Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." is a trademarked slogan used by McDonald's in 1975. The phrase is a basic ingredient listing for McDonald's Big Mac hamburgers. The saying has remained popular for decades, even while not in official use by McDonald's. Although shown here properly punctuated, in the ads it was read rapidly, as if it were a single word.

In 2003, McDonald's revived the phrase again in both an advertising campaign and on a licensed product. In an English-language ad from McDonald's international "i'm lovin' it" campaign, a rapper rapidly spouts off the trademark in the background music. Also in 2003, American Greetings and Carlton Cards released a Christmas ornament of a Big Mac, on which the slogan was both printed and played aloud by pulling on a string.

References in popular culture

In Joel Rosenberg's book Sleeping Dragon (the first in his long-running Guardians of the Flame series), the American characters (who have been transported to another world) use this phrase as a password: it is implied that they actually sing it.

Musician Todd Rundgren sarcastically uses the phrase in the first stanza of his song "Boogies (Hamburger Hell)", a song about vegetarianism. The song appears on Rundgren's 1976 album Faithful.

In The Simpsons episode "Rosebud", Homer Simpson (accompanied by a band) "performs" it when he imagines himself owning his own recording studio. The thought of it causes him to drool on his microphone.

Mitch Hedberg, the late stand-up comedian, wonders what would happen if sesame seeds no longer existed. He warns that the McDonald's slogan would have to be changed and the end would be "on a... bun."

On the hip-hop song "Old Man" by Masta Killah, the rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard recites the catchphrase multiple times, thereafter calling the listener a 'big dummy.'

The jingle was once performed by jazz artists Oleta Adams and Al Jarreau.

In the documentary Super Size Me, several women were interviewed. None of them could correctly recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but could accurately recite the slogan, to their embarrasment.

The original jingle was written and performed by Mark Vieha, purposefully turning the ingredients into a tongue twister. It first appeared in a TV commercial titled "In a Word" created by Dan Nichols and his team at Needham Harper and Steers, Chicago. The first run of commercials ran only a year and a half, going off the air in 1976, but its popularity remained beyond its TV life.

Spongebob Squarepants frequently imitates this phrase when referring to the ingredients in Krabby Patties.

It has also been performed by The Pointer Sisters.

See also

• McDonald's TV campaigns and slogans
• McDonald's Menu Song
• Fast food advertising