Manhattan Fish Market has been accused of denying a mother in Singapore a Mother's Day promotion offer because she did not have a husband.

According to a June 5 Facebook post by Mellissa Seah, the incident occurred at the Manhattan Fish Market outlet at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Seah wrote that she came across a promotion where mothers are entitled to a free Manhattan Fish 'N Chips with every purchase of a main dish.

Staff allegedly said, "Your family is not complete"

Seah thought that this was a good deal and wanted to dine at Manhattan Fish Market with her mother.

However, when Seah asked about the promotion, the eatery's personnel allegedly told her that her mother did not qualify for it.

The staff allegedly said, “You’re not entitled to this because your family is not complete," and “The father is missing”.

Seah clarified that her family is incomplete "not by choice", but did not elaborate:

"Thank you MFM for reminding me that my family isn’t complete. Not by choice. Thank you MFM for reminding Sean and Adrian that their family too, isn’t complete. Again, not by choice. Thank you MFM for reminding Mom that she is at fault for not maintaining her marriage so that the family can be complete. Marriage breaks down and sometimes its better to go seperate (sic) ways to make a family complete again."

Seah also wrote that it was "disappointing that a brand like MFM still has the mindset that a Complete Family Unit is one that is made up of Father, Mother and Child".

She ended her post by saying that she is proud to be part of an incomplete family, and she will never patronise Manhattan Fish Market again.

Responses

Reactions to the post were critical of Manhattan Fish Market and supportive of the family.

This was a common sentiment among people who responded to Seah's post:

Manhattan Fish Market apologises

In an update the next day, Seah posted an apology by a Manhattan Fish Market representative named Josephine:

In the apology, Josephine assured Seah that the restaurant does not condone the crew's unacceptable and offensive actions.

She also requested to speak with Seah over the phone to relay the restaurant's apologies.

In her message, Josephine promised that the restaurant will get back to Seah with an explanation and further actions it will take, such as the retraining of the Manhattan Fish Market crew.

You can read Seah's post below:

In case you cannot read the embedded post:

UPDATE: ok MFM have reached out to me. All i really want to know is how / why did the promotion mechanics (the terms and conditions) behind this campaign got approved / signed off by the management. Sorry but I am dramatic like that lol. ??‍♀️ Again, I have nothing against the crew on ground for their response in such a manner because instructions probably came from the management. *** So this happened today... just sharing a very disappointing experience at The Manhattan FISH MARKET Singapore Changi T1 outlet. We went to MFM for a meal (as usual we were late lol and MFM did not have a queue and the least crowd) before my mom’s flight for a meal together. There was a promotion with the caption “A Date with Mom, All she needs is a meal with family” and we enquired about it, because why not since there’s a free fish and chips for Mom lol. But what was really disappointing was their reply, “You’re not entitled to this because your family is not complete.” “The father is missing.” Ok.... cue moments of awkward silence because obviously nobody knew how to respond. (pls note i have nothing against the on ground team who gave this response because instructions come from management) I mean, really?! In MFM eyes, just because father isn’t there so our family isn’t complete. How is Mom any less deserving just because Dad wasn’t there? Can’t Mom be Dad as well? How about families who have lost their Mom or Dad to illness, or any other circumstances, make their family any less complete, unworthy, undeserving? How about families with 2 mommies or 2 daddies? Or children who are brought up by grandparents because they lost their parents? Thank you MFM for reminding me that my family isn’t complete. Not by choice. Thank you MFM for reminding Sean and Adrian that their family too, isn’t complete. Again, not by choice. Thank you MFM for reminding Mom that she is at fault for not maintaining her marriage so that the family can be complete. Marriage breaks down and sometimes its better to go seperate ways to make a family complete again. What a disappointing experience, and one of the top #marketingfailsI’ve come across. While the rest of the society is taking steps to make Singapore a more inclusive place, it is disappointing that a brand like MFM still has the mindset that a Complete Family Unit is one that is made up of Father, Mother and Child. Kudos to MFM for taking a step forward for banning / cutting down the use of straws from their outlets, but ?? for taking a step backwards from being inclusive. Our last meal at MFM. Never going back to MFM again. Meh. #proudtobeapartofanincompletefamily

Top images via Mellissa Seah/Facebook.