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# Food with a Voice
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Ad Lets Seafood Deliver the Message

By Vincent Salera | Published 2009-03-16 | Marketing
Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/singing-smart-alick-fish-macdonalds-ad-has-fish-deliver-message
References: [adsoftheworld](http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/mcdonald_s_filetofish)

This commercial for [McDonald](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mcdonalds-malta)’s fish burger has a smart alick singing fish tricking people into having them feel guilty by using lyrics like *"give me back that fish,” “what if it were you hanging up on this wall?”* and *"you wouldn’t be laughing if it were you in that sandwich."*

I love the way the man eating the fish burger could not care less and continues to devour his fish burger.

The ad was created by [adverting agency Arnold](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/believe-campaign) with creative direction by Pete Favat, Chris Edwards, and Kristen Landgrebe. The copy was written by Pete Harvey.

## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter)

- Score: 4.0/10
- Popularity: 29% | Activity: 82% | Freshness: 8%
- Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women
- Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X
- Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia

## Categories

[Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Branding](https://www.trendhunter.com/branding)

## Key Themes

### Why This Trend Is Growing

- **Digital Storytelling:** Use of clever lyrics and catchy tunes in commercials offers disruptive innovation opportunities for brands to create memorable and engaging digital storytelling experiences.
- **Emotional Marketing:** Incorporating guilt-inducing messages and appeals to empathy in advertisements presents disruptive innovation opportunities for businesses to tap into consumers' emotions and create impactful marketing campaigns.
- **Creative Advertising Techniques:** Employing unconventional and witty techniques, such as using a talking fish, in commercials opens up disruptive innovation opportunities for companies to capture audience attention and differentiate themselves from competitors.

### Industries Being Reshaped

- **Food and Beverage:** The use of storytelling and emotional marketing in food and beverage advertising allows for disruptive innovation opportunities where brands can connect with consumers on a deeper level and establish stronger brand loyalty.
- **Advertising and Marketing:** The adoption of creative advertising techniques, like incorporating talking characters, in the advertising and marketing industry creates disruptive innovation opportunities for agencies to deliver more engaging and memorable campaigns.
- **Entertainment and Media:** The integration of digital storytelling and emotional marketing in entertainment and media presents disruptive innovation opportunities for content creators to captivate audiences and drive engagement through unique and compelling narratives.

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