McDonald's Tried To Beat The Whopper With This Burger, But It Clearly Was No Match

McDonald's and Burger King have had a simmering rivalry for decades. Known as the Burger Wars, the rivalry has included ad campaigns and direct comparisons between the two franchises, although in more recent years it has toned down significantly. Still, there's no official truce and in March 2026, Burger King hopped on the bandwagon of making fun of the McDonald's CEO after an awkward viral video moment. Back in the day, the battle was more focused on products, and one of the most memorable shots fired by McDonald's came in the form of the Big N' Tasty, which was positioned as a knock off of the Whopper.

The Big N' Tasty was test marketed in 1997 and debuted across most of the U.S. in 2000 before going national in 2001. It featured a quarter-pound beef patty topped with ketchup, mayo, onion, lettuce, tomato, and pickles on a sesame seed bun. That is the exact makeup of a Burger King Whopper. It debuted at 99 cents as part of a limited promotion and served as the centerpiece of the Dollar Menu. By 2003, it had bumped up to $1.49.

The Augusta Chronicle reported in 1997 that McDonald's was suffering poor sales while Burger King, led by its 99 cent Whopper, was growing. Though it had a good run, McDonald's announced in 2011 that the Big N' Tasty was being removed from the menu entirely. The Whopper may have just had too much history to overcome.

Sales of the Big N' Tasty were poor in 2010. The Chicago Tribune reported that another axed item, the Mac Snack Wraps, were only selling 10 to 15 units per day in some stores and the Big N' Tasty wasn't faring much better. A former executive was quoted as saying, "They've kept the Big N' Tasty around as a competitor to the Whopper, in case they wanted to launch another burger war and put it on the dollar menu." He thought it was good to get rid of the Big N' Tasty so Burger King wouldn't have to retaliate with another low-priced Whopper.

In the U.K., the official reason for discontinuing the very similar Big Tasty was that it took up too much space in the restaurant, but sales don't lie and that was the driving factor for the U.S. failure of the burger. As a competitor for the Whopper, the Big N' Tasty had a lofty goal. When Tasting Table compared the Whopper to the Big Mac, the Whopper was our clearcut favorite, proving it has the chops to take on even McDonald's flagship burger.

The Whopper has been around since 1957, so Burger King had 40 years of success with it before the Big N' Tasty arrived. Even though McDonald's could replicate some of the toppings, the flame-grilled burger patty was still unique to Burger King and arguably the biggest selling point for the Whopper. The Big N' Tasty, no matter how tasty it was, couldn't fully compete and was perhaps destined to fail.