WATCH: McDonald's grovels as viewers attack TV ad

Fast food giant McDonald's has apologised after viewers complained its television advert exploited childhood bereavement.

The ad showed a boy talking to his mother about his dead father as he tried to find something in common with him.

As they arrive at a McDonald's restaurant and he orders a Filet-o-Fish, the mother says: "That was your dad's favourite too."

Viewers expressed disgust at the advert on social media.

"Not one to be easily offended, but new McDonald's advert is cynical exploitation of a deeply emotional situation for brand promotion," one tweeted.

Another viewer said: "I lost my father when I was a child and I find the latest McDonald's advert disgusting and offensive. Shame on you!"

The UK Advertising Standards Authority said it had received complaints about the advert, and would "carefully assess them to see whether there are grounds to investigate", the BBC reported.

Shelley Gilbert, founder of Grief Encounter, said the bereavement charity had received "numerous complaints".

"What they have done is exploited childhood bereavement as a way to connect with young people and surviving parents alike - unsuccessfully," she told the Daily Mail.

A McDonald's spokesman told the BBC: "This was by no means an intention of ours. We wanted to highlight the role McDonald's has played in our customers' everyday lives - both in good and difficult times."