DAY 30

The days are slowly slipping away and we’re trying to fit everything in that we possibly can.

We went to our third and final PR cite visit with WH PR- an Ogilvy ran firm. Even though seeing the word “Ogilvy” on the outside of the door caused everyone to go mad with excitement, the visit itself didn’t live up to expectations. Let’s just say the presenter sat around a table and talked about his life in PR for two hours.



Due to this less than astounding visit, I’m going to backtrack and talk a little bit about my favorite PR firm we met here in Dublin- Carr Communications.

Director Eddie Shaw and Managing Director Toney Hughes were absolutely brilliant. They took us step-by-step through different campaigns and crisis management strategies. They showed us different tools for reaching media along with how to deal with specific audiences.

The most interesting campaign they presented was with the Road Safety Authority (RSA). Since 2006 the company had been performing case studies on speeding and drinking and driving amongst young men. They found one of the most effective ways to reach their target was through radio and tv PSA’s.

The commercials were SHOCKING.

After seeing four different tv ads, everyone in our group sat there for a moment in silence, completely flabbergasted at the fact that Europe could put these on public access television. Please see below (viewer discretion is advised):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77MoOl5o5aM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8V0GpWR8Vg&feature=related

The campaign was called “Speed Kills,” and after it hit airwaves, speeding accidents decreased significantly. That’s what’s so interesting, though. Why wouldn’t the US want to show this type of PSA to young people? Why wouldn’t we want to shock them into driving more safely and thinking before they got behind a wheel?

I guess that’s what makes the states so different from Europe; our over-censored approach towards things that actually matter.

Ok, well that’s enough on that subject (before I go into a rant about journalistic censorship and such)!

After our visit we went to watch the Mexico game at a nearby pub. The team ended up losing by one to Uruguay. Needless to say our group decided that a Ferrero Rocher cheesecake and pub-hopping was the only way to get over our depression from the loss.



After some wonderful cocktails, we headed back towards St. Patrick’s Cathedral area for a musical tour from our favorite tour guide- GARBHAN! (Yes, he was the highlight of day 4 of this blog).

Garbhan took us all over the area, showing us different literary characters that were represented on architecture such as Gulliver of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels.”



We ventured around St. Patrick’s for a bit a learned about the church, his baptism and the life of Oscar Wilde.


We stopped at numerous places for a song and folk-story. Our wonderful Garbhan is a very talented singer.


Up and through the Temple Bar area we came to the Dublin Wall of Fame. The Wall is a permanent outdoor exhibit celebrating Ireland’s musical heroes. It recognizes 12 artists, which have been chosen because of their influence in Irish and world music. They include such legends as U2, Sinead O’Connor, Van Morrison, and Christy Moore.



From there, Garbhan led us to the Post Office to view Ireland’s Declaration of Independence. It was very interesting to hear him quote the declaration and compare it to the United States.

This is the part where I completely go off my rocker. While the rest of the group headed to a nearby pub on O’Connell Street, I decided to head to the bus station. Yes, I passed up the opportunity to hit up the town for some much needed sleep.

My “Texas fight” rally just wasn’t strong enough tonight y’all.