Light joins McDonald's from the branding firm Arcature, where he was founding president and chief executive. He started his career at BBDO Worldwide in 1965, where he worked on clients including Mars, and is reported to have once reduced himself to tears when describing the impact of Milky Way chocolate bars on the US public.
He will report to Jack Greenberg, chairman and CEO of McDonald's, as well as serving on the enterprise strategy team and on the restaurant operation committee.
Greenberg said: "Larry has a passion for the power and the relevance of 'brand' in today's world -- a passion we firmly share at McDonald's."
Light's appointment comes as McDonald's faces a second class-action lawsuit, this time filed on behalf of overweight children. In July, a New Yorker, Caesar Barber, filed a suit against McDonald's and other fast food chains blaming them for making him seriously overweight. The second suit says that advertising campaigns of the fast-food companies target children.
This week, McDonald's announced that it was changing the oil it uses to cook its fries in the US, a move that will reduce the so-called "bad fats" and increase the polyunsaturated fat, believed to help a healthy heart.
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