In McDonald’s branding history, which franchisee created the Big Mac?

Franchisee Jim Delligatti created the Big Mac for McDonald’s.

Delligatti operated McDonald’s restaurants in the Pittsburgh area and developed a larger hamburger to compete with oversized sandwiches sold by rival restaurants. His creation used two patties, a middle slice of bun, and the ingredients that later became associated with the Big Mac.

The sandwich was tested regionally before McDonald’s introduced it nationwide in the United States in 1968. Its success gave the company a signature menu product that could anchor advertising, packaging, and restaurant conversations around the world.

The Big Mac is sometimes credited to Ray Kroc because Kroc led McDonald’s expansion. Kroc did not invent the sandwich, however. Delligatti was the franchisee whose product became one of the company’s most important food brands.