McDonald's Splits Top U.S. Marketing Job as CMO Alyssa Buetikofer Exits

McDonald's is splitting its top U.S. marketing role after U.S. chief marketing and customer experience officer Alyssa Buetikofer decided to leave the company after 15 years. Her exit comes less than two years into the job, one of the shortest tenures in recent memory for the post.

The company confirmed the change in an internal memo that Adweek obtained. Buetikofer chose to step down to spend more time with her family, the memo states. She took the role after Tariq Hassan departed in 2025. Now the search for a permanent successor begins.

Who runs U.S. marketing in the meantime?

Morgan Flatley will carry the load. Flatley, McDonald's global CMO and head of new business ventures, adds the remit of interim U.S. chief creative officer (CCO, the executive who owns creative output for a market). The company framed the new structure as a way to help the chain "move faster," according to the report.

Flatley knows the U.S. business well. She served as U.S. chief marketing and digital customer experience officer from 2017 to 2021 before moving to the global role. That history matters. It means the interim arrangement puts a proven operator over U.S. creative rather than an untested hand.

The structure itself is the story. McDonald's is not simply backfilling one chair. It is dividing the top U.S. marketing job, separating responsibilities that Buetikofer previously held together as chief marketing and customer experience officer. The company has not named a date for the permanent appointment.

What do the numbers say about the timing?

The leadership change lands on soft U.S. results. McDonald's U.S. comparable sales (a measure of revenue at restaurants open at least a year) dipped 0.2% in the third quarter. Global comparable sales rose 1.5% over the same period, which places the U.S. figure below the worldwide trend.

That gap gives the reorganization its commercial context. A market that is slightly negative while the global system grows will invite scrutiny of how marketing decisions get made and how quickly campaigns reach consumers. The stated goal of moving faster connects directly to that pressure.

Why the tenure matters

Buetikofer's run as U.S. CMO lasted under two years. She inherited the role from Tariq Hassan following his 2025 departure. Two leadership changes inside roughly that window mean McDonald's U.S. marketing organization has now adjusted to a new chief twice in a short period.

Her 15-year career at the company stretches well beyond the CMO title, and the memo frames her exit as personal rather than performance-driven. The interim setup with Flatley, who held the U.S. marketing job herself for four years, gives the chain continuity while the search proceeds. How the split role is filled permanently will signal whether speed, creative authority, or customer experience sits at the top of McDonald's U.S. agenda.