Brand beware: This TikTok trend is threatening food businesses

Sometimes you just don’t want to know how the sausage is made -- or how your favorite fast-food meals and drinks are concocted.

But like it or not, restaurant staffers are using TikTok to lift the veil on certain secrets best left behind the kitchen door. 

One Dunkin’ employee posted two TikTok videos in recent weeks “exposing” the company to her followers because she is quitting her job at the coffee and doughnut brand. One video, showing how different menu items are made has amassed 6.7 million views and the other, featuring the chain’s avocado toast, has been watched 5 million times.

@hannz57

Ya I hate my job ���� ##pt2 ##exposed ##dunkin ##dunkinsecrets

♬ original sound - Hannah!!

McDonald’s employees have also posted unflattering videos giving consumers behind-the-scenes looks at its meals. A woman claiming to be a McDonald’s employee this year posted a TikTok video showing the ”disgusting” conditions of one of the fast-food chain’s ice cream machines. In December, TikTok user and supposed McDonald’s employee @thatonedepressedginger posted a viral video showing how the McRib sandwich is cooked and stored. The video caption describes the process as “nasty.”

@thatonedepressedginger

Nasty. #fyp #mcdonalds #foryou

♬ Oh No - Kreepa

KFC’s gravy-making process was also revealed by a U.K.-based worker on TikTok, grossing out the platform’s users.  

@cheddar4.7

KFC GRAVY #kfc #foryoupage #foryou #for #gravy #food #work #fast #mcdonalds #firedsoon #tasty #uk #usa #asia

♬ The Chicken Wing Beat - Ricky Desktop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, a worker used TikTok to reveal the “most annoying things to make” at Chipotle.

Some businesses have retaliated against staffers posting anything at all on TikTok while at work. Last month, Starbucks fired an employee for a viral TikTok in which he joked about how he and his coworkers would like to respond to demanding customers. 

Sherwin-Williams got blowback from social media users after it fired TikTok star Tony Piloseno for making videos during work hours with company equipment. He was then hired by Florida Paints and given a studio where he can continue making his popular paint-mixing videos.