McDonald's is under fire for airing a television ad in the UK about a child discovering he and his late father both liked Filet-O-Fish.
"We wanted to highlight the role McDonald's has played in our customers' everyday lives - both in good and difficult times," the spokesperson said.
The ad, produced by advertising agency Leo Burnett London, features a boy asking his mother if he and his late father had anything in common.
As they walk through a neighbourhood, his mother tells him he was "never scruffy, always smart, and his shoes so shiny you could see your face in 'em" as the camera pans to the boy's shabby shoes.
When they arrive at McDonald's, his mother finally reveals a similarity.
The boy starts eating a Filet-O-Fish and the mother says: "That was your dad's favourite."
UK bereavement group Grief Encounter condemned the ad in a statement to media and shared on Twitter.
"What they have done exploited childhood bereavement as a way to connect with young people and surviving parents alike - unsuccessfully," Grief Encounter founder Dr Shelley Gilbert said.
The ad first aired in the UK on May 12 and is scheduled to run for seven weeks, according to the BBC.
