• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 10, 2022

VMLY&R has promoted McKay Hathaway to executive creative director, leading Wendy’s creative teams in the U.S. He's tasked with further shaping the brand's creative output and will report to North American Chief Creative Officer, John Godsey.  

He has been leading the brand’s creative for VMLY&R since 2017. 

Prior to the promotion, Hathaway served as Group Creative Director, spearheading the brand’s expansion across social and digital, specifically in gaming. Under his leadership, the brand and agency landed a Cannes Grand Prix for ‘Keeping Fortnite Fresh’ in 2019. He has worked across other standout campaigns including ‘Feast of Legends’, ‘National Roast Day’, and ‘Super Wendy’s World.’ 

Recently, Hathaway pushed to expand Wendy’s reach in the gaming community, growing the brand’s Twitch following to over 100,000 and earning partner status, reserved for only the top 1% of all Twitch streamers. These efforts led to more success at the following Cannes Festival, with another Gold and Silver Lion.

Before joining VMLY&R, Hathaway worked on numerous brands (Red Bull, Adidas, Lexus, Honda,and Royal Caribbean among them) at Leo Burnett, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Kastner and MullenLowe.