RTÉ to Air First Ever Live Commercial in Ireland

newbie2

PRESS RELEASE....10/11/2008

RTÉ today announced that it is to broadcast the first ever live commercial in Ireland and will be the first country in Europe to broadcast a live cross-media ad.

The 90 second ad for 11850 (Conduit Ireland) will be performed and transmitted live across RTÉ Two television, RTÉ Radio 1 LW and RTÉ.ie during half time of the eagerly awaited Munster versus All Blacks match on Tuesday 18 November. This represents a first in Irish broadcasting history, and is at the very cutting edge of media innovation worldwide.

Gavin McAuliffe, Cross-Media Manager, RTÉ said, “There have been live TV commercials in other markets, however we’re taking this to another level by leveraging the strength of our cross-platform offering by going live simultaneously across TV, Internet and Radio”.


Irish actors, Paul Reid and Feidhlim Cannon who play the parts of 118 and 50 in the brand’s well known TV commercials will participate in the live ad, which will be scripted by advertising agency, The Hive, during the first half of the match.

“We are really excited about this opportunity. Consumers want a ‘nifty’ directory enquiry service and we felt that the production of a live commercial was exactly what our brand represents”, said Bríd Drohan-Stewart, Marketing Director, 118 50. "118 50 is a young and dynamic brand so we felt this ad was a perfect fit. We are an innovative brand and have recently added directory enquiry text to our services. It’s great to do such an innovative marketing campaign which connects with consumers in a dynamic and relevant way."

Geraldine O’Leary, Commercial Director, RTÉ Television said, “We decided to stage a live cross-media event as we wanted to create an opportunity for an Irish advertiser to connect with their audience in an innovative way. The Munster v All Blacks game provided a perfect platform for us to stage this live cross-media event and we’re delighted that 118 50 have embarked on this adventure with us to create broadcasting history”.

The Sparrow

Can a live 11850 ad be any more irritating than a pre-recorded 11850 advertisement... My money is on yes.

It's all a bit meh tbh

Zaph

Just one more reason to channel surf while the ads are on tbh

DarkJager

Sounds pretty boring tbh, whats so special about it? Nobody pays any attention to the adverts anyway so why bother?

Aidric

Nifty.

MunsterCycling

Yes 50?

GhostInTheRuins

I don't get it, why bother? What's the point? Surely it's a lot more expensive to do a live one?

I suppose it's just so they can say that they did it.

zuroph

i did notice their new radio ad they now no longer sing "one one eight fifty" instead singing "eleven eight fifty". they keeping jumping back and forward between the two names.

oleras

zuroph wrote: »

i did notice their new radio ad they now no longer sing "one one eight fifty" instead singing "eleven eight fifty". they keeping jumping back and forward between the two names.

They must pay by the word, crunch and all that....

P.C.

Are they going to invite M?

Bob the Builder

Aren't all ads, both radio and tv, recorded live, and played back then later?

Red Sleeping Beauty

How is this thread of the day ?

AlmightyCushion

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

How is this thread of the day ?

That's random selection for you.

thats_life

well done rte.....now watch them fu'''k it up

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah sure, that's life...

thats_life

yes it is, ya funny fu*ker

Slidey

The Honda ad that was done live will now look a pure shamble compared to what RTE will do

/sarcasm

the_syco

The important thing is, is how we, the public, can interfere and f**k it up? Nothing says live, than a female streaker saying "f**k you all"

Miguel_Sanchez

Irish actors, Paul Reid and Feidhlim Cannon who play the parts of 118 and 50 in the brand’s well known TV commercials will participate in the live ad, which will be scripted by advertising agency, The Hive, during the first half of the match.

Badly worded press release really. It is being scripted during the first half of the match or are the two actors participating in it during the first half of the match?

Either way - shouldn't it be on during the half time break not during the first half?

Blitzkrieger

Muppets. Obviously trying to target a large number of viewers but most of the people 'watching' will be out having a piss or making a cup of tea.

Adamcp898

What's the point in a live ad exactly?

Red Sleeping Beauty

Adamcp898 wrote: »

What's the point in a live ad exactly?

Publicity probably

Irishshin

Did anybody see this?
Completely forgot about it and changed the channel!!

Red Sleeping Beauty

Oh was it today ?

dulpit

Nope, according to the thing it'll be on Tuesday - when Munster play the All Blacks...

Remember to set the Sky Plus or video machines...

Irishshin

Ah I thought it was on during the Ireland V All Blacks yesterday!

Skyuser

nevf wrote: »

Aren't all ads, both radio and tv, recorded live, and played back then later?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Don't you understand the difference between past, present and future.

Every ad, tv show and movie is "recorded live" but unless its being broadcast as its being recorded then it won't be live.

Leaderbored

in the UK, the directory enquiry ads feature two characters who look and dress the same because they have similar names, 118 & 118 .

In Ireland, a "creative" type, on the rob instead of actually being creative, stole the rather ingenious riff on the two detectives from Tintin, and changing it slightly so they'd have green tracksuits and ginger moustaches, used it for Ireland's 11850 Directory service.
In doing so, they rendered the entire premise pointless ; the joke no longer works because the two characters of "118" and "50" look alike for no reason . They do not have similar names.

So now it just looks like we stole the ad from British telly and Paddy-fied it a bit because we didn't get the joke in the first place. (Which is probably true)

If an Irish ad agency can f*ck up something as simple as stealing a stupid idea, I bet a live ad is going to be just unmissable.

zuroph

im sure the two companies are one and the same, otherwise there'd be a legal issue here.. and THAT is why the idea was stolen.

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

tk123

zuroph wrote: »

im sure the two companies are one and the same, otherwise there'd be a legal issue here.. and THAT is why the idea was stolen.

Yep its the same company (118 118 is the parent company)

Leaderbored

zuroph wrote: »

im sure the two companies are one and the same, otherwise there'd be a legal issue here.. and THAT is why the idea was stolen.

Sorry, I've read my post back & I should clarify - My point was not about company ethics, but rather about the fact that the whole idea of the identical characters was rendered completely pointless by a lazy creative type : the Tintin joke that the UK campaign was based on didn't make any sense when imported to Ireland, as the characters were no longer identically named.

tk123

The UK camapign isn't based on TinTin at all - its some runner guy who's name I forget.

Bondvillain

I dont think he was suggesting that the physical look of the ad campaign was based on tintin.

Its the facts that the two characters look alike, behave strangely and refer to each other as "118" which are references to Thompson and Tompson from the Hergé books, a quirk which is lost in the Irish version of these ads, as the Characters of 118 and 50 (unlike the UK 118 & 118 OR The Belgian T&T) do not share the same name.

Toto Wolfcastle

Well it was sh1te really wasn't it?

Utopia Parkway

What was the point of that?

humanji

The sad thing is the people behind it are all patting each other on the back for that.

Toto Wolfcastle

There was actually nothing to it. I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high? They might has well have had George in studio saying call 11850.

Pigman II

Zaph wrote: »

RTÉ to Air First Ever Live Commercial in Ireland

This isn't so. I caught about 15 mins of Morning AM this morning. The entire show itself was just wall to wall of live commericals.

lostexpectation

the advertisiement campaign is so crap, yes it loses any sense it made when it hopes over to ireland and what is it supposed to protray the competancy of the people looking to give you the numbers, i don't think so.

Posy

Oh my God, that 'commercial' was so bad.

newbie2

I have to admit i missed it. The rugby was so entertaining, I had to go to the jacks at half time. Ah well.

cosgrove80

The ad was a failure on every conceivable level. I am genuinely surprised at how bad it was.

Calling out the scores was the only "live" aspect of it that could be justified.

TarfHead

humanji wrote: »

The sad thing is the people behind it are all patting each other on the back for that.

There was a short piece about it on the RTE News last night, featuring some woman from RTE citing it as a great example of the creativity in RTE.

I couldn't have said it better myself, but not in the way she meant !

Aidric

I usually get a chuckle out of the two nifty's but this ad was a steaming pile of muck.

LFCFan

It was a mixture of a crap ad, rubbish actors, awful timing and some sort of misguided attempt at emulating what the Après match lads do during the soccer. Yet another tick in the rubbish column for RTÉ

Pigman II

I think one of them was that squish faced gimp from the AIB ad about the actor who plays an actor who is readily able to get a mortgage despite (A) being an actor and (B) seeming to have variable success at actually getting work in this field.

lulu77

There's a piss take of 11850 guys on youtube where the guys get kidnapped..they should have put this on the telly instead! Much more entertaining.