McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac as a branded menu item in 1968.
The sandwich was created by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee in the Pittsburgh area. It used two beef patties, a middle slice of bread, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a special sauce. Its distinctive three-part bun and memorable name gave McDonald’s a flagship product with a strong identity of its own.
Delligatti had tested a larger sandwich before the national rollout because he wanted to compete with other restaurants offering more substantial hamburgers. McDonald’s initially resisted changes to its standard menu, but the product proved successful and expanded nationwide.
The Big Mac is sometimes dated to 1967 because that was the year of its regional introduction and testing. The commonly cited national introduction date is 1968. Its branding later supported the Big Mac Index, an informal comparison of international currency values based on the sandwich’s price.