Dig A Hole: Herb Peterson, inventor of McDonald’s Egg McMuffin
March 27th, 2008 by Scott Marks
You deserve artery-clogging plaque today!
First Wally Phillips, now Herb Peterson. It’s been a bad day for mourning morning people.
The McMuffin man has forever been muffled. Herb Peterson, the guy who jump-started breakfasts at McDonald’s restaurants with his delectable egg sandwich has died. He was 89.
Peterson was found lying peacefully at his Santa Barbara home covered with a slice of yellow cheese and a circular slab of Canadian bacon.
He began his career with McDonald’s Corp. as vice president of the company’s Chicago-based PR firm, D’Arcy Advertising. He was the brainchild behind the chain’s first national advertising slogan, “Where Quality Starts Fresh Every Day!”
MSNBC quotes McDonald’s VP of operations Monte Fraker as saying, Peterson “”was very partial to eggs Benedict.”
Peterson’s creation consisted of an egg that had been formed in a circular Teflon mold with the yolk broken, topped with a slice of cheese and grilled Canadian bacon. It was initially served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin.
Peterson invariably became a franchisee and was currently a co-owner and operator of six cholesterol factories in Santa Barbara and Goleta. The first Egg McMuffin came off the griddle of one of Peterson’s Santa Barbara restaurants.
McDonald’s fatty diet has probably claimed as many lives as cigarettes, liquor and drugs, but that’s not why I hate giving them my money. They hypocrites refuse to advertise on The Howard Stern Show. It’s okay to clog kids’ arteries and turn them into a race of blobs, just don’t work blue in the process.
That said, I do find myself occasionally succumbing to breakfast at McDonald’s The Egg McMuffin is the best fast food sandwich bar none. They should serve it all day long.
Herb Peterson is survived by his wife, son and three daughters. A public memorial service will be held April 23 at All Saints by the Sea church in Montecito.
Tags: Breakfast, Breakfast Sandwich, Egg McMuffin, Fast Food, Herb Peterson, Howard_Stern, McDonalds, Obituary, RestaurantFiled Under Obituaries