St Patrick's Day Ad Round-Up 2017

It's March 17, which means right about now you are dying body parts not usually exposed to the sun green, possibly while wearing one of those hats with straws on them filled with Guinness. In other words, its St. Patrick's Day, and brands are out in force to celebrate.

Unfortunately, it seems like a few brands started their Paddy's day drinking a little early this year, with two campaigns hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons - if you make the same mistake as Donald Trump, you know you're in trouble. We have a round-up of those two shamrock slip-ups alongside some of the best of this year's ads from the site and beyond.

Creative Ireland: This is Ireland

Among all these giant novelty hats and green-tinted genitals, it is easy to forget that St. Patrick's Day is a day celebrating the patron saint of Ireland, and the country more generally. Luckily, creative Ireland made this stunningly-shot film to remind us all of the country's gorgeous vistas and embrassment of creative talent, with figures like director Lenny Abrahamson, actor Brendan Gleason and Irish laureate Anne Enright appearing among many other Gaelic greats

Bulmers: 100% Irish Cider

Another brand taking a very different approach was Bulmers, whose statistics-based ad we featured earlier this week. Created by Lucky Generals, the ad shows ordinary Irish millenials at an ordinary house party, doing what many of us will be doing this weekend - drinking responsibly. Yes, RESPONSIBLY.

KFC: 200% Irish

BBH, meanwhile...how can we put this...went a very different way in their ad for KFC which we featured this week on shots. Satrirising the US's overzealous adoption of an Irish identity they don't really understand, the ad has never met an Irish stereotype it didn't love, take home, paint green, and make love to over the sound of The Corrs. It also perfectly captures the confusion of the US over Ireland through some major name mispronounciation...

McDonald's: InstruMint

...which because even more hilarious during the week when two big North American brands made huge mistakes about Ireland in their St. Patrick's Day campaigns. First was McDonald's. In previous years, they have done fantastic work for the day, such as the time they made a whole river look like one of their 'Shamrock Shakes'. This year, however, they fowled up with an advert of a made playing said shake as a (Scottish) bagpipe in front of an image of (English) Stonehenge.

Guinness Print Ad

Then, shortly after, Guiness Canada made the same mistake that Donald Trump made this week; they mistaked a shamrock (a symbol of Irish identity) with a four-leaf clover (a symbol of bad internet casinos and tourist shop good luck charms. The brand apologised, but the mistake lingered on social media like a Guiness hangover will linger on March 18.