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UK McDonald's Ad Slammed for Using Grieving Children to Sell Filet-o-Fish

Is there a better way to sell fast food than pulling at the heartstrings of children mourning their dead parents? Apparently, McDonald's didn't think so, Today.com reported.

In a new McDonald's commercial running in Britain, a young British boy mourning the loss of his father yearns to find some kind of connection, but soon realizes he doesn't have his dad's way with the ladies, athletic ability or even the same eye color.

But hey, he can always take solace in the fact they both liked to order a Filet-O-Fish at McDonald's.

The ad created by London-based firm Leo Burnett was released last week and has been met with backlash from U.K.-based child bereavement groups, according to the BBC. It is slated to run for the next seven weeks but could potentially be curtailed.

"This was by no means an intention of ours,'' a McDonald's U.K. spokesperson told the BBC. "We wanted to highlight the role McDonald's has played in our customers' everyday lives - both in good and difficult times."

The ad was also slammed across social media

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