"Give me back that Filet-O-Fish, give me that fish (oooooo)...Give me back that Filet-O-Fish, give me..."Annoyed yet? This has got to be the most irritating ad on TV right now. I'm sure there are people out there who are say "oh, it's so cute!" but I'm sure there are even more people who lunge for the remote control every time they see the commercial starting. It's like someone is jabbing pencils in your ears for 30 seconds. But it has somehow become a phenomenon, much like those "Head-On, apply directly to the forehead...Head-On, apply directly to the forehead" spots.
Let's take a close look at the singing fish...
Everything about the commercial gets on my nerves, from (obviously) the irritating voice of the fish to the weird expression the guy has on his face as he chews the sandwich. I'm also puzzled why this guy doesn't seem surprised that a fish mounted on a wall is suddenly singing even though his work buddy seems completely stunned. I also hate the music, which sounds like the stuff we all used to create on our keyboards back in 1986.
I also must take issue with the fish's logic. He sings "If it was you in that sandwich, you wouldn't be laughing at all." First off, the guy isn't even laughing! Second, if it was the guy in the sandwich, we'd have to change the name to Filet-O-Human or something. Third, the guy wouldn't be eating himself.
Speaking of eating yourself, another category of commercials is the "adorable food mascot that encourages you to eat them and their friends" spot. Here's the latest:
The little guys should be commended for wanting to help this kid with his history test, but how can they be so happy that he's sitting there eating their friends? Or are the other Mini-Wheats all dead, floating in a bowl of 2% and these two guys are the only ones who remain alive? Will they be eaten too at some point or did they get immunity?
This ad takes it a step further. While I admire the commercial's attention to detail in recreating the finale of Rocky (right down to Adrien's hat falling off and having her look back at it), there's no escaping the fact that the cookie is grabbed by a human hand and, well, eaten and killed.
Hopefully we'll be spared a fifth sequel 30 years from now, where the cookie comes back to fight one more time after the death of Adrien.
Question: why would Talia Shire be married to a chocolate chip cookie?
It's all very strange. Let's leave it to David Puddy to put all of this into perspective for us:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-13-2009 @ 5:12PM
Robert said...
I sing the filet-o-fish jingle constantly. Constantly.
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3-13-2009 @ 5:18PM
mwm said...
How about the Juno'esque Comcast commercial? This was already done with the Atlantis resort commercial. The same kind of music.
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3-13-2009 @ 5:27PM
Aaron said...
love the filet o fish commercial. But, it doesn't make me want one.
Also, what are hour keyboards? I'm pretty sure in 1986 I had a keyboard, and my sister used it too. We called it our keyboard. I never had an hour keyboard.
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3-13-2009 @ 5:38PM
Televinita said...
Hahaha, are you kidding me? I love the Filet o Fish commercial. I have watched it on YouTube to get my fix, and I cannot hear it without laughing out loud. The sanwich-eater's nonplussed/semi-amused expression while the wall fish has a spastic meltdown gets me every time.
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3-13-2009 @ 9:27PM
deebopalula said...
This is the first time I've seen it but I did the same thing - I literally laughed out loud. Now I'm going to go hit the replay button and watch it again. I can't explain why I find it funny - I just do. Although it probably helps that I haven't seen it repeatedly.
3-13-2009 @ 5:44PM
Galley said...
God, that song Filet-o-Fish was horrible!
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3-13-2009 @ 6:39PM
RobynM said...
Guess it comes from not watching much network tv, but this is the first I've heard of the Filet-O-Fish commerical.
The Chips Ahoy bits are pretty annoying, though.
The Cannibal M&Ms one is a classic, not to mention that Patrick Warburton makes everything better.
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3-13-2009 @ 7:28PM
BilliamJ said...
Actually the commercial for Boost Mobile promoting pig cannibalism is REALLY disturbing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGObGID6Cr4
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3-15-2009 @ 1:51PM
eric f. said...
Oh, I seriously never knew what that pig commercial was for!
Whenever it comes on I practically vomit and have to skip the commercial immediately.
In all seriousness, the ad agency who created that and the exec who green-lighted it need to be fired.
3-13-2009 @ 8:08PM
jekyll said...
I really hate the squealing girls in the new BK Burger Shots ad. It's positively pornographic.
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3-13-2009 @ 8:09PM
jekyll said...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdTHqf08jM
3-13-2009 @ 8:27PM
Tracey said...
Actually, the commercials I'm hating right now are the Cheetos ones, where a person is eating Cheetos and a cartoon cheetah that no one else can see or hear encourages the eater to do some antisocial act to another person (who, admittedly, apparently deserves it).
What is the message here? That Cheetos cause hallucinations? That they make you hear voices, and you have to do what the voice tells you?
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3-13-2009 @ 8:53PM
Edward said...
After a few viewings, the filet-o-fish commercial grew on me. And I believe the fish is speak through the fourth wall...
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3-13-2009 @ 10:35PM
Danny Gallagher said...
Nice call Bob-o. Death to singing fish!
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3-14-2009 @ 1:23AM
StillBash said...
What I can't get out of my head is that scene from sunday's Family Guy with the pig and the guinea-pigs in the pig sty.
Pig: "I guess we all know who's boss, right?"
*chuckle*
*snort*
Awesome ^^;
(and off topic) :-)
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3-14-2009 @ 3:55PM
Brett Alan said...
One of the most annoying commercials, ever. And the idea that the fish is asking you to consider what it would be like if YOU were in the sandwich sounds more like it should come from PETA than from McDonald's!
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3-14-2009 @ 7:22PM
tracey said...
You know, that's a *really* good point... Chik Fil A had a series of ads where cows asked you to eat more chicken, and Burger King countered with a commercial where the Chicken Run chickens told you to eat more burgers, but how do you sell fish by having a fish tell you not to eat fish?
3-18-2009 @ 12:41PM
George Perkins said...
and wait until you see it and hear it singing in Spanish;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CooWSHQ45F0
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3-18-2009 @ 2:37PM
judi said...
Nannerpus nannerpus!!
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3-19-2009 @ 9:23AM
Scottie said...
I love this dumb song so much I've made it my new ringtone.
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