
 
 A McDonald’s restaurant in Del Mar, Calif. (Reuters/Mike Blake, file) 
 
 Michelle Obama is certainly not going to be lovin’ it. 
 
 Robert Gibbs, Obama’s first White House press secretary, is going to work for McDonald’s, the fast-food chain that made cheap burgers and fries an American way of life. The Gibbs hire brings “experience and outside perspective to McDonald’s as we build a more modern, progressive burger company,” McDonald’s president and CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement Tuesday morning. 
 
 McDonald’s has struggled in recent years to find its place in an evolving culinary marketplace, where consumers still want their food fast, but they increasingly want it healthy, organic and green. Who better than Gibbs, who ran comms for the candidate who made politics cool again (for a time), to do the same for Mickey D’s? Can he market the change we can believe in? 
 
 Though for most of us born before the clean eating/Paleo/gluten-free/no dairy/vegan diets swept the nation, McDonald’s exists not to be cool – and certainly not healthy – but to remind us of our youth. Of losing a shoe in the Playland ball pit, collecting every Happy Meal beanie baby, awaiting Shamrock Shake season. One bite into those over-salted shoestring fries and we’re 10 years old again. 
 
 We’re not sure what a “progressive burger company” looks like (Five Guys? Shake Shack?), but the Loop thinks Gibbs would be better off making the McRib a permanent menu item than introducing a quinoa kale salad. 
 
 Because, really, don’t we all deserve a break today? 
 
 Read more: 
 
 McDonald’s sales slump continues in May 
 
 You’re still not eating at McDonald’s, and the new CEO wants to change that 
 
 McDonald’s to stop using chicken treated with antibiotics 
 
 Why labor groups genuinely believe they can unionize McDonald’s one day ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Robert Gibbs joins McDonald's 
 
 Former White House press secretary and senior adviser to President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign Robert Gibbs is joining McDonald's as its global chief communications officer, the fast-food chain announced on Tuesday. 
 
 Gibbs, who left his White House post in 2011, will lead McDonald’s corporate relations group, which manages government and public affairs. When he left the White House, Gibbs co-founded The Incite Agency, a strategic communications firm. In 2013, he joined NBC News and MSNBC as a contributor. Gibbs has ended his relationship with the network as a result of his new role. 
 
 McDonald's is in a period of change right now. Earlier this year, CEO Don Thompson retired and was replaced by Steve Easterbrook, the senior executive brand president and chief brand officer. Thompson had said he planned to overhaul customer service and revamp the restaurant's menu to improve business after sales declined in 2014. 
 
 The move to McDonald's is an interesting one for Gibbs, considering the Obama administration's push to raise the minimum wage and first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" healthy eating initiatives. In April, McDonald's raised hourly wages for company-owned restaurant staff by $1, and in the past few years has begun adding healthier options to its menus as it aims to compete with other fast casual chains, such as Chipotle. 
 
 Gibbs is far from the first former Obama campaign manager to take his talents to the private sector. Last year, David Plouffe, who directed the presidential candidate’s 2008 campaign and later worked as a senior adviser, joined Uber as senior vice president of policy and strategy. He was replaced by a former Google executive last month, transitioning to a role in which he will have more of a say in big-picture matters. ||||| “Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages…and to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.” –President Obama, State of the Union address, Jan. 20, 2015 
 
 Since the President’s call to action in 2013, 18 states and Washington, D.C. have passed laws to raise their minimum wage-- benefiting millions of American workers. 
 
 Cities and counties are also taking action. Since 2013, about 50 cities and localities have risen to the challenge — including Lexington, KY; Santa Fe County, NM; and Oakland, CA — and the drumbeat continues, with more states and localities considering ballot initiatives and legislation. At the same time, businesses large and small are raising wages on their own, recognizing the value of higher wages to boost morale and productivity. 
 
 At the federal level, the Obama Administration has expressed support for the Raise the Wage Act proposed by Senator Murray and Representative Scott, which would increase the minimum wage to $12 by 2020. The President has also taken action to raise wages for workers on all new federal contracts to $10.10 or higher. Raising the minimum wage nationwide will increase earnings for millions of workers, and support the local economies where they live, work and spend their earnings. 
 
 Today, the real value of the minimum wage is about 20 percent less than when Reagan took office. Workers that receive tips have an even lower minimum wage: $2.13 per hour, unchanged for over 25 years. 
 
 On average, a full-time minimum wage worker makes $14,500 a year, which leaves too many families struggling to make ends meet. A family of 3 living off of minimum wage is well below the poverty level (see graphic, below). 
 
 When you ask, “Who are the workers that earn minimum wage?” the answer may not be what you expect. 
 
 Stay tuned for stories of minimum wage across the country—and if you have a story to share, feel free to Tweet with the hashtag, #MyStory #RaisetheWage.
– From the White House to the ... golden arches? Former Obama spokesman and adviser Robert Gibbs is now in charge of global communications for McDonald's, reports Politico. CEO Steve Easterbook explains that Gibbs, who left the White House in 2011, brings “experience and outside perspective to McDonald’s as we build a more modern, progressive burger company." Still, it's an "interesting" move given the White House push to raise the minimum wage, notes Politico. (Though McDonald's has made progress on that, at least for company-owned franchises.) And as the Washington Post observes, "Michelle Obama is certainly not going to be lovin’ it." (She'd rather have kids jump rope than eat fast food.)