Big Mac

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Pp Template:Use mdy dates Template:Nutritional value

The Big Mac is a brand of hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced by a Greater Pittsburgh area franchisee in 1967 and expanded nationwide in 1968, and is widely regarded as the company's flagship product.

The hamburger features a three-slice sesame-seed bun containing two beef patties, one slice of cheese, shredded lettuce, pickles, minced onions, and a thousand island-type dressing advertised as "special sauce". Seasonal and regional variants have been offered, including chicken versions.

The Big Mac is known worldwide and often used as a symbol of American capitalism and decadence. The Economist has used it as a reference point for comparing the cost of living in different countries – the Big Mac Index – as it is so widely available and is comparable across markets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

The Big Mac was created by Jim Delligatti,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who stated later he did not invent the Big Mac but merely copied the double deck hamburger marketed by the Big Boy hamburger chain since the 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mr. Delligatti operated several McDonald's restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. It was created in the kitchen of Delligatti's first McDonald's franchise, located on McKnight Road in suburban Ross Township.<ref name="test">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Big Mac debuted at the McDonald's owned by Delligatti in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on April 22, 1967,<ref name="newbigmac">Template:Cite news</ref> selling for Template:US$.<ref name="newbigmac" /><ref name="delligatti">Template:Cite press release</ref>

It was designed to compete with Big Boy Restaurants' Big Boy hamburger. Eat'n Park was the Pittsburgh area's Big Boy franchisee at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Big Mac proved popular and it was added to the menu of all U.S. McDonald's restaurants in 1968.<ref name="delligatti" />

The Big Mac had two previous names, both of which failed in the marketplace: the Aristocrat and the Blue Ribbon Burger. The third name, Big Mac, was created by Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year-old advertising secretary who worked at McDonald's corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois.<ref name="bigmacname">Template:Cite news</ref>

Product

The Big Mac is made with two Template:Convert beef patties, a "special sauce" (similar to Thousand Island dressing),<ref name="SeriousEats_Spread">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> shredded iceberg lettuce, one processed American cheese slice, two slices of dill pickle, and minced onions, served on a three slice sesame seed bun.<ref name="nutrition.mcdonalds.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On October 1, 2018, McDonald's announced that it would remove all artificial preservatives, flavors, and coloring from the Big Mac.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sauce

In the past, Big Mac Sauce was delivered to McDonald's restaurants in sealed canisters designed by Sealright, from which it was directly dispensed using a calibrated "sauce gun" that would dispense a specified amount of the sauce for each pull of the trigger.<ref name="saucedispense">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, McDonald's introduced a new "next gen" sauce dispenser that uses soft bags of sauce and a plunger to compress the bag with a ratchet system. The new sauce dispenser is also used for McChicken Sauce and Tartare Sauce.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2012 McDonald's executive chef Dan Coudreaut released a YouTube video revealing the recipe of the sauce. It consists of store-bought mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and yellow mustard whisked together with vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2018 McDonald's revamped the sauce by removing potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and calcium disodium EDTA.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="auto"/>

The sauce is occasionally available for purchase on its own for a limited time. The first time was in 2015. A Template:Convert tube was available for purchase but only in restaurants in Australia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was available again in 2020. A pot was available for purchase but only in resTemplate:Converttaurants in the UK and Ireland.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023 and early 2024 it was available in Hungary.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McDonald's Australia offers a "portion cup" of Big Mac Sauce as part of its regular menu. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Packaging

The Big Mac was first served inside a collapsible square cardboard container with a circular piece of cardboard placed around the hamburger to hold it together. The cardboard container that was changed to a "clamshell" style, polystyrene foam container in the late 1970s. Polystyrene foam containers were phased out beginning in 1990, due to environmental concerns.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Advertising

"Two all-beef patties" jingle

In 1974 McDonald's commissioned an advertising jingle which popularized the list of ingredients of the Big Mac: "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2008 McDonald's restaurants in Malaysia revived the slogan. The revival included the original prize of a free Big Mac if the customer was able to recite the slogan in under four seconds. It was released in May, along with the promotional Mega Mac, which had four beef patties instead of two.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

McDonaldland character

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File:Officer big mac playground.jpg

McDonald's playground Officer Big Mac climb-in jail

McDonald's began a television advertising campaign appealing to children in 1971 featuring a fantasy world populated by Ronald McDonald and various mascots promoting McDonald's products. Some characters were also modeled in McDonald's store playground equipment. The Big Mac was represented by Officer Big Mac, a Keystone Cops-style policeman with a giant Big Mac sandwich for a head. The characters were revised after a 1973 plagiarism lawsuit brought by television puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft because of similarities to their H.R. Pufnstuf characters. A modified Officer Big Mac continued in the commercials until 1985.

Hip-hop product placement

In 2005 McDonald's began offering product placement rewards to hip hop artists who namechecked the Big Mac in their music, giving US$5 to the artist for every time a song mentioning the hamburger was played on the radio.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

EU trademark revocation

McDonald's sued the Irish fast-food chain Supermac's for trademark infringement and claimed the name would confuse consumers in European markets.<ref name="independent" /> On 11 January 2019, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled in Supermac's favor in what has been called a "David vs. Goliath" victory.<ref name=independent/> McDonald's submitted a copy of the Wikipedia article about the Big Mac as part of its evidence, but the court found the Wikipedia page was not acceptable as "independent evidence".<ref name=independent>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, the EUIPO Board of Appeal annulled the decision after McDonald's filed 700 pages of additional evidence, despite objections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Supermac's responded by bringing the case to the European Court of Justice, which finally ruled in 2024 that McDonald's had not proven use of the Big Mac trademark when it came to poultry products or operating restaurants.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ruling does not affect the trademark with respect to the Big Mac burger product.

US sales

In 2007 Danya Proud, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said that in the United States alone 560 million Big Macs are sold each year. This would mean that approximately 17 Big Macs are sold every second.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Variants

• The Mega Mac or Double Big Mac: four Template:Convert beef patties and an extra slice of cheese. Available in Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan (during promotional periods only), Turkey, Singapore, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, and United Kingdom.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was introduced to the United States in early 2020, but was discontinued shortly after McDonald's streamlined menus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sandwich returned to the US market in January 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Double Big Mac is the biggest regular hamburger the chain produces and it has 680 calories.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Big Big Mac: a Quarter Pounder–like product sold in Europe (Finland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Italy). Has been sold periodically in Sweden, there called "Grand Big Mac".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• The Denali Mac: made with two Template:Convert patties. Named after Denali in Alaska, and sold only in that state.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• In India, where consuming beef is illegal in most statesTemplate:Citation needed, the Big Mac is known as the Maharaja Mac and was originally made with lamb instead of beef; however, along with the company's other items, it is now made from chicken.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:AnchorThe Mega Tamago Mac, a limited variant of the Big Mac, was launched in Japan, consisting of three patties, a fried egg, bacon, and cheese.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Template:AnchorThe Chicken Big Mac is a Big Mac with two breaded chicken patties sold in US,<ref name="today/rcna43891">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> UK,<ref name="dailyrecord/29517301">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Canada,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pakistan, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and other countries as a limited-availability or promotional burger.<ref>McDonald's Pakistan Template:Webarchive Retrieved September 4, 2012</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• The Giga Big Mac, is sold in Japan. It is a larger version of the Big Mac with three times the meat of a regular one.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Little Mac or Mac Jr. is a reduction of the standard Big Mac which uses a two-piece bun and contains only one beef patty. It has been available as a limited-time promotion in the U.S. since 2017.<ref name=CNN2017>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Grand Mac uses larger patties, at Template:Convert combined. It became available in the U.S. beginning in 2017 and was first made available overseas in the UK, Ireland, and Australia as the "Grand Big Mac" in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Big Mac.<ref name=CNN2017 /> This and the Mac Jr. were collectively known as the "Big Mac range" in the UK.
• Big Mac BLT is a standard Big Mac burger with the addition of bacon and tomato. Released in Australia and New Zealand as a promotional item in late 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Big Mac Bacon was introduced in selected markets in 2018, as a limited-time option. It is essentially a Big Mac with added bacon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2019, this was extended in the UK to the Grand Big Mac and the Mac Jr.

• McDonalds Mega Mac Malaysia.jpg

  A Mega Mac burger with a large Coke and fries in Malaysia

• Chicken Maharaja Mac Combo (3155972375).jpg

  A Chicken Maharaja Mac in India

• Big Mac variations 2018.jpg

  A Grand Big Mac (left) and Mac Jr. (right) alongside a regular Big Mac (center), released for a limited time in the UK as part of the 50th anniversary of the burger

Museum

File:BigMacMuseum.jpg

The Big Mac Museum in 2014

On August 22, 2007, McDonald's opened the Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania to celebrate the Big Mac's 40th anniversary. The museum features the world's largest Big Mac statue (measuring 14 feet high and 12 feet wide) and has hundreds of historical artifacts and exhibits that celebrate the Big Mac.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some Uniontown residents were unhappy with the selected location.<ref>Al Owens, The Herald-Standard (September 2007). "The Mystery of the Curry Burger!" Template:Webarchive republished from Herald-Standard (Uniontown). September 15, 2007</ref>

Nutritional values per geographical location

The Big Mac is a geographically localized product. In the United States, the Big Mac has Template:Convert, 34 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein. In Australia, the burger is slightly smaller with Template:Convert and 26.9 grams of fat, but similar amounts of protein with 25.2 grams,<ref name="aubigmac">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while the Japanese burger tops out the scales at 557 kcal and 30.5 grams of fat. Several McDonald's subsidiaries adapt the standard features of the Big Mac (from the US) to regional requirements.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Comparisons of the Big Mac standard nutritional values in different countries – Sodium values converted to their salt equivalents, rounded and in bold

Country	Energy kcal	Carbohydrates g	Protein g	Fat (total) g	Dietary fiber g	Salt equivalent mg	Serving size (weight) g	Reference
Template:Flagu	485	40	24	26	3.3	2005		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	559	43.8	25.9	30.3		2725	231.7	.au
Template:Flagu	495	40	27	25	3	2300	219	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	495	40	27	25		2300		.be Template:Webarchive
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped (Halted operations.)
Template:Flagu	491	40	26	26	3.8	2033		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	520	45	23	28	3	2413	209	.ca
Template:Flagu	562	49	27	30	4	1009	213	.cl
Template:Flagu	520	46	26	26				Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	526	42.6	26.7	26.9	3.4	2200		.hr
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26		2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26.1	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	522	52	28.235	30	2	1190	234	.eg
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	508	42	27	26	3.1	2300	221	.info
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200	221	.de
Template:Flagu	495	40	27	25	3	2300	221	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	497	43.1	26.4	24.2		2003		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	490	41	28	24	4	2100		.ie
Template:Flagu	510	42	27	26	3	2200		.it
Template:Flagu	557	45.2	25.5	30.5		2800		.jp
Template:Flagu	509	42	27	26	3.1	2300	219	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	484	46	26	23		1825	209	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	540	52	25	27	3.28	2300	212	.mx
Template:Flagu	524	43	27	27	3.4	2300	229	.com
Template:Flagu	494	36.8	26.4	25.9		2415	202	.nzTemplate:Dead link
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	509	42	27	26	3.2	2300	219	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		.infoTemplate:Dead link
Template:Flagu	495	40	27	25	3	2300		.infoTemplate:Dead link
Template:Flagu	503	40	28	25	3	2300	219	.rs
Template:Flagu	522	43	28	25	3	970		.sg
Template:Flagu	503	41.2	26	26	3		217	.si
Template:Flagu	496	39	24.3	26	3.2	2433		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510		26			2533	213	.kr
Template:Flagu	505	42	26	26	3	2300	219	Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	510	41	27	26	3	2200		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	530	45	27	26				.tw
Template:Flagu	480	43	28	22		2100		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	509	42	27	26		2300		Template:Usurped
Template:Flagu	494	42	26	24	3.2	2200		.gb
Template:Flagu	580	45	25	34	3	2650	220	.us

Gallery

• Big Mac hamburger - Australia.jpg

  Big Mac, purchased in Canberra, Australia

• Big Mac combo meal.jpg

  A Big Mac combo meal

• Grand Big Mac.jpg

  A Grand Big Mac

See also

• Don Gorske, a Big Mac enthusiast who eats on average two per day
• The Big Mac Index, a price index published by The Economist
• List of sandwiches

Similar products by other restaurant chains:

• Big Boy (Big Boy Restaurants and Frisch's Big Boy)
• Big Hardee (Hardee's)
• Big King (Burger King)
• Big Jack (Hungry Jack's), subject of a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by McDonald's.
• Big Shef (Burger Chef)
• Big Wink (Winky's)
• Bonus Jack (Jack in the Box)
• Double-double Animal Style (In-N-Out Burger)
• Superburger (Eat'n Park)
• Teen Burger (A&W) is not a double decker like the Big Mac, but its "teen sauce" is similar to Big Mac sauce.
• Whopper, Burger King's signature sandwich

Further reading

• Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link

External links

• Template:Usurped
• Official UK product information
• Template:Usurped
• The Big Mac Index
• Template:Usurped in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
  • Template:Usurped