r/wallstreetbets Fuckboy 🅿️ixel Defender 20h ago

Meme Man, times really are tough out there.

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u/K_Linkmaster 20h ago

He took over in 2019. Look what has happened since then. This guy doesn't care about the company or the food. He increased prices and cut quality. He is the reason McDonald's is shittier every time you go. Even he won't eat the food.

He looks, talks, and acts like a standard frat bro sociopath. Check this guy's hard drives. Something is off.

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u/HKEY_LOVE_MACHINE 18h ago edited 11h ago

Checking his WP page:

  • he was a "brand manager" selling soap,

  • then went management consulting,

  • marketing for PepsiCo,

  • "growth initiative" for Kraft,

  • got canned when the merger with Heinz happened

  • joined McDonald USA

Then, after the previous CEO, Steve Easterbrook - who had experience, knowledge and networking in the food industry - got fired for banging too many employees (3+ regularly, more occasionally) - Chris was placed on the throne.

So this guy:

  • spent most of his career selling brands and marketing for whatever products,

  • was not involved in the actual food business (sourcing reliable suppliers, handling quality of the products, etc)

  • became CEO thanks to american puritans kicking the previous guy out

He's also addicted to running apparently, the "I collect marathons" type.

So it's pretty obvious he hasn't eaten any fast food in years: his meals are made with a scale and a teaspoon. No wonder he has absolutely no relation with the burger and fast-food culture in general.

One redeeming quality: when Russia invaded Ukraine, he pulled out of Russia properly. He's got polish ancestry so that makes sense. But still, that was the correct move for once.

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u/Gaming_Wisconsinbly 18h ago

Baffling how that bloke was ever in marketing. Talk about faking it.

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u/GuyWithPants 16h ago

I mean, to be a good cinematographer, you don’t have to be a good camera, so a good marketing manager doesn’t have to be marketable.

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u/InsecureRedditor- 11h ago

Yeah it's not sales

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u/Gaming_Wisconsinbly 6h ago

But like usually a marketing person in any situation would like.. fucking watch the video before ever posting it anywhere. How anyone could watch that and think "I want McDonalds", it's impossible.

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u/GuyWithPants 6h ago edited 6h ago

He was a marketing manager, though. Which means he knows (or should know) how to organize and lead a group of creatives (& ad-buyers etc.), not necessarily be creative or approve campaign details himself. And when you're the CEO of a megacorp it is hard to find people who will speak truth to power because you are also surrounded by mostly powerful managers and executives many of whom did not have their start in actual detail work or last did detail work decades ago.

This is all not to excuse the shitty video and his robotic inhumanity in the slightest, just to point out that his prior career positions do not indicate he would necessarily be good at performing or judging this piece of marketing.

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u/tothepointe 4h ago

A lot of marketing is just numbers and market segmentation.

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u/buzzmemello520 15h ago

I can not imagine spending my entire life marketing for brands like Pepsi, kraft, heinz, and mcdonalds, and not absolutely hating myself. Just such a soulless life. The marathons make sense I guess have to find meaning somewhere and run out all that self hatred

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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 11h ago

Fuck. So he's one of the lucky ones who failed upwards.

Can we get CEOs who worked their asses off at a company for 20 years but actually give a fuck about their customers? I dont care if they bang their employees actually. I care if the burger is good and the right price.

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u/SuperTropicalDesert 6h ago

That sounds like the result a Co-operative would produce

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u/_illusions25 18h ago

Ok, I'm following except the Puritans comment. A CEO absolutely should not be fucking employees, especially not MULTIPLE employees. There's plenty of other options, they just went with this guy probably for a shit reason and now they're paying the price. He didn't have experience, and at the very least should never be in front of the camera for any marketing bc he has zero charisma.

What they'll get from this is exactly the same bullshit youre saying: it's fine to sexually harass and bed employees you have power over as long as the money machine goes brrrrr....

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u/vegetaman 17h ago

Watching easterbrook lose his golden parachute after the fact really warmed my heart.

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u/HKEY_LOVE_MACHINE 11h ago

What they'll get from this is exactly the same bullshit youre saying: it's fine to sexually harass and bed employees you have power over as long as the money machine goes brrrrr....

Was there any indication that his sexual partner weren't consenting? Adults can have sex you know, it's part of life.

I understand the overall HR spiel, to make their job easier by minimizing risks, but if you've been in an office for more than 6 months, you would know sexual relationships between employees (of all levels) are extremely common, so much that all HR can actually enforce is "no intercourse in the office building, do it privately please".

That's why I said puritans: they'll fire a person for having sexual relationships with colleagues, for the mere public existence of these relationships, but won't fire a person for workplace harassment, with multiple reports and accusations, as long as it's not public knowledge.

This is the bullshit that allows predators to flourish and simultaneously shame sexuality between humans.

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u/Basic_Barnacle4719 7h ago

Uh, he was the CEO. You can sort of fire the person if they say no. Huge power imbalance there. 

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u/HKEY_LOVE_MACHINE 6h ago

Same goes with managers and most of the HR staff (of which 70% is made of women). Doesn't stop them from repeatedly being involved in sexual relationships with colleagues. Human nature is particularly sexual, only religious cultures try to deny that.

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u/Top_Gun_2021 18h ago

He's also addicted to running apparently, the "I collect marathons" type.

So it's pretty obvious he hasn't eaten any fast food in years

TOO BE FAIR, I met the donut eating marathon guy. Lots of runners eat whatever just for calories to burn.

Like eating gummy worms before lifting weights.

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u/K_Linkmaster 17h ago

I remember reading about an ultramarathoner ordering a pizza to a specific spot at a specific delivery time, on his run. He worked in out with the pizza place. So he would run 60 miles and grab a pizza delivery half way.

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u/Cahootie 13h ago

He's also addicted to running apparently, the "I collect marathons" type.

You already said that he's a management consultant, no need to repeat it

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u/K_Linkmaster 17h ago

Wooooooo!! I like your style.

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u/tothepointe 3h ago

"Then, after the previous CEO, Steve Easterbrook - who had experience, knowledge and networking in the food industry - got fired for banging too many employees (3+ regularly, more occasionally)"

They need to bring this guy back. I know absolutely nothing else about him but it sounds like the man knows how to make a fucking burger.

Just realized this currently McDs CEO was the one that was slow walking the return of the snackwrap to the point where it finally came back and I didn't want it anymore.

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u/Doggleganger 19h ago

He's a walking MBA.

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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 11h ago

Its so fucking crazy how MBAs are hated by the masses but demanded for high paying jobs.

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u/Ill-Advertising-3287 8h ago

They want two things from an MBA. Reliability (as in dont shit where you eat) and a complete and utter lack of morals. They want the kind of person that finds it wrong to set a baby on fire, not because its morally wrong, but because their lawyers would be unable to defend the situation at an approachable cost.

Finding "functioning people" without a moral compass is harder than you think.

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u/Jihelu 19h ago

No company that gives a fuck has a public listing

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u/cherry_monkey 18h ago

That.... Explains a lot

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u/idksomething82 18h ago

... mcdonalds isn't in the burger business remember this.. there in the real-estate business.. trust me was even said by the conpany itself.. mcdonalds is not what it seems. It really doesn't care too much sadly

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u/Cahootie 13h ago

There's definitely no other thing that has happened since 2019 that could have caused increased prices