McMarketing

I decided to do homemade big macs last night as my son is a big fan. In the past, I’ve popped online to scan for a version of the sauce. I searched again yesterday and was surprised to see a story with a link telling me that the executive chef of McDonald’s had finally released the ingredients for the secret sauce on youtube. I clicked the link…

It was hilarious! First of all, he’s set up in a rustic home kitchen, not a large glistening steel one. Then he sarcastically tells the girl who sent in the question about the sauce that the recipe has been available for years and then strips off the white chef’s coat to reveal his plaid shirt and jeans. I feel like I’m hangin with a hipster now.

In his subtle wording, he tells us he is going to show us how to make a version of the Big Mac sauce with ingredients we have around the house, not the sauce itself (likely because most people don’t have commercial binding agents and preservatives in their cupboards). He lists off the ingredients with a rather clever discussion about contrasting flavours ,brags about his knife skills and thoroughly enjoys the sizzle of the 100% beef he uses for the burger.

The ingredient list was interesting as it eliminated salt and sugar, two components that have shown up on the “top secret” recipe that has been online for years and I’m sure is contained in the restaurant’s sauce. Instead, he opts for mustard, relish, mayonnaise, paprika, onion and garlic powder and white wine vinegar. The “top secret recipe” also uses french dressing which was missing from my hip friend’s creation.

Top Secret Sauce recipe (posted on http://www.topsecretrecipes.com)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbsp french dressing
4 tsp sweet relish
1 tbsp of fine minced onion
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of white vinegar
1/8 tsp salt

I made both sauces. I looked at both sauces. I tasted both sauces. The top secret sauce looked and tasted closer. The chef’s sauce had specks of colour with the paprika, not the uniform pink colour that drips out of the restaurant Big Mac. I guess the sugar and salt are necessary, Mr. Hipster executive chef.

This is an another example of McMarketing, this time disguided in the form of a homey youtube video instead of the endorsment of some of the world’s most gifted athletes. Let’s not go there. I’ll be the first to eat a Big Mac, I’m aware what it is and I sure as hell know it’s not made in a country kitchen by a guy who looks like he should be on an abercrombie bag.

Perhaps their marketing dollars should go toward resurrecting the old school disasters such as Arch Deluxe, McDLT or the famous McPizza.