Big Mac

For other uses, see Big Mac (disambiguation).

McDonald's Big Mac

McDonald's Big Mac
Nutritional value per serving
Serving size	1 sandwich
Energy	540 kcal (2,300 kJ)
Carbohydrates	47 g (16%)
- Sugars	8 g
- Dietary fiber	3 g (14%)
Fat	30 g (47%)
- saturated	10 g (52%)
Protein	25 g (45%)
Vitamin A	120 IU
Vitamin C	2 mg (2%)
Calcium	250 mg (25%)
Iron	2 mg (15%)
Sodium	1010 mg (67%)
Energy from fat	270 kcal (1,100 kJ)
Cholesterol	80 mg (26%)
Ingredients	Beef, "special sauce", lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a bun topped with sesame seeds
Values may be different outside US market. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: McDonald's

The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by McDonald's, an international fast food restaurant chain. It is one of the company's signature products. It consists of two 1.6 oz (45.4 g) beef patties, special "Mac" sauce (a relish variant^[1]), iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, and onions, served in a three part sesame seed bun.

History

The Big Mac was created by Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who was operating several restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. The Big Mac first debuted at Delligatti's Uniontown, Pennsylvania restaurant in 1967 at a selling price of 45 cents.^[2] It was designed to compete with a similar Big Boy sandwich. The sandwich was so popular that it was added to the menu of all U.S. restaurants in 1968.^[2] One of its most distinctive features is a middle slice of bread ("club" layer) used to stabilize contents and prevent spillage^{[citation needed]}.

The Big Mac is known worldwide and is often used as a symbol of American capitalism. 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. This index is sometimes referred to as Burgernomics.^[3]

Special sauce

The name was popularized by a 1974 advertising campaign featuring a list of the ingredients in a Big Mac: "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun."

Big Mac Sauce is delivered to McDonald's restaurants in sealed canisters designed by Sealright, from which it is meant to be directly dispensed using a special calibrated "sauce gun" that dispenses a specified amount of the sauce for each pull of the trigger.^[4] Its design is similar to a caulking gun.

Advertising

The earliest instances of McDonald's utilizing advertising for the sandwich were mainly print ads, and a TV ad where Hoyt Axton sings "The Ballad Of Big Mac" which aired in 1969.

Two all beef patties slogan

The Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun concept for the jingle was created by Charles Rosenberg, Creative Supervisor of the Dan Nichols team at Needham, Harper and Steers, Chicago. Originally, the ingredients appeared as a one-word heading for a McDonald's ad developed for college newspapers. The words were then set to music created by Mark Vieha, who performed the original jingle. Rosenberg's advertising concept was to purposely turn the ingredients into a tongue twister. The jingle first appeared in a TV commercial titled "In a Word" developed by Dan and the advertising agency team. The first run of commercials ran only a year and a half, going off the air in 1976, but its popularity remained beyond its TV life. Subsequent to the jingle, McDonald's followed up with a promotion based on its customers spontaneously having a "Big Mac Attack".

Many franchisees in the United States ran promotions during the original campaign that awarded a free burger to customers who could recite the slogan within a specified time (usually two or three seconds). One example of its success, was that the McDonald's operators in New York City ran out of Big Mac buns.^{[citation needed]} McDonald's Australia emulated this promotion in the mid-1980s, and some Brazilian McDonald's around the same time (only offering a free glass of Coca-Cola instead), in the Portuguese version, which goes as "Dois hambúrgueres, alface, queijo, molho especial, cebola e picles num pão com gergelim".

The slogan soon led to a shaggy dog joke that had as its punchline "two obese Patties, Special Ross, Lester Cheese, picking bunions on a Sesame Street bus".^[5]

In 2003, McDonald's revived the phrase. In an English-language ad from McDonald's international "i'm lovin' it" campaign, a rapper rapidly spouts off the trademark in the background music. Also in 2003, American Greetings and Carlton Cards released a Christmas ornament of a Big Mac, on which the slogan was both printed and played aloud by pulling on a string. Roy Bergold, National Advertising Manager at McDonald's, has a big hand in championing the original campaign and helping to bring it back.

In 2008, the phrase was revived by McDonald's Malaysia. The revival includes the original prize of a free Big Mac if the customer is able to recite the phrase in under four seconds. This was released in May, along with the promotional Mega Mac, which has four beef patties rather than the standard two.^[6]

1980s advertising

In the early 1980s, as a promotional, McDonalds staged an in-house rivalry between their two most popular products. Consumers were invited to decide "Which one will be number one? Chicken McNuggets or Big Mac sandwiches?". For every one of either that a customer bought, they received another of the same at half price. Later in the ad campaign, the second was offered for free. It was eventually announced that Big Mac was "number one".

2004–2005 advertising

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.^[7] This offer quickly spawned a satirical reference from hip hop artist Mad Skillz, who references the marketing ploy in his track "2005 Wrap Up" by stating "And I'm beefin' wit' Mickey D's man, y'all dead wrong, Talkin' 'bout payin' rappers to mention Big Macs in their song, We do rap from the heart, y'all better have some respect, Alright, Big Mac! Big Mac! Big Mac! Now where's my check?"

Variants

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

• The Mega Mac or Double Big Mac – four 1.6 oz (45.4 g) beef patties and an extra slice of cheese. Available in Australia, China, Ireland, Japan, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore,Pakistan and Thailand (known as the Double Big Mac).^[6] Discontinued in New Zealand; limited availability in the United States, though commonly available in Canada (marketed as a Double Big Mac).
• Monster Mac – eight 1.6 oz (45.4 g) beef patties and extra cheese. Discontinued in Germany.
• the McKinley-Mac – made with two quarter pound patties. Named after Mount McKinley in Alaska, and sold only in that state.^[8][9] Also known as the Bigger Big Mac as a limited-time offer product to celebrate the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• In India, where the high Hindu population means that beef is not common, the Big Mac was renamed 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.^[10][11]
• Son of Mac – Also known as the Mini Mac or Baby Mac, a version with only one patty and no centre roll piece. It sold as a Baby Mac in New Zealand, Was sold in Australia, now discontinued. Served by some stores in the United States under the moniker "Mac Jr".
• In Israel, a special Kosher version of the Big Mac is served without cheese.^{[citation needed]}
• In Japan, there was a variant with egg, called the Mega Tamago, as well as a variant with tomato (called the Mega Tomato). Both versions dropped one patty and replaced it with the respective ingredient. Now discontinued.^{[citation needed]}
• In France there is a now a whole wheat bread version of the Big Mac. All other ingredients remain unchanged.^{[citation needed]}
• The MacSnack Wrap, introduced in the US and Canada in 2010, is one hamburger patty with the sandwich's other standard ingredients in a tortilla wrapper.^{[citation needed]}

McDonaldland character

Main article: McDonaldland

In addition to the McDonald's signature hamburger, Big Mac was the name of a character in McDonaldland, the fictional world created as an advertising campaign for McDonald's. Big Mac was similar to Mayor McCheese, except he was the chief of police, wearing a constable uniform and sporting a large Big Mac for a head.

Health issues

In 1999 in the United Kingdom, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that a diet consisting of high-fat McDonald's products may lead to heart disease.^[12]

Nutritional values

In the United States, the Big Mac has 540 kcal (2,340 kJ), 29 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein. In Australia, the burger is slightly smaller with 493 kcal (2,060 kJ) and 26.9 grams of fat, but similar amounts of protein with 25.1 grams,^[13] while the Mexican burger tops out the scales at 600 kcal and 33 grams of fat.

Comparisons of the Big Mac standard nutritional values in different countries (% = % of recommended daily allowance)

Country	Energy	Carbohydrates	Protein	Fat (total)'	Dietary fiber	Sodium, Salt	Serving size (weight)	Reference
Argentina	495 kcal	42g (14%)	24g (32%)	26g (47%)	2.5g (10%)	1083 mg (45%)	202g	.ar
Australia	493 kcal	35.1g (11%)	25.1g (50%)	26.9g (38%)		958 mg (42%)		[13]
Belgium	495 kcal	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	1023 mg (43%), 2300 mg (46%)		[1]
Brazil	504 kcal	41g (14%)	25g (33%)	27g (49%)	3.5g (14%)	1023 mg (43%)		.br
Canada	540 kcal	44g (15%)	24g	29g (45%)	3g (12%)	1020 mg (43%)	209g	.ca
Chile	555 kcal	57g	27g	28g		1098 mg		.cl
Croatia	495 kcal	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	2300 mg (46%)	219g	.hr
Czech Republic	495 kcal (25%)	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	2300 mg (46%)	219g	.cz
Denmark	497 kcal	43g	27.1g	24.1g			219g	.dk
Egypt	522 kcal		28.235g	25.911g				.eg
Finland	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg	219g	.fi
France	492 kcal	38.9g	26.2g	25.8g	4.2g	900 mg, 2300 mg		.fr
Germany	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg	221g	.de
Greece	490 kcal	42.5g	27g	24g	5g	2000 mg		.gr
Hong Kong	510 kcal	39g	25g	28g		870 mg		.hk
Hungary	495 kcal (25%)	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	2300 mg (46%)		.hu
Italy	505 kcal	43g	27g	25g	4g			.it
Japan	555 kcal	45.4g	25.4g	30.2g	2g			.jp
Malaysia	484 kcal	46g	26g	23g		730 mg	209g	.my
Mexico	600 kcal	50g	25g	33g	4g	1050 mg	219g	.mx
Netherlands	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg		.info
New Zealand	491 kcal (24%)	35.8 g (12%)	26.3 g (53%)	26.0 g (37%)		1080 mg (47%)	202 g	.nz
Norway	495 kcal (25%)	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	2300 mg (46%)		.no
Poland	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg		.pl
Romania	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg		.ro
Russia	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g			.ru
Serbia	493 kcal (25%)	40g (15%)	27g (36%)	25g (37%)	3g (12%)	2300 mg (46%)	219g	.rs
South Africa	559 kcal	49.3g	27.7g	24.89g	4.6g	801.98 mg		.za
South Korea	535 kcal	46g (14%)	27g (45%)	29g (57%)		750 mg (22%)	219g	.kr
Sweden	500 kcal	42g	26g	26g	3g	2400 mg	219g	.se
Switzerland	495 kcal	40g	27g	25g	3g	2300 mg		.info
Turkey	480 kcal	43g	28g	22g		840mg		.com.tr
United Kingdom	490 kcal (25%)	41 g (15%)	28 g (37%)	24 g (36%)	4 g (16%)	2100 mg (42%)		.uk
United States	540 kcal (27%)	45 g (15%)	25 g (45%)	29 g (45%)	3 g (13%)	1040 mg (43%)	214 g	.us

See also

• Don Gorske
• List of sandwiches

Similar products by other fast food chains:

• Big King
• Big Boy, by the namesake restaurant
• Bonus Jack
• Quick's Giant
• Big Shef
• Kmart Chef's Big K
• Burger King's or Hungry Jack's Whopper

Notes

1. ^ "McDonald's USA Ingredients Listing for Popular Menu Items". McDonald's Corporation. January 2007. p. 2. http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/ingredientslist.pdf. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Jim Delligatti Biography" (Press release). McDonald's. 2007. http://www.mcdepk.com/bigmac/mediadocs/bio_Jim_MJ_Delligatti.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-18. 
3. ^ Pakko, Michael R.; Pollard, Patricia S. (November/December 2003). "Burgernomics: A "Big Mac" Guide to Purchasing Power Parity". Review. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/03/11/pakko.pdf. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
4. ^ "Sealright designs sauce system for McDonald's in South Africa, China". Kansas City Business Journal. 26 April 1996. http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/kansas_26apr96.html. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
5. ^ Martin, Harvey (2009). The Shaggy Dog Story Book. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-1598589320. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Bin, Huai (5 May 2008). "Mega Mac and Big Mac Chant". SixthSeal.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. http://www.sixthseal.com/2008/05/mega-mac-and-big-mac-chant.html. 
7. ^ "Return of the Mac – coming soon". BBC News. 2005-03-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4389751.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-26. 
8. ^ "Alaska Towns: Palmer, Alaska". Hometown Invasion Tour. 2011. http://www.hometowninvasion.com/towns.php?id=AK. 
9. ^ "Royale with Cheese". Cynical-C Blog. 23 May 23, 2007. http://www.cynical-c.com/2007/05/23/royale-with-cheese/. 
10. ^ "G2: McDonald's and the World". The Guardian. 6 April 2001. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/06/globalisation.features11?INTCMP=SRCH. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
11. ^ Arndt, Rachel Z. (2 February 2009). "The World's Most Original Burgers: Chicken Maharaja Mac". Bloomberg Businessweek: p. 8. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/07/0722_innovative_burgers/8.htm. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 
12. ^ Howard, Stephen; Gordon, Cathy (April 1, 1999). "Judges accept Big Mac `heart risk'". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/judges-accept-big-mac-heart-risk-1084389.html. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "Nutrition Information". Australia: McDonald's. 7 April 2011. http://mcdonalds.com.au/sites/mcdonalds.com.au/files/images/Nutrition-Information-7-April-2011.pdf. Retrieved 18 May 2011. 

References

• Gallagher, Peter B. (March 10, 1975). "Beefed-up old jingle pays off for Big Mac". St. Petersburg Times: p. 1D. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xAoOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fHkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5978,2392418&dq=birmingham-americans&hl=en. Retrieved April 12, 2010. 

External links

• Official US product information
• Official UK product information
• Official product information for the Chicken Maharaja-Mac
• The Big Mac Index
• The Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, PA
  • Photo Tour of Big Mac Museum