The McDonald's Filet-O-Fish Commercial Jingle You Haven't Thought About In Years

Some classic fast food commercials are worth a periodic re-watch. Sure, they may get a catchy jingle stuck in your head for a few days, but the nostalgic rush is worth it. One of these old favorites — from 2009 — involves a singing plastic fish (in the style of Big Mouth Billy Bass) designed to spark interest in McDonald's iconic Filet-O-Fish sandwich. 

The 30-second commercial opens with a bearded man sitting in a garage. To his right are a McDonald's bag and soft drink; he holds a Filet-O-Fish sandwich. As he brings the sandwich to his mouth, a beat starts to play, and a blue fish mounted to the wall turns its head to the camera, singing, "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish/Give me that fish." The man continues eating his sandwich in silence, unfazed. A friend enters the garage, holding a drill, notices the fish (who is now singing about being stuck to a wall), and slowly looks between the first man and the fish. The fish stops singing for a few beats, locking eyes with the second man, before signing off with a melodic, "Ahhhh!" and falling silent.

If you've seen this commercial, no doubt the "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish" tune springs to mind as soon as you see the lyrics. As one commenter on YouTube wrote: "This song has been stuck in my head since I was 8."

A 2009 USA Today article reported that the ad was an instant success, with Google searches for "McDonald's fish" going up 100% in four weeks. McDonald's sells about 300 million every year (as of 2023), with a strong quarter of these sales occurring during Lent — the time of year when the singing fish commercial came out. (In fact, the Filet-O-Fish was originally introduced in 1962, as an effort to boost McDonald's sales on Fridays when many Catholics don't eat beef.) Big Mouth Billy Bass's peak popularity came in 2000, so at the time the commercial was developed, it already had a nostalgic feel.

Comments on a YouTube video of this commercial are unabashedly enthusiastic. "Why can't commercials be more like this? Comedy gold throughout my childhood!" one person wrote. "No joke, this commercial made me try a Filet-O-Fish, and now it's one of my favorite sandwiches," said another, adding that they still hear the jingle in their head when eating the sandwich. Chris Edwards, who was creative director on this commercial project, said the goal was to entice younger consumers to start ordering the Filet-O-Fish. The successful commercial increased sandwich sales by 22% — and even spawned the creation of an actual "Frankie Fish" toy that sang the jingle.