The McDonald's sandwich named by secretary Esther Glickstein Rose after a 1967 employee naming contest was the Big Mac.
The sandwich had been developed as a larger alternative to McDonald's standard hamburger offerings. Jim Delligatti, a franchisee in the Pittsburgh area, is credited with creating the sandwich, which used two beef patties, a middle bun layer, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a special sauce.
The name was selected during an internal contest. Esther Glickstein Rose, a secretary at McDonald's corporate headquarters, submitted “Big Mac,” and the name was adopted for the product. It became one of the company's strongest food brands and eventually a major symbol of McDonald's identity.
The Big Mac was introduced nationally in 1968, one year after the name was chosen. That timeline is often blurred: the sandwich's development and regional testing preceded its nationwide launch, while the naming contest supplied the enduring product name.