TikTok has been awash with the latest viral trend, the sea shanty, and brands are jumping on board.
The craze started as a rendition of “The Wellerman” by user @nathanevanss, and the Irish folk song took on new life with hilariously rewritten lyrics.
Jimmy Fallon and The Roots have performed the sea shanty version of Olivia Rodrigo's hit “Drivers License” and others have recreated Smashmouth's “All Star.”
All Star by @smashmouth is a sea shanty now pic.twitter.com/VT95pOJoBq
— Slip.Stream (@SlipdotStream) January 13, 2021
Arby's uploaded its own version of the song to TikTok in honor of its crispy fish sandwich. The shanty, which features a voiceover from actor Ving Rhames, calls out the McDonald's Filet-o-Fish sandwich, lamenting, “What shall we do with a shrunken sandwich, looking square and boring.”
@arbys Fish sandwiches just got their sea shanty moment. #arbys #crispyfish #fishsandwich #seashanty #seashantytiktok
The video has attracted more than 189,000 likes and 4,500 comments from users excited the brand hopped on the trend.
Arby's CMO Patrick Schwing said the sea shanty trend is the perfect place to show consumers the brand’s superior version of a fish sandwich.
“Our Crispy Fish Sandwich has always been a popular limited-time menu offering,” Schwing said. “When we saw sea shanties trending on TikTok, it created the perfect intersection of engaging content and the timely promotion of one of our guests’ favorite seasonal sandwiches.”
McDonald's has yet to respond to the lyrical diss.