An American icon — fondly called the "Senior Burger" — is about to turn 30 on November 1, and it’s loyal followers across the globe are ready to celebrate the oldest Quarter Pounder in existence. McDonald’s, however, hasn’t been exactly supportive of it. The Senior Burger, delicately wrapped in waxy beige paper, still looks perfectly frozen in time. It has never been refrigerated, spending the majority of its life cycle stuffed in cupboards, garbage bags and sheds. Despite its rough upbringing, it’s still eerily intact, never growing any mold or developing a foul odor. The only thing that’s happened over the past 30 years is that the burger has shrunk in size. It no longer looks like a hamburger. In fact, it’s no longer food — now it’s merely artwork. It all started back in 1995, when Australian friends Casey Dean and Eduard Nits inherited it from another friend who couldn’t finish his meal. Despite it all, the two friends can likely never get their burger officially recognized as the world’s oldest hamburger. For that, they would need to show the original receipt, which wasn’t something the then-teenagers thought to keep. McDonald’s certainly won’t help them authenticate the mummified piece of fast food. The burger giant would rather pretend the thing doesn’t exist, since it has served up a big helping of bad advertising for the past three decades. Yet, Dean and Nits are determined to hold on to their mummified treasure, with or without glory and fanfare.
