Legal Sea Foods ads that irked the T win award

An ad campaign for Legal Sea Foods that miffed some MBTA workers has won an ad industry award, the New York ad agency that created the campaign, DeVito/Verdi, said today.

The agency said the campaign for the local restaurant chain won a gold award at this week's Annual Out of Home Media Plan Awards, which is conducted by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

According to a June story in the Globe, Legal Sea Foods ads that appeared on the sides of Green Line trolleys featured a cartoon fish emitting a variety of wisecracks including, "This trolley gets around more than your sister."

DeVito/Verdi titled the ad campaign "Really Fresh Fish," and in the ads, a "salty fish imparts an insult or impertinent comment to a passer-by or movie-goer," the agency said in a press release.

The campaign seemingly emphasized the freshness of the restaurant chain's fish by having the cartoon fish say "fresh" things, an earlier Globe story noted.

One of the wisecracks in the ad campaign was, "This conductor has a face like a halibut."

That comment prompted a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to say that the ad was "inappropriate and disrespectful" to MBTA employees.

(The images accompanying this story were provided by DeVito/Verdi. Above is the caption that stirred some controversy. At left is the fish that uttered the ad campaign's wisecracks.)

Roger Berkowitz, president and chief executive of Legal Sea Foods, later apologized for the ad - but in a seemingly tongue-in-cheek manner. Please click here to read a story about Berkowitz's apology.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)