Guinness is embracing superstition with a tongue-in-cheek campaign imploring fans of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) in the upcoming Six Nations Grand Slam Champions to ‘think it, just don’t jinx it’.
Developed by AMV BBDO, Guinness’ – official sponsors of the IRFU – campaign was inspired by a universal truth about being a fan: feeling that your actions directly affect your team’s performance.
The film features mock documentary interview-style scenes, where fans recount – and confess – their supposed role in the failure of their favourite team missing out on winning previous competitions.
Set throughout to Ronan Keating’s infamous ballad, ‘Say Nothing At All’, one scene shows a couple in a pub arguing over whether saying ‘Ireland was going to w*n’ cost them the championship, with the word ‘win’ censored.
The spot concludes with amusingly overzealous fans pulling down a large green banner, reading ‘We’re going all the way! To France’, before the film concludes with a more down-to-earth message: ‘Think it. Just don’t jinx it.’
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Showcased across TV, social and out-of-home (OOH), the 30 and 60-second films aim to highlight past wrongdoings and get everyone to support the Irish team in the right way this time. Directed by Biscuit’s James Rouse, the OOHs will also be strategically placed near pubs nationwide.
“As a long-standing and proud partner of the IRFU, we wanted to launch a campaign that truly relates to Irish rugby fans,” said Guinness Ireland brand director, Alan McAleenan.
“All of Ireland will be supporting the team with every fibre, but our campaign urges fans to remember that their actions are as important as the team on the pitch, they need to play their part too, don’t jinx it.”
AMV BBDO creatives Will Brookwell and Louis Prenaud added, “No matter what your sport or who your team is, we’ve all got too carried away and jinxed things – it’s a universal superstition that even the most sceptical of us believe to be true when it comes to sport.”
“Guinness too is a huge fan of the national team, so our campaign aims to get ahead of the loose lips and remind everyone to support safely, and to never say that one forbidden thing.”
This latest campaign follows in the wake of the iconic Irish alcohol brand’s humorous advert earlier this year with creative agency AMV BBDO, where Guinness zero alcohol beer was promoted as a solution to ‘actually remembering St Patrick’s day this year’.
