Fortune 500 company McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac nationally in 1968.
The sandwich was created by Jim Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee in the Pittsburgh area. It used two beef patties, a sesame-seed bun, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and the company’s special sauce. Delligatti had tested an earlier version locally before McDonald’s expanded it across the United States.
The Big Mac is often confused with the Quarter Pounder, but the two sandwiches differ in both construction and history. The Quarter Pounder uses one larger beef patty, while the Big Mac is defined by its two smaller patties and middle bun layer.
McDonald’s later used the Big Mac as a global symbol of its brand. The “Big Mac Index,” created by The Economist in 1986, uses the sandwich’s price in different countries as an informal way to compare currency values and purchasing power.