Jameson, the world's favourite whisky (over 500 million glasses will be enjoyed this year!), last night launched their new TV ad campaign, "Beyond The Obvious", to an audience of discerning drinkers and trend setters, who definitely gave it the thumps up.
It was a wet and wintry evening but inside the new Cristal Club, at George's on Baggot Street, there was a hotbed of activity as invited guests waited to see a preview of the new adverts. Created by the legendary Jonas Ackerland (who has been responsible for music videos of Madonna, The Prodigy, U2 and Robbie Williams among others), the three commercials, entitled Drummer, Harpist and Tap Dancers are now on global release.
Before the viewing I was introduced to Paul Duffy, who, I rightly assumed, was with Irish Distillers, the makers of Jameson. I asked him if he worked on the Jamseon brand and he replied "well, yes, I suppose I do". Turns out he is the company CEO, and a very young looking one at that. Luckily I only have good things to say about Jameson, so another social faux pas was narrowly avoided.
Giving the brand a new twist, the commercials, which were developed by TBWA, are sure to attract people who enjoy a drink with a difference and appeal to those who like a bit of versatility. An elderly man who hobbles on set and then drums like a maniac, a super cool rock star with long dreadlocked hair plays T-Rex's 20th Century Boy on a harp and a two young trendy dancers who tap their way into hipdom. The old adage of "appearances can be deceiving" has never been more fitting.
TV presenters Pamela Flood and Brian Ormond were among those sipping on the delicious Jameson cocktails, as were writer and broadcaster Quentin Fottrell, Catherine O'Grady and Deirdre Farrell of Irish Distillers, Julian Benson and publicist Clodagh FitzGerald, who was celebrating her recent engagement. I also bumped into former model Max Werner, who has recently joined Michael O'Doherty's publishing empire and will be working on his latest magazine, Capital, which launches soon.
Ray Shah told me of his excitement of joining the new cable TV channel City, which made its debut last week. He joins a stable of presenters that includes Orlaith Rafter, Catherine Blake and Laura Wood, who is not to be confused with RTE presenter Laura Woods.
Hopefully I won't miss the Wood(s) for the TV Threes. In the meantime I'll look out for an old guy playing the drums, a rock star playing a harp and two trendy tap dancers.
