A mother is highly respected in Philippine society. She is the heart of the family. The provider of love and gentle care. In fact, Mother’s Day is deemed the “Super Bowl” of Philippine advertising, with the public eagerly anticipating campaigns that brands will release to celebrate mothers.

With every other brand out to extol moms on this day, McDonald’s wanted to stand out by paying tribute to mothers whose stories were less likely to be told in the predominantly conservative Catholic country: the single moms.

Even now, the stigma is hard on single mothers, despite the reality of over 20 million Filipino kids being raised by single parents. In 2008 alone, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that 38% of 1.8 million babies born in the country -- or 660,000 -- had unmarried mothers. In 2015, the same office estimated 2 million households were headed by single mothers.

In the film Love Kita, Ma (Love You, Ma), we catch a moment between a single working mom and her young daughter inside a McDonald’s store.

As daughter excitedly digs into the fries on the tray – she finds a tall piece that she says is just like mom. Mom then adds that a smaller piece is just like the daughter. The child lays down the two pieces on the table. After some thought, she innocently declares that something seems to be ‘missing’ in the layout -- with just the two of them.

Caught off guard, mom is speechless with her child’s seeming realization about their unusual family setup. She feels all the more awkward as she looks at the ‘complete’ families dining in the store.

Just then, the daughter completes the picture by putting a ‘roof’ over their heads, declaring their family complete. Relieved, mom lovingly kisses her daughter.