When hearing “Filet-O-Fish,” the image of a crispy, golden-brown sandwich comes to mind. Fried Alaskan pollock, melted American cheese, and tartar sauce come together in a sandwich meal that packs the flavor of fish and chips. As the only consistent seafood item on American McDonald’s menus, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich has a documentary-worthy history. What’s not-so-common knowledge is the controversial advertisement history attached to this fast food item.
In 2017, a McDonald’s U.K. commercial faced backlash for being insensitive to children and grieving families. The commercial followed the storyline of a boy and his mother walking through the English countryside as he asked questions about his father, who is inferred to have passed while the boy was still young. It ended with the mother and son sitting at a restaurant, and it’s there that she revealed that the boy’s meal — the Filet-O-Fish — was also his father’s favorite.
Had this been a promotion for a charity, or even a short indie film about familial love and grief, it might have been sentimental and sweet. The plot and direction don’t make light of the heavy subject matter, and McDonald’s intention seemed to be making a realistic, heartfelt story to connect to families. However, ending the scene with a bright red company logo was unappetizing to some audiences, who felt the advertisement was an abuse of grieving families’ stories for the sake of pushing a product.
Fishy intentions and flopped commercials
Advertising is full of all sorts of gimmicks, but there’s a fine line between spreading awareness and exploiting emotions. Arby’s broke world records to announce its Coca-Cola products, and Lay’s once used its Super Bowl airtime to celebrate family potato farms. These are much more effective plays than, say, the Nationwide commercial that tried to raise awareness of accidental deaths by having a dead child narrate all the things he’d never get to do — and people thought the U.K. McDonald’s commercial was grim!
Mission-driven charities, including Ronald McDonald House Charities, can air commercials showing the struggles of sick children without issue, but if the goal was to get people to buy fish sandwiches, the organization would end up in hot water. McDonald’s does better when keeping to its usual light-and-fun persona, which seems to work in making it one of the most profitable fast food chains in the world. One failed Filet-O-Fish advertisement can’t stop this sandwich’s success.
