The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
McDonald's revives the Filet-O-Fish Facebook Society of 2012
McDonald's UK found a six-member Facebook group from 2012, revived it with its retired fish mascot, and turned a cult fandom into a national day.
McDonald's UK
What it had to solve
The Filet-O-Fish is one of McDonald's most overlooked menu items, yet it has a die-hard following. In 2012 one of those fans started a Facebook group dedicated to the sandwich, but it never caught on — it amassed just six members. In June 2025, McDonald's UK and Leo UK decided the tiny group deserved the moment it had waited thirteen years for, and threw the full weight of the brand behind reviving it.
How it works
The Filet-O-Fish is one of McDonald's most overlooked menu items, yet it has a die-hard following. In 2012, one of those fans started a Facebook group dedicated to the sandwich — and it never caught on, amassing just six members. In June 2025, McDonald's UK and Leo UK decided the tiny group deserved the moment it had waited thirteen years for, and threw the full weight of the brand behind reviving it.
McDonald's brought back The Filet-O-Fish Facebook Society of 2012 and installed its long-retired mascot Phil A. O' Fish — created in 1975 and turning fifty that year — as the group's champion. Fans received CRM teasers styled like Facebook circa 2012, with designs by Leo UK and CRM by TMW, plus exclusive invites and merchandise ahead of launch.
Paid social went live on 25 June and national press followed on 26 June, when Phil A. O' Fish unveiled the much-requested Double Filet-O-Fish inside the group, calling it the fans' victory. OOH placements across London by OMD used 2012 computer-screen interfaces, influencers received PR boxes from Ready10 with merch and a first taste of the new sandwich, and a real-life royal butler gave a tongue-in-cheek lesson on pronouncing 'Filet'.
The fandom snowballed: the group grew from 6 members to more than 5,800, with over 8,500 comments and reactions — fan stories, hacks, a poem McDonald's turned into the group's official sea shanty, and a rogue Filet-O-Fish Society flag spotted at Glastonbury. On 1 July McDonald's held its first-ever National Filet-O-Fish Day, pricing the sandwich at £2 in the app — the price of a single Filet-O-Fish in 2012 — to launch the Double Filet-O-Fish.
Why it lands
- The group was real, tiny and overlooked — exactly the same position as the product itself — so reviving it told the Filet-O-Fish story without inventing anything.
- Bringing back Phil A. O' Fish gave the fandom a fifty-year-old character to rally around and a natural reason for the brand to show up inside the group.
- The campaign's output was community participation: poems, sea shanties and flags were co-created by fans, so the work grew on its own.
- A one-day £2 price tied the launch to the group's 2012 origin, making a new product feel like an old promise finally kept.
What it did
The group grew from 6 members to more than 5,800, and fans flooded it with stories, hacks and co-created content — over 8,500 comments and reactions, including a fan poem that McDonald's turned into the group's official sea shanty, and a rogue Filet-O-Fish Society flag spotted at Glastonbury. On 1 July the brand held its first-ever National Filet-O-Fish Day, priced the sandwich at £2 in the app — the 2012 price — and launched the Double Filet-O-Fish in the group's honour.
What you can take
Meet the fandom where it already is instead of inventing one: a six-member Facebook group became a national moment because the brand treated a real community as the campaign.
Since then
McDonald's celebrated its first-ever National Filet-O-Fish Day on 1 July 2025 with restaurant takeovers, CRM, emails and out-of-home billboards thanking loyal fans, and the Double Filet-O-Fish launched in the group's honour. The campaign continued to be cited as a model of community-led marketing, and in April 2026 the 30th Annual Webby Awards named the Filet O Fish Facebook Society the winner of Best Community Engagement in the Advertising Campaigns category.
Sources
- McDonald's Revives Forgotten Facebook Group to Crown Filet-O-Fish as Cult Classic
- McDonald's and Leo UK unite Filet-O-Fish fans nationwide with revival of forgotten Facebook fan group from 2012
- The advertising, media, and PR award winners from the 30th annual Webby Awards
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