McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac as a nationally marketed menu item in 1968.
The sandwich was created by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee who operated restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. He developed a larger hamburger with two beef patties, a middle bun, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and the sauce later associated with the Big Mac.
The product had been tested regionally before McDonald’s placed it on menus across the United States. Its name and distinctive stacked appearance gave the company a major branded product that could be recognized independently of the restaurant’s broader menu.
The Big Mac is sometimes described as having been invented at McDonald’s headquarters, but Delligatti’s franchise operation was central to its creation. The sandwich later became an international symbol of McDonald’s and inspired the Big Mac Index, an informal economic comparison published by The Economist.