McDonald’s has axed the child favourite Fish Fingers Happy Meal this week – and it has left mums like me absolutely furious.
It is a total disaster. I had to break the news to my “hangry” daughter, Liberty, seven, after school, as she collapsed in floods of tears: “No, mummy! Not the fish fingers! No!”
While she slumped in the back of the car on the way home, sobbing, I promised to order an air fryer and try to recreate their exact crispiness at home. This was genuine heartbreak.
A Fish Fingers Happy Meal had become such a ritual that pulling the plug so suddenly felt as emotional as weaning her from the bottle. That’s why parents have taken to social media to share their upset over the news.
One mum said: “My daughter only likes the Fish Finger Happy Meal. What a silly idea.” Another commented: “Ah, gutted, my LO won’t eat anything in burger shape! Fish fingers are her favourite!” Others said, “I mean it’s one way to get rid of some customers, I guess”, and “That’s it, we are never going to McDonald’s ever again. Could this week get any worse?”
I’m a McDonald’s mother. How dare they come for our Happy Meals? Like hordes of other mums, I rely on them as a cheap supper at least once a week to make my life run smoothly.
The meal, which included three fish fingers, mini fries, an organic milk, or water, and a threadbare plushie in a little carry box for only £3.99, was reportedly not selling in sufficient numbers, leading to its removal from the menu.
‘It’s the end of an era. McDonald’s has replaced it with a McFish Happy Meal. But it just doesn’t work for us. Many young children can’t bite through a bun’ (McDonald’s)
It’s the end of an era. McDonald’s has replaced it with a McFish Happy Meal: a crispy white hoki or pollock fish fillet patty, with cheese, in a toasted bun, with a pack of carrot sticks and organic milk.
But it just doesn’t work for us. Many young children can’t bite through a bun – and anyway, it looks like the poor relation of the Filet-O-Fish without the tartar sauce. Liberty was horrified when I suggested it as an alternative.
Not only that, she hates carrots. Unlike some parents who will desperately try to transition their kids to the Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal, Liberty is pescatarian, and as any parent of a fussy eater knows, once your child likes something, it’s gold dust.
Kids like fish fingers – and yes, McDonald’s fish fingers are healthier than their burgers in terms of calories, saturated fat, and sodium content. They are also a good source of protein and provide Omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for children’s diets.
The clean-eating mum brigade who only feed their kids homemade food with seasonal vegetables won’t agree. But to me, a Fish Fingers Happy Meal is hardly Satan.
McDonald’s has also become a socially acceptable food venue for credit crunch mums who, in the past, may never have even considered a Happy Meal as a good idea – like me.
I’d never eat anything off the menu, though. In fact, I often frogmarch my kids out of McDonald’s with their Happy Meal – or French fries – because I can’t stand the smell of the place, and then grab myself a salad from Whole Foods over the road, as they eat on the go.
McDonald’s is going festive with their new Elf on the Shelf toys, but it’s missing the point. Removing fish fingers just before the Christmas period is insensitive. Do they know how many hours I’ve spent searching for a McDonald’s at motorway services on long journeys to get a Fish Fingers Happy Meal – and finding it’s one Burger King after another? McDonald’s has been a saviour when I’ve had hungry children in the back of the car.
The main problem is that McDonald’s hasn’t replaced the Fish Fingers Happy Meal with anything suitable. All we are left with are burgers with buns and “mayo chicken”. The only vegetarian option is “veggie dippers”, which are triangular red pepper and pesto goujons. What child will go for that?
It’s time for McDonald’s to understand what is truly important to a child. It’s not the toy, it’s the food. And the worst thing about the so-called Happy Meal? The menu shake-up is making us parents – and kids – very sad.
