Big N' Tasty

Product description

The Big N' Tasty features a seasoned quarter-pound (4 oz) beef patty with ketchup, mayonnaise, slivered onions, two dill pickle slices, leaf lettuce, and one tomato slice on a sesame seed bun. The Big Tasty variant uses a third-pound (151 g) patty, a 5-inch sesame seed bun, square-cut lettuce, two tomato slices, sliced onions, three slices of Emmental cheese, and a smoke-flavored Big Tasty sauce. A Big Tasty Bacon variant, not available in the U.S., adds strips of streaky bacon.

History

The Big N' Tasty is the latest in a series of burgers designed to compete against Burger King's Whopper. The first was the McDLT, launched in 1984, which used a two-sided container to keep the hot side (meat and bottom bun) separate from the cool side (lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, sauces, and top bun), requiring the consumer to combine them before eating. It was discontinued by January 1991 as McDonald's moved away from polystyrene packaging.

The McDLT was succeeded by the McLean Deluxe in 1991, a lower-fat burger with carrageenan replacing beef fat and served without mayonnaise; it failed after national rollout and was discontinued in February 1996. The Big N' Tasty was introduced in 1997, originally tested in California, while the Big Xtra was test marketed in the Northeastern United States as the MBX; during simultaneous testing, either could be sold depending on the market. The Big N' Tasty was phased in nationally in 2000, displacing the Big Xtra, with the national introduction timed to coincide with the opening of Disney's California Adventure.

From 2002 until 2003, it was a flagship product on the Dollar Menu, but was removed on February 1, 2003, to make room for the Double Cheeseburger. McDonald's removed the Big N' Tasty from its U.S. menu on January 1, 2011, though it remains available at McDonald's locations on U.S. army and naval bases, including the restaurant at the U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka. The McDLT's marketing used variations of 'Keep the hot side hot, and the cool side cool,' in a 1985 commercial featuring Jason Alexander, with a later campaign featuring Aretha Franklin and Jerry Butler. The 2001 national introduction of the Big N' Tasty featured a campaign starring NBA player Kobe Bryant.