A man shows a McDonald’s cheeseburger he says is 547 days old with no rot or mold, then compares it to a 3-day-old Burger King one: ‘Shocking’

A TikTok creator stood in his kitchen, opened a plastic container, and held up a McDonald’s cheeseburger he said had been sitting there for 547 days. Kipopolis, who posts as @kipchavez, framed the clip with on-screen text reading, “The shocking difference between McDonald’s and Burger King.” That is the line behind the word “Shocking” in the title of the clip. The video has gained 1.5 million views, 46,000 likes, and more than 550 comments.

The caption on the post is the same line: “The shocking difference between McDonald’s and Burger King.” In the video, he lifted a burger from a blue-lidded Tupperware that also held a paper towel and a second cheeseburger. On-screen text read, “547 day old McDonald’s Cheeseburger purchased on March 6th, 2025.” He said it had been ordered plain, “meaning that it’s only bun, meat, and cheese.”

He pointed to flaking on the top bun and said the bottom bun had broken in half. “On the inside there is no rot or mold at all,” he said, while showing what he described as two beef patties and cheese. He also held up a faded receipt and said it could no longer be read because it “has deteriorated faster than the McDonald’s cheeseburger itself.”

A 2020 company statement tied the same claim to missing moisture

He then picked up a Burger King cheeseburger sealed in a Ziploc bag. On-screen text read, “3 day old Burger King Cheeseburger purchased on September 1st, 2026.” “Now here we have a 3-day-old Burger King cheeseburger, and it’s not quite there yet, but I’ve ran this experiment before,” he said.

The Burger King burger had a sesame-seed bun. He set both burgers on a granite counter, with a white toaster, a metal utensil holder, and wooden cabinets with child-safety locks behind him.

He predicted the newer burger would change first. “I bet within a week we will have mold on this Burger King cheeseburger, and this already 547-day-old McDonald’s cheeseburger will still be without rot or mold,” he said. 

He added that he could have “probably 100 of these Burger King cheeseburgers that will mold before this one McDonald’s cheeseburger does,” and told viewers to stay tuned. McDonald’s troubles go beyond burger freshness, as one customer found cheddar cheese on the cardboard box instead of in his burger. 

McDonald’s addressed a similar claim in a statement dated August 31, 2020. The company said, “In the right environment, our burgers, like most other foods, could decompose.” It said decomposition needs moisture, and that without enough moisture in the food or the surroundings, “bacteria and mold may not grow and therefore, decomposition is unlikely.”

The statement said food made at home and left to dry “could see similar results.” McDonald’s also said the burgers in these kinds of videos “are likely dried out and dehydrated, and by no means ‘the same as the day they were purchased.'” The company said its burgers “are made only with 100% USDA inspected beef,” that the patties have “no preservatives or fillers,” and that “the only thing ever added is a touch of salt and pepper on the grill.”

According to Food Republic, a man named David Whipple showed a hamburger he bought in 1999. According to the article, the patty and bun looked visually unchanged after about 20 years, and only the pickle had broken down. The outlet said Whipple had kept the burger sealed in a Big Mac tin and took it out on camera for the first time.

The article also wrote that McDonald’s patties lose a significant amount of moisture during high-heat cooking, and that a burger left in a dry place can keep drying so fast that mold or bacteria may not get a chance to grow.

The outlet compared that drying to beef jerky and biltong, which it described as long-used ways of removing moisture so bacteria have a harder time growing. It also said salt can pull moisture out and slow bacterial growth, and that storage cut off from moisture, oxygen, and light can change how long food appears unchanged.

Viewers focused on moisture and storage rather than on added chemicals. One commenter treated the lack of mold as a joke about the food itself and wrote, “not even bacteria wants it lol.” Another pointed to the paper in the container and wrote, “well the tissue is absorbing the moister and stopping mold.”

A third commenter said a McDonald’s burger had not stayed clean in their own home. They wrote, “I left a burger out in my drawer sometime from.mcdonalds it molded like crazy.” Another viewer argued the two burgers were not stored the same way. They wrote, “The McDonald’s burger has no moisture so it won’t breakdown. The paper itself wrapped in will make sure it stays dry. The Burger King burger in in plastic and sealed which means the moisture is trapped in. For anything to decompose it needs moisture.”