Ray Kroc

Kroc's response was unprintable.

I don't care if the Pope himself comes to Cincinnati.

We're not going to stink up our restaurants with any of your damned old fish.

But Luke kept pushing.

He worked on Fred Turner.

He worked on the operations people.

He told them either McDonald's sells fish or I sell my store.

And that's how much he believed in it.

So he developed a sandwich, North American whitefish breaded and fried with tartar sauce on a bun.

One day in the test kitchen, someone mentioned that a crew member had tried it with cheese.

Of course, Ray explained, that's exactly what it needs.

No, make it a half slice.

And that's how the Filet-O-Fish was born.

Lou Gorin invented the Filet-O-Fish.

Jim Delgatti in Pittsburgh invented the Big Mac.

Herb Peterson in Santa Barbara invented the Egg McMuffin.

The best product innovations that McDonald's ever had came from operators solving local problems.

The company just gave them a system and scale.

They gave the company its future.

Rick Rock wasn't a saint by any means.