Each year, on November 21, RTÉ joins the EBU, EGTA and broadcasters across the world to mark World Television Day. This year, RTÉ, in partnership with the IFI Irish film archive and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), will celebrate the power of TV by broadcasting a specially curated selection of iconic Irish ads from the past five decades.
The ‘takeover ad breaks’ feature a selection of classic ads for Aer Lingus, Avonmore, Club Orange, ESB, Irish Rail and Spar – brands which are still at the heart of Irish life nowadays and which continue to show the power of TV advertising. Some of the ads were nominated by Marketing.ie readers for ‘Ad of the Century’, won by Guinness ‘Island’ by Arks.
It will be the first time the ads have been aired on TV since their original transmission. The breaks will air on RTÉ One next Tuesday at 6.55pm, coming out of the RTÉ’s Six One News, and at 9.35pm coming out of the Nine News night-time bulletin. Earlier this year the IFI catalogued, digitised, restored and preserved a collection of 35mm film TV ads.
The ads provide a window into Irish society and consumer habits at the time.
