LOCALIZING A LEGEND
Guinness wanted an activation to relaunch this iconic Irish Christmas ad in the UK — in a way that celebrates local pubs. The original 22-year-old spot is beloved. But how do you celebrate local pubs using a film with a single Irish bar? Instead of asking pubs to compete with the ad, we invited them to be a part of it.
We used AI to localise the legend. We replaced the original J. O’Connell’s pub in the 22-year-old spot with real UK pubs — giving each their own place in the ad. 35 pubs were identified who pour exceptional Guinness. We then delivered their own bespoke Christmas film to share. No broadcast budget. Just an iconic ad, re-poured locally.
Role: Freelance Art Director
Copywriter: Stella Heathfield
Original Pub
Adapted Pub
Participating pubs shared their film organically...
Skehans Pub (London)
The Audley (London)
The Fox & Pheasant (London)
Shillelagh (Newington)
The Bricklayers (Putney)
The Boot (St. Albans)
Several pubs used stills of their film in local press.
some of them even changed their profile photos ...
