Robert Gibbs

Executive Vice President and Global Chief Communications Officer
McDonald’s
@PressSecGibbs
United States

When McDonald’s selected former Obama aide and White House press secretary Robert Gibbbs to lead the corporate relations function—which manages internal and external communications and government and public affairs— in 2015, it seemed to have at least one eye on the political and social issues that surround everything from its nutritional value to its employee practices. And while Obama has been replaced by a new President with a very different worldview and different contacts, Gibbs continues to demonstrate the importance of having a savvy political veteran and smart senior strategist at the helm of a mission critical function.

Gibbs had been a close advisor to the president since 2004, when then-Senator Obama was a first-term legislator from Illinois, and held several senior advisory roles in the White House, serving as President Barack Obama’s press secretary during his first term, then as senior campaign advisor during his re-election campaign. He was described by The New York Times as “the president’s political compass.” 

He joined McDonald’s from The Incite Agency, a strategic communications advisory firm he co-founded in 2013.