#FunFoodFactFriday
On April 22, 1967, the Big Mac debuted at a McDonald's franchise in Uniontown, PA.
Jim Delligatti was the creator of the famous burger and was the owner of the McDonald’s franchise near Pittsburgh. Uniontown was known for its steel mills, and hungry steelworkers required more than the typical burger size. Delligatti was inspired by another burger chain’s Big Boy burger to make a larger double-decker sandwich.
McDonald’s corporate offices were reluctant to allow Delligatti to deviate from their “model” burgers. However, he finally was given the go-ahead, as long as he used ingredients and products already existing in the McDonald’s portfolio.
For the most part, Delligatti complied with the mandate. However, he discovered that the existing hamburger buns would not support the new, larger sandwich, so he obtained a double-sliced, sesame seed-topped bun from a local bakery.
Delligatti unveiled his new sandwich in 1967, marketing it as “A Meal Disguised as a Sandwich” and it was sold for 45 cents, equivalent to $4.11 today.
The new burger was a hit, despite the increased price tag. It was initially called the Blue Ribbon Burger and later The Aristocrat. However, the Big Mac name was created by an advertising secretary named Esther Rose, and it is this name that has stood the test of time.
Just a year after Delligatti introduced the Big Mac, McDonald’s made them available in all American stores.
Today, Big Macs continue to be the second most popular McDonald’s menu item, right after fries. Reportedly, more than 550 million Big Macs are sold each year.
Other Fun Facts:
*** One of the Big Mac’s most memorable advertising campaigns was rolled out in 1974 and featured the jingle, “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun.”
*** The exact special sauce recipe is a corporate secret, but it is believed to be a variation of Thousand Island dressing, containing mayonnaise, yellow mustard, and sweet pickle relish.
*** By the 1980s, the Big Mac was so well known that it was being used in the economics world. The “Big Mac Index,” or “Burgernomics,” was created by The Economist as a reference point to compare the cost of living in different countries.
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FunFoodFactFriday
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