Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/05/mcdonalds-loses-big-mac-trademark-after-bullying-tactics-against-upstart-rival-backfire.html
…
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but what of the golden arcs?
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Because I’m old in the US, I can remember what’s in a Big Mac:
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
If you are also old in the US, this will now be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome! 
[Happy now, pedants? FFS]
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Honestly when I had Supermac in Galway years ago (only thing open at that time of night we could get to easily)… I immediately thought of McDowells.
I think it’s more the place looked like like a McDonald’s clone with slightly more Irish flair because people expect fast food burger places to look like McDonald’s and it’s in Ireland (tyranny of the algorithm and all that) than an intentional McDonald’s knockoff.
But yeah, the similarity to McDowell’s was good for a laugh.
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first thing I thought of too
“Now see they’ve got the Big Mac, I got the Supermac”
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Bun seed sesame a on onions pickles cheese lettuce sauce special patties beef all two.
I have no idea why I memorized it backwards when I was a little kid but it’s forever burned in my brain.
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The song running through my head now ends with “on a sesame SEED bun”…
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… yeah, hard to argue McDonald’s should have just let that one slide 
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The version burned into my brain is:
Two all beef patties, special sauce, pickles, cheese, onions, lettuce, on a sesame seed bun.
Different in Canada, parallel universe, or the Mandela effect?
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It’s because Canadia. It’s sorta like how you have Kraft Dinner across the Detroit River over in South Detroit, but we have Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Or like how Timmy’s actually tastes like food over there instead of like cardboard as it does over here. 
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Sorry, @RickMycroft, I live in Canada and @IronEdithKidd’s version is the one that started playing in my head as soon as I read the article (and won’t stop).
eta: I read Edith’s post too fast. I remember it as “sesame seed bun”
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YouTube has a commercial from 1974 that has “sesame seed”.
Here’s one from 1984, also “sesame seed”. The first time through “sesame” was really quick, but it’s easier to hear in later choruses.
And one from 1995. (96 cent Big Mac? sigh.)
And one from Australia, so it’s not just a United States thing.
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It’s not about the chicken. It’s because McDonald’s was objecting to the use of the name Supermac for the restaurant. The restaurant is involved in making more than just a clone of a Big Mac burger. They make chicken sandwiches, fries, and other food, and the restaurant is involved in food preparation and service. In other words, the name “Supermac” doesn’t just refer to a sandwich, but the whole restaurant. McDonald’s was trying to claim their Big Mac trademark applied to anything in the fast food related world, including entire restaurants. The EU Court said no, that’s ridiculous, because you haven’t used “Big Mac” in that manner. You’ve only used it in reference to one specific burger, not your entire business.
And this is correct, even if it is pouting. The trademark on “Big Mac” wasn’t canceled. It was just limited to actual burgers.
I would expect to see an “experimental” McDonald’s food truck business or pop up small restaurants called “Big Mac Cafe” or something similar in the US any day now, along with related trademark submissions, and probably ones called “Supermac” before Supermac’s can expand to the US market.
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Then they’d be sued by White Castle.
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Wasn’t there also some offer in Germany for anybody who could recite their version in under some number of seconds? It’s supposed to be more complicated.
“Zwei Lager reines rindfleisch, …”
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OK fine, all you Pedant Pendant contestants, I’ll edit the dang thing. I swear I typed it, but sometimes my phone autocorrects by straight-up dropping words.
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