Dublin: Rethinking our Drinking

In a city where half the pedestrians you see are carrying a musical instrument, a city with four Nobel laureates thus far (impressive for its relative size) and connections to hundreds of other incredible writers, it was surprising to Hilary and me that advertising in the great city of Dublin has not lived up to the musicality or poetry it is so famous for.

We noticed this on our first night in Dublin when we went to a pub after dinner. Our Lonely Planet guide asserted that the pub, Dawson Lounge, was the smallest pub we would find in the city. Dawson Lounge itself was shooting for grander recognition, but employed Irish modesty in its slogan: "Probably the smallest pub in the world." Probably? Perched on stools in the tiny, green-carpeted pub, Hilary and I agreed that there could indeed be a smaller pub in, say, Malaysia. The owners of Dawson Lounge simply couldn't know. Better to be truthful than exaggerate your own superlative status. Still, we couldn't help but think that the word "probably" in an advertising slogan is probably not the best tactic.

The next day, while walking around the city, we ran into several small clumps of people carrying signs proclaiming, "Official dispute." Nothing surlier than the word "dispute," that's for sure. I couldn't tell you who was actually disputing, either, though it was clear they were upset over the current financial crisis. As though someone had made the choice to send the world into an economic tailspin, but would now reverse the process once they saw these sock-it-to-'em slogans: "Tax the rich, not the lower-paid," "Stop top bankers from putting their hands in our pockets," and "You do the maths" (okay, the last one was actually a sign for a bagel shop, but that UK "maths" gets me every time). It seemed as though the protesters were trying to light a fire with damp wood; if only they knew to add a spark! And change the wood.

Finally, we found a slogan both memorable and to the point: "Rethinking our drinking." This phrase is at the center of a national campaign that, unsurprisingly, encourages Irish citizens to change their habits of imbibing. Unfortunately, we didn't find any of the supporting phrases to have as much zing or memorability. And, while the website drinkaware.ie calls it a "hard-hitting campaign," we spent more time being confused than being roused to action.

After rethinking, Hilary and I decided to do some drinking; we spent an afternoon in the Guinness storehouse, which is really just a huge interactive advertisement for the drink. No slogans necessary: I was thirsty for Guinness the whole time. However, when we came to the advertising section of the tour (a history of Guinness campaigns) we were left wanting when we read what was obviously meant to be an impressive story. Two advertising executives were locked in a hotel until they came up with something stunning. After three days they emerged with one word: Genius. Hilary and I scratched our heads. Sure, "genius" is a good word for Guinness--they share so many letters! But how did it take these execs three days?

On our last full day in Dublin, Hilary and I bought ourselves green scarves before heading off to a pub ("The Bleeding Horse"--makes you thirsty for a pint, right? But of what?) We'd been excited for the upcoming rugby match since we'd checked in on Wednesday and our receptionist told us the town would be "jammers" for the game. The match was between Ireland and England and we were pumped to root green. Our spirits were only slightly dampened by a large banner proclaiming: "It's about being the best rugby team in the six nations." Why not "It's about winning!" or "It's all about Ireland"? Anything, really. Anything you could say without having to refill on breath. In any case, we made it to the Bleeding Horse, cheered Ireland on to victory, and enjoyed pints of Guinness with the crowd. Genius.

Hilary and I enjoy pints at the Guinness Gravity Bar; shamrocks were etched into the foam of these free pints!