McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish

A local ad for the Filet-O-Fish goes viral. Millions of views and recreations, a Kanye West remix, a guest appearance on “Rachel Ray” and a best-selling toy in Walgreens and Walmart.

Rachel Ray asked if she could fly out the actors and restage the commercial in a 3+ minute segment on her set. (We said yes.) Then Kanye offered up a remix of the song at his show in Miami, and South Park lampooned his fish obsession in a “Fish Sticks” episode three weeks later.

The back cover of AdWeek, three week’s after our little local ad started running.

At the height of the spot’s success, the toy we manufactured sold out of CVS, Walmart and Walgreens. It is still offered on Amazon today.

Sales of the toy made McDonald’s a sum of money that - for comparisons sake - is several times the lifetime earnings of everyone who worked on the commercial.

While the ad first ran in 2009, McDonald’s and their agencies are still trying to replicate its success with sequels. Like this, this, and, most recently, this.

“This is like Flight Of The Concords meets commercial television. Did you have any idea it would be so big? It’s essentially like a blockbuster movie.”

— Rachel Ray, after reenacting the Filet-O-Fish commercial on her talkshow

McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish

A local ad for the Filet-O-Fish goes viral. Millions of views and recreations, a Kanye West remix, a guest appearance on “Rachel Ray” and a best-selling toy in Walgreens and Walmart.

The back cover of AdWeek, three week’s after our little local ad started running.

Sales of the toy made McDonald’s a sum of money that - for comparisons sake - is several times the lifetime earnings of everyone who worked on the commercial.

“This is like Flight Of The Concords meets commercial television. Did you have any idea it would be so big? It’s essentially like a blockbuster movie.”

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