The
Channel 4 sitcom
Father Ted (19951998) helped to popularise the use of "feck" outside of Ireland (particularly in the UK, where Channel 4 is based) through liberal use of the word by alcoholic priest
Father Jack Hackett. The word appears frequently and repeated multiple times in a row in
The Beauty Queen of Leenane by
Martin McDonagh, first performed in 1996. In a 1998 interview on
Nickelodeon, an appearance by the teenage Irish girl group
B*Witched prompted a viewer complaint alleging that one of its members had said "fuck off" on air. Nickelodeon maintained that the singer had in fact said "feck off", which they described as "a phrase made popular by the Channel 4 sitcom
Father Ted", but the phrase was still found to be in breach of the ITC Programme Code, and the complaint was thus upheld. In 2008, the Irish cider brand
Magners received complaints relating to an advert it had posted around the UK in which a man tells bees to "feck off", with members of the public concerned that young children could be badly influenced by it. Magners claimed that the "feck off" mention in the advert was a "mild rebuff" to the bees rather than an expletive. The
Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the poster was suitable for display. ==See also==