What to Know About McDonald’s New CMO Alyssa Buetikofer

Yesterday (Jan. 27), McDonald’s announced that its chief marketing officer (CMO), Tariq Hassan, resigned.

The fast food giant’s USA president, Joe Erlinger, posted a message on the company’s site announcing the leadership change. The note states that Hassan, who led marketing at McDonald’s since 2021, resigned shortly after the holidays. 

Alyssa Buetikofer, McDonald’s CMO of Canada, will succeed Hassan as U.S. CMO, effective Feb. 15.

“There is great comfort knowing my team is not only in capable hands, but Alyssa is a leader who will continue to challenge and inspire them to elevate McDonald’s marketing to new heights,” Hassan wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

Here’s what you should know about the new CMO:

She’s got a heavy lift

Stepping into the U.S. CMO role, Buetikofer will have her work cut out for her.

In November, McDonald’s announced that it was investing $35 million in U.S. marketing—and more than $100 million overall—to help boost sales following an E. coli outbreak linked to its Quarter Pounder onions that began at the end of September. 

In its latest earnings call from October, the company reported that U.S. comparable year-on-year sales increased 0.3% due to what the brand described as “effective value and marketing campaigns.” However, the E. coli outbreak wiped out its stock gains for 2024.

Additionally, Buetikofer will have several other initiatives on her plate.

For instance, to continue marketing its mascots after the success of Grimace, McDonald’s opened its first beverage and snack-focused CosMc store in 2023.

The concept store was named after its alien character, who appeared in its ads in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. After testing the concept with several locations across Texas, the brand plans to close three of its larger locations in favor of opening two smaller-format stores.

She’s been at McDonald’s for over a decade

Buetikofer joined McDonald’s in 2011 as global marketing manager of media strategy. 

In her first role, she was based out of the company’s global head office in Chicago, where she worked with global, regional, and country marketing teams to drive media leadership. She also helped develop cross-media strategies to maximize the use of mobile, social, video, and other digital channels.

After climbing the ranks across media, marketing, and calendar planning, Buetikofer was promoted to the Canadian executive team in 2021.

As McDonald’s incoming CMO, Buetikofer will be based in Chicago.

She led marketing efforts in Canada

Under Buetikofer, McDonald’s Canada launched MyMcDonald’s Rewards, which allows customers to earn points on purchases, which are then redeemable for menu items. It also expanded its menu by adding the McCrispy, Chicken Big Mac, and several beverage options.

Buetikofer was also one of the creative minds behind the brand’s “Famous Meals” campaign, which saw celebrities like Travis Scott, J Balvin, and BTS partner with the brand for a signature meal.

McDonald’s Super Bowl ad in 2020 expanded on “Famous Orders” with a Wieden+Kennedy-created spot that highlighted go-to meals from celebrities like Kanye West, Whoopi Goldberg, and Keith Urban.

She has media agency experience

Prior to McDonald’s, Buetikofer was a strategist at Omnicom Media Group agency OMD.

While there, she worked on the McDonald’s account and oversaw media strategies to maximize reach and engagement and drive return on investment (ROI) with consumer-focused strategies. 

Buetikofer worked at OMD from 2004-2011.