For many a present or former Catholic , McDonald’sFilet - atomic number 8 - Fish is a fast - food messiah during the church service - sanctioned , 40 - day annual guiltiness - a - thon known as Lent , during which the church mandates abstaining from core on Fridays ( as well as Ash Wednesday ) . But many do n’t know that this sandwich is an existent Godsend . Jesus of Nazareth – you know , the guy cable from the Mel Gibson movie – actually did dally a role in the formulation of the beloved deep-fried fish sandwich . ( Some , of course , couldargue that Jesus plays a lineal role in everything that encounter , but that ’s a lot to get into in the confines of an article about a fish sandwich , guys . )
Sure , now it may seem like every big mountain range ( even the domestic fowl - obsessedChick - fil - a ) has an either permanent or seasonal pescatarian - pleasing sandwich , but McDonald ’s was indisputably the innovator . Prepare to be enlightened on how the first fast seafood sandwich – and , one ofthe 101 most influential dish aerial in American history– was born , rejected , and in the end resurrect .
It starts with an enterprising McDonald’s franchise owner
Sometimes stroking of sandwich genius can be attributed to divine interference , but sometimes they ’re just a matter of dire economic times necessitate some next - level creative thinking .
It ’s 1962 . The Kennedy administration was alive and well . The Beatles ' popularity was ascending overseas . And , more relevant to our account , Lou Groen , a Micky D ’s dealership proprietor in the greater Cincinnati area , was at the helm of a chop-chop sink ship . Sales were brutal . His had a skeleton crew man the position that consist only of himself , his wife and some dude named George .
" I did hangout , swept floors , you name it , " Groen , who passed away at age 93 in 2011 , toldThe Cincinnati Enquirer’sPaul Clark in 2007 .
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They were on the verge of losing it all , because no one was deplete beefburger on Fridays , especially during the months of February and March .
The problem? The area his McDonald’s served was almost 90% Catholic.
And this proportion was bad intelligence for meat - slingers , especially at this time . " Good Catholics " were " expect " to abstain from meat every Friday , and many would entirely take meat off their carte during the entire 40 - day period of Lent . Ask your grandma . Or , my grandma . Or any older person wearing a crucifix and silently scolding you with their retina .
The lawspassed by the Vaticanin the later ' fifty and early ' sixty made it easy to get your repentance in other ways ( like giving random stuff up in place of meat ) . But at the prison term when Groen ’s business was in the stool , most self - respecting Catholics still followed these meat - restricting guidelines like it was the Word of God .
Which to them , it was , of class .
Thrillist
And on the third day, Groen created the Filet-O-Fish. And it was good.
Not only did Groen have the almost saintlike intuition to buy a McDonald ’s franchise in the early ' sixty , but he also realized the companionship was getting screwed out of some serious bucks during the sacred stretching when Catholic client ditched the golden arches for fried Pisces joints – Groen noted that the nearby Big Boy was doing gangbusters business with its version of the fish sandwich .
So , he hatched a fish sandwich concept of his own that would meet with McDonald ’s fast food ethos , whipped up some tartar sauce , and took his experiment to Micky D ’s headquarters for an evaluation , and hopefully the go - ahead from incorporated .
The brass at McDonald ’s could n’t traverse that Groen ’s fish - wich was a solid idea , but they were already conceptualizing estimation for a meatless sandwich , too – because if there ’s one thing upper - management excels at , it ’s crush the dreams of their employees ( excluding my boss , of course ) .
Don’t freak out, but the Filet-O-Fish was almost nixed for the “Hula Burger”
Groen said that McDonald ’s forefront honcho , Ray Croc , envisioned their meatless sandwich as a cold bun with a slice of pineapple and cheese on it . And he need to call it the ( * * shudder * * ) " Hula Burger . " Seriously .
" Ray said to me , ' Well , Lou , I ’m get going to put your fish sandwich on ( a menu ) for a Friday . But I ’m going to put my peculiar sandwich on , too . Whichever sells the most , that ’s the one we ’ll go with . ' Friday arrive and the word come out . I win hands down . I sell 350 fish sandwiches that day . Ray never did say me how his sandwich did , " Groen said .
People choose warm cuts of electrocute Pisces to cold cut of pineapple ? What marketing section could have possibly seen that coming ? ! Though to be bonny pineapple seems to have ticktack fish out in price of popularity as a pizza topping ( even if not everyone is on board ) .
And now, the fish sandwich is an international sensation
The Filet - O - Pisces represented the first major expansion of McDonald ’s original menu , and has since become a staple of Micky D ’s fare around the earth , inspiring plenty of loyal - food emulator . And on a micro - tone , in Groen ’s word , it " saved his business sector . "
While the human race himself is no longer around to revel in the glory of his creation , his contribution to the world of fast food swims upstream eternally .
accord to the originalCincinnati Enquirerprofile , 23 % of all Filet - group O - Fish sandwiches are bought during Lent , and its religious signification has carry beyond Catholicism , as Muslims and Jews – who also have dietetic restrictions regarding substance – have embraced it as well .
Wikimedia Common/Cogart Strangehill
So the next time your Catholic guilt overwhelms you , and you prefer for the Filet at the drive - thru on a Lenten Friday , thank Lou Groen and his spark of marketing genius .
But think , not even aMcGangBangis worth 4,000 Hail Marys .
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Flickr/Richard Allaway
