Fintan O’Toole on Guinness advertising

There was an interesting article in the Irish Times last Saturday written by Fintan O’Toole entitled “Finding the art in the advert” which gives “Anticipation” a favourable mention:

The superb 1977 Man of Aran spoof in which the islanders wait in the pub for the currach to arrive with the barrel of Guinness suggests the passage of time by sound alone – the ticking of a clock and the plash of oars – and is almost wordless (“Ta said ag teacht” and “aris” being the sum of the dialogue). So is the other great take on this theme, the 1994 Anticipation ad, with Joe McKinney performing his strange jerky dance while he waits for a pint to settle.

I’m not sure that Fintan’s Irish is up to scratch (“Tá siad ag teacht” and “arís”) but maybe recent budgetary cuts in the Irish Times have taken the fada out of the spell checker.

“Anticipation” has been shown again recently on TV as part of Guinness’ 250th anniversary celebrations, but it feels a little strange to me since the ad has had to be squished into a shorter form (than its original 60 seconds) to accommodate the front and end animation that’s part of the 250 series. Some of the cuts are a little different than they used to be, but I suppose only anoraks like me would notice that …

So INTP


photo: pix.ie Guinness Storehouse photowalk

way out

Marcus McInnes of pix.ie and Lisa Fitzsimons from Guinness organised a photowalk around the Guinness Storehouse early this morning before it was open to the public. This is an amazing place, the most visited attraction in the country with over a million visitors per year. Great opportunity to take a few snaps, you can read all about it here.

food: Guinness stew with celeriac

The are probably 10^2 variations of this recipe in circulation and here’s mine, for the record:

3 or 4 red onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 or 4 carrots, chopped
half a decent celeriac, cut into 1.27 cm cubes
1 kg steak pieces, cut into bitesize chunks
some freshly ground coriander seed, a teaspoonful
Guinness (500 ml), Murphy’s or Beamish would do at a stretch
some seasoned flour [1]

Sweat the onions and garlic in a heavy oven-proof pot with a little olive oil. Lid on or off, it’s up tp you. Dip the steak pieces in the seasoned flour, shake off the excess. Brown the steak pieces on a very hot oiled skillet in batches; plenty of charring and general spattering will occur. This is good as it adds some flavour. Set these on top of the sweated onions and garlic and add a can of Guinness, a splash of balsamic vinegar (dessertspoonful), a splash of Worcestershire Sauce (teaspoonful), all other ingredients and possibly some water if the liquid looks scant. Cover the pot and put into a slow oven for a long time.[2]

Serve with carbs of your own choice (spuds work well). Enjoy.

[1] I tend to go quite heavy on the flavours in seasoned flour – it is seasoned after all. I’d generally add quite a lot of freshly milled pepper, a little salt, some mustard, possibly some curry powder, possibly not, definitely some berbere or medium chili powder if you don’t have berbere. This gives quite a kick to the stew, not as in a Mexican chili kick, but a pleasnat heating sensation, good for winter evenings. I also like thyme in casseroles like this a lot, but this can be added at the onion stage instead.

[2] I use the faster oven in the Aga for about an hour and then transfer to the slower oven for as long as it takes – three hours, four, five – it won’t come to any harm. In a conventional oven, start off at 150 C for an hour and then reduce to maybe 125C for the balance. You may need to add a little water.

Guinness stew with celeriac

The are probably 10^2 variations of this recipe in circulation and here’s mine, for the record:

3 or 4 red onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 or 4 carrots, chopped
half a decent celeriac, cut into 1.27 cm cubes
1 kg steak pieces, cut into bitesize chunks
some freshly ground coriander seed, a teaspoonful
Guinness (500 ml), Murphy’s or Beamish would do at a stretch
some seasoned flour [1]

Sweat the onions and garlic in a heavy oven-proof pot with a little olive oil. Lid on or off, it’s up tp you. Dip the steak pieces in the seasoned flour, shake off the excess. Brown the steak pieces on a very hot oiled skillet in batches; plenty of charring and general spattering will occur. This is good as it adds some flavour. Set these on top of the sweated onions and garlic and add a can of Guinness, a splash of balsamic vinegar (dessertspoonful), a splash of Worcestershire Sauce (teaspoonful), all other ingredients and possibly some water if the liquid looks scant. Cover the pot and put into a slow oven for a long time.[2]

Serve with carbs of your own choice (spuds work well). Enjoy.

[1] I tend to go quite heavy on the flavours in seasoned flour – it is seasoned after all. I’d generally add quite a lot of freshly milled pepper, a little salt, some mustard, possibly some curry powder, possibly not, definitely some berbere or medium chili powder if you don’t have berbere. This gives quite a kick to the stew, not as in a Mexican chili kick, but a pleasnat heating sensation, good for winter evenings. I also like thyme in casseroles like this a lot, but this can be added at the onion stage instead.

[2] I use the faster oven in the Aga for about an hour and then transfer to the slower oven for as long as it takes – three hours, four, five – it won’t come to any harm. In a conventional oven, start off at 150 C for an hour and then reduce to maybe 125C for the balance. You may need to add a little water.

Guinness “Anticipation”

http://vimeo.com/13905677
Guinness “Anticipation”

Client: Guinness
Creative: Liam O’Flaherty
Agency: Arks
Production: Littlebird Films

Director: Richie Smyth
Editor: Hugh Chaloner

Awards:
Kinsale Gold Medal for Editing
ICAD Craft Award for Editing

guinness: anticipation

 

Director: Richie Smyth
Production company: Littlebird Productions
Client: Guinness

Winner of two editing craft awards for Hugh Chaloner- Kinsale and ICAD. Probably one of the most popular commercials of its time.