of our McDonald's System. I firmly believe that McDonald's can change the world in a way that no other company can, and we're just getting started. I'm thrilled to be using Instagram to connect with and share the stories of our community."
In general, Kempczinski's Instagram seems to be guided by an effort to appear as inoffensive and McDonald's-centric as possible. Kempczinski follows 14 accounts. Most are McDonald's partners, including Yoplait USA, Sprite, and Fanta. Kempczinski also follows the official account for Chicago, where McDonald's headquarters are located, and Duke University, where he attended college.
Executives having corporate-approved social media accounts is hardly a new trend. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos does not follow a single account on Instagram. Walmart's CEO Doug McMillion follows more than 300 accounts, including competitors such as Target, celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Katy Perry, and a number of politicians including President Donald Trump, Sen. Cory Booker, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
For McDonald's, Kempczinski's corporate account represents a fresh start. In early November, Steve Easterbrook was forced to step down as McDonald's CEO following an investigation into a relationship between him and a coworker.
A Wall Street Journal article published on Sunday reported that McDonald's "tolerated partying and fraternizing between some senior managers and rank-and-file employees" under the leadership of Easterbrook and former Chief People Officer David Fairhurst. The Journal reported that Easterbrook and Fairhurst, who also left McDonald's in early November, drank with employees after hours and that Easterbrook was known for flirting with employees.
McDonald's declined to comment on the Journal story to Business Insider.
While he was CEO of McDonald's, Easterbrook used his - now-private - Twitter account to discuss the fast-food chain's accomplishments. In addition to the Twitter accounts for McDonald's and two startups the company acquired, Easterbrook's account also follows BuzzFeed Food, the meme account Very British Problems, and a handful of accounts focused on the Watford English Premier League soccer team.
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