Burger King has appointed Joel Yashinsky as CMO of its U.S. and Canada business, according to a press release. Yashinsky replaces Pat O’Toole, who resigned from the Restaurant Brands International-owned fast food chain in November.
In his new role, Yashinsky is tasked with building on an expansive Reclaim the Flame overhaul strategy RBI implemented in 2022 to revitalize the Burger King brand, including through a heftier investment in marketing. Reclaim the Flame has produced memorable bits of marketing, such as a viral earworm jingle touting the brand’s signature Whopper burger.
The executive most recently served as CMO of Dine Brands’ Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, where he oversaw a sponsorship with the NFL, nostalgia-tinged ad campaigns and promotions aimed at boosting traffic like $1 margaritas. Prior to joining Applebee’s in 2018, Yashinsky spent nearly two decades in senior marketing positions at McDonald’s, Burger King’s chief rival.
“Joel joins us at an exciting time for the brand, and brings the ideal mix of strategic marketing experience, brand-building creativity and leadership expertise to help fuel our next chapter,” said Tom Curtis, president of Burger King U.S. and Canada, in a press statement around the hire.
While some of Yashinsky’s work at Applebee’s generated media attention, the dine-in chain has struggled amid a volatile time for consumer spending. Comparable same-restaurant sales, an important measure of business health, declined 4.7% year over year in Q4 2024. Applebee’s laggard performance stands in contrast to dine-in competitors like Chili’s, which has seen skyrocketing sales due to savvy marketing on apps like TikTok.
Burger King outperformed analyst expectations in Q4, with same-store sales up 1.5% in the U.S. That stands in contrast to McDonald’s, which experienced a sales decline over the period that included an E. coli outbreak at some of its restaurants. McDonald’s has also shuffled marketing leadership this year, promoting former Canada CMO Alyssa Buetikofer to senior vice president, chief marketing and customer experience officer of McDonald’s USA in February.
Yashinsky is taking the reins as CMO at another period of intense change for marketers, with the U.S.’s imposition of tariffs on global trading partners setting off recessionary alarms. That said, fast food companies are among those that can benefit in the case of a downturn as more consumers seek out value.
