Legal Sea Foods chief offers MBTA operators a sort of fishy apology

(ERIK JACOBS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE/FILE)

Roger Berkowitz, president and chief executive officer of Legal Sea Foods, is hitting the airwaves today to issue what he calls "a solemn apology" for an advertising campaign on the MBTA that insulted some train operators.

Like the advertising campaign, which emphasized the freshness of the restaurant's fish by having cartoon fish say "fresh" things, the apology is tongue in cheek.

"We should have never, ever said, 'This conductor has a face like a halibut,' when the truth is, most conductors don't look anything at all like halibuts," Berkowitz says in the new radio advertisement, produced by the New York ad agency DeVito/Verdi. "Some look more like groupers or flounders. I've even seen a few who closely resemble catfish. And there's one conductor on the Green Line that looks remarkably like a hammerhead shark. So we feel very badly about this mischaracterization, and we won't let it happen again."

The supposed apology is only inflaming the controversy.

"We don't think his fish is as fresh as he is," said Stephan MacDougall, president of the Boston Carmen's Union, which represents operators working for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. "He's misguided and misdirected. He is suffering from elitism and needs to do some self-examination."

MacDougall also said he thought the timing of the ad further highlighted Berkowitz's insensitivity to the operators, particularly those on the Green Line, who are mourning the loss of one of their own in a crash last month. MacDougall said he is planning to encourage his union's members, members of other unions, and working-class families to boycott Legal Sea Foods.

Berkowitz said he intended no harm with the ad, which runs through the weekend. "I like the T," Berkowitz said. "I take it all the time. I hope they don't revoke my Charlie Card."

Later, he added: "This is lighthearted fun. . . . I wish they had a little good humor about it."