If you enjoy the McDonald’s Filet O’ Fish sandwich, we’re now upon the best time of year to get it. Lent begins on March 1, and with many choosing not to eat meat during the Lenten period or at least on Fridays. As a result, McDonald’s sells the most Filet O’Fish sandwiches over that 40-day period. To be exact, 25 percent of all Filet O’ Fish purchases are made during Lent.

As you might expect, this means McDonald’s is giving the Filet O’ Fish a big marketing push this time of year. And the hook (yeah, I know) this year is that the fast-food chain uses wild-caught Alaskan Pollock which is sustainably sourced for their filets. So if you’re worried about that while eating your sandwich, maybe you can feel just a bit better about it.

Here’s one of the ads McDonald’s is running to emphasize that their fish is caught by certified sustainable fisheries. Maybe Discovery can do a special edition of The Deadliest Catch featuring Alaskan Pollock fishermen.

Normally, if you want the fried fish sandwich, you’re probably the only one who ordered it that day and have to wait for it forever. Your friends or co-workers have already gotten their Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets and fries, and you have to watch them eat. Then they have to watch you eat. And you’re probably making them late getting back to the office or school.

It might be even worse if you’re in the drive-thru, the workers will ask you to pull up ahead of the line, so they can serve everyone else who ordered the items people actually eat regularly. You’re singled out as an outcast, and probably because you thought you’d eat something “lighter” and “healthier.” Eventually, someone brings the Filet O’ Fish out to you, as if he or she is taking pity on you.

Ideally, this means your sandwich is fresh because it hasn’t been sitting under a heating lamp. But this could also mean that your breaded fish fillet was fried in old oil and tastes like it. You’ve never been more appreciative of tartar sauce. (Supposedly, McDonald’s fries the filets in different oil than is used for the chicken. Maybe I can use this article to get a look in the name of “journalism.”)

This is the most wonderful time of the year, if you dig Filet O’ Fish. You can get two of them for $4 right now. This year also marks the 55th anniversary of the sandwich, which was first sold by Cincinnati franchisee Lou Groen to cater to his heavily Catholic clientele. In 1965, it was added to the regular McDonald’s menu nationwide.

[Advertising Age]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.