McDonald’s released a terrible ‘Dead Dad’ ad

Every now and then, a company releases an ad that makes viewers scratch their head and question, “how could someone approve that?” We all remember the Pepsi fiasco and now we are in the midst of the McDonald’s scenario.

Here it is in all its awful glory:

Ah yes, the good ‘ol story of a boy learning about his dead dad and how they have nothing in common except for liking the same fish sandwich at McDonald’s. CLASSIC scenario.

They really couldn’t think of anything fun? Instead, McDonald’s went with the sympathy angle of sorts, because maybe they expected people to go buy whatever their dead relative’s favorite meal at McDonald’s was after seeing this? Who knows but the sympathy angle was just dumb.

I’d like to have been at the pitch meeting for this too. Did the person who came up with this just lose a relative? When McDonald’s said they wanted an ad for fish sandwiches, was “dead dad” really their ideal scenario for how to present it? At least they didn’t try and say fish sandwiches can create peace in politics. Although, peace in death may be a close second.

Since releasing the ad, McDonald’s has pulled the commercial. The fast food chain told the BBC they didn’t intend for the ad to be offensive and instead wanted to “highlight the role McDonald’s has played in our customers’ everyday lives—both in good and difficult times.”

McDonald’s wanted to bring people together with their ad, but at the same time, they went too far here. Even though the ad didn’t show the boy crying, it’s not like McDonald’s has tons of customers every day who buy their products simply because a dead relative liked them. Then again, that’s just my own assumption.

In today’s world, maybe customers don’t. But back when the first McDonald’s stand opened, maybe their clientele was a little different.