Michael Cullen casts a glance over a quarter century of great Irish ads
In a poll of Marketing readers in 1999, Guinness ‘Island’ was voted Ireland’s Ad of the Century. Created by Arks in 1977, the ad showed a pub scene in the west of Ireland as locals waited delivery of kegs being ferried over by currach. The ad was written by Frank Sheerin and directed by John Devis. In all, 572 nominations for 88 ads were submitted by readers.
The small island bar was built at Ardmore Studios in Bray, using a backdrop in Carraroe in Connemara. The currach scenes were shot on location, from helicopters. Being the Gaeltacht, the three rowers in the boat could not understand English, so the walkie-talkies they were handed were of little use. The lines “Tá siad ag teacht” and “Arís” entered the vernacular.
‘Island’ pipped Aer Lingus ‘You’re Home’ by Peter Owens. The judges chose it for its production values and the use of Ennio Morricone’s score from The Mission. Bulmer’s ‘Seasons’ posters by Young Advertising was also honoured. The Homestead ‘Ida Lovett’ – again penned by Frank Sheerin – voiced by actress Rosaleen Linehan was the top radio ad.
Brand Artillery’s Eoghan Nolan came up with the idea and wrote the copy for the Glasnevin Cemetery posters – “All human life is here”. Like the SDS parcel delivery ads by Peter Owens, they exude the wow! factor. Remember ‘Kettles to Boyle’? McCann’s merit praise for the Bank of Ireland GAA posters – ‘Ask Not What Your County Can Do For You’.
McCann Erickson and later Lyle Bailie in Belfast went for shock-horror messages to drive home the message of carnage on Ireland’s roads. The strategy paid off with the National Safety Council’s Seatbelts campaign taking the IAPI Adfx grand prix in 2002. Irish International took over and steered road safety in a new, more thoughtful direction.
Before McConnells as we had known it disappeared off adland’s map, Ireland’s top agency for more years than Harry Moore could ever hope to remember rolled out great work for the National Lottery, Kellogg, Bord na Mona, Jameson and Smithwick’s ‘Are you going for a pint?’. Kilmeaden’s ‘The fillet of cheddar’ line voiced by Mick Lally was inspired.
Comedian Pat Shortt was no stranger to fronting ads for McConnells. Adopting Freddie Mercury costumes from Queen’s ‘Break Free’ music video, Shortt helped Eircom lessen the threat of mobiles in homes. Speaking of Eircom, Chemistry deserves applause for its work, along with the campaigns it has created for Lidl, Coors Light, Tesco Mobile and Today FM.
The Bulmers campaigns by Young Advertising created a whole new meaning for cider drinking. Using the changing seasons in the orchard, the ads helped C&C win share and extend the brand overseas with the launch of Magners (C&C could not to use the Bulmers name internationally). Both Bulmers and Magners won Marketer of the Year awards.
Highly gripping: Barnardos ‘Every childhood lasts a lifetime’ earned Cawley Nea\TBWA a silver at Adfx 2004. Ogilvy’s ‘I Can’t Wait’ for the ISPCC, left, was impossible to ignore. Directed by Richie Smyth, the ad took home bronze from Cannes. Calls were made for the ad to be banned as it was accused of being too violent, but childcare experts argued otherwise.
Drinking sensibly has been a big issue in Irish advertising in recent years. Meas ran a hard-hitting Drinkaware.ie campaign highlighting the unacceptability of public drunkenness. In the TV ad created by Language, teenagers are seen on CCTV footage. Millward Brown reported that nine out of 10 of the 18 to 29-year-olds interviewed recalled seeing the commercial.
OwensDDB was unlucky to lose KBC Bank to KesselsKrammer after creating the geeky guy in pursuit of the damsel in the dress. VW, Skoda and Johnston Mooney & O’Brien ‘There’s history in the baking’ and ‘Paddy & Jim’ in Connemara also hit the G spot. More recently, The Irish Times and ‘You Are What You Read’ ads with journalists have been noteworthy.
Publicis deserves plaudits for TG4, NoNonsense and Tayto. Rothco pioneer great ideas. AIB ‘Surfer’ and Gas Networks, with its Ronnie Drew-sounding canary warning people why they can end up dead in three minutes flat, spring to mind. It should be onwards and upwards for Boys and Girls whose work for Three, Aldi, John West and Rabo has been top drawer.
Irish International scored spectaculars for Guinness, Barry’s Tea, Irish Independent (‘Open Your Eyes’). Cawley Nea\TBWA first made a name for itself with Smirnoff ‘Through the glass’ and went on to achieve similar feats for the Defence Forces, McDonald’s (Johnny Logan included) and its Quit campaign with lung cancer victim Gerry Collins.
As well as creating some memorable ads over the last quarter century, DDFH&B may win the overall agency vote. Consistently profitable, the agency run by Jim Donnelly and Miriam Hughes, ‘DDs’ reported a pre-tax profit of €3.3 million for 2013. It wins top awards and has expanded well, developing strong ties in PR, below the line, media and digital.
