Poor vintage for beer

Mr Brian Sparks, managing director, McCann-Erickson

Was it a good year for Irish advertising? Not in the beer category. Heineken has followed Guinness by moving its business from an Irish agency to London. And, hand-on-heart, have we seen the four-year-old Guinness experiment work? I very much doubt it. The new Dancing People Around A Bottle of Guinness is hardly an improvement on the original and hugely successful Dancing Man Around A Pint Of Guinness. Really guys, we can do better. Irishness is good for Guinness. It was good in other areas. Standards were high. Well done to the National Lottery for consistently high quality creative work - amusing, evocative and always touching the Irishness in us. Accolades also to Aer Lingus for bringing the brand to life and to Bulmers for maintaining and improving on its excellent work of previous years and proving that it also takes time for great advertising to work.

The most effective international campaigns? Budweiser's frogs have croaked their way to the top of my list. Every execution was a gem and they jumped in just ahead of the irreverent and outlandish Pot Noodles. Finally, cheers to Bacardi Breezer for allowing us to lie on our couch and let our minds run free. Good stuff indeed.