Arthur’s day: is the hangover hitting already?

Apparently, one day a year when people the world over drink Guinness and pretend to be Irish just wasn’t enough.

So in 2009, the owner of Guinness came up with another: Arthur’s day, which happens to be today.

For a while, all was well. While people realised it was a bit of a marketing ploy by drinks giant Diageo, pub goers were generally on board with the concept, the festival atmosphere and the free music.

The event grew, spreading to 32 countries, with 1,000 or so musicians popping up all over Ireland and more than 500 free music events designed to “showcase Ireland’s talent and creativity”.

By the way, if you’re wondering who Arthur is, he’s the man you have to thank for Guinness – he created the first pint of it more than 250 years ago.

But this year there’s a backlash brewing (sorry). First, doctors attacked the event, saying that in a country with high rates of alcohol abuse and liver disease, there was no need for another campaign promoting boozing.

With high rates of alcohol consumption and binge drinking, we don’t need another reason to drink. Professor Frank Murray

“With high rates of alcohol consumption and binge drinking, we don’t need another reason to drink,” said Professor Frank Murray, chair of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s policy group on alcohol.

“The effects of this relationship are seen in the emergency departments and liver units of our hospitals. One in four emergency department attendances are alcohol related.”

‘Pseudo national holiday’

Then politicians got in on the act.

On Monday, Alex White, minister of state with responsibility for alcohol and drugs, said it was a “pseudo-national holiday” designed by Diageo purely to market its products, particularly to young people.

He also expressed concerns about a 30 per cent increase in ambulance call-outs on Arthur’s day in Dublin last year.

Suzanne Costello, chief executive of lobby group Alcohol Action Ireland, went even further: “If Arthur’s day serves any purpose whatsoever, it is to remind us precisely why a comprehensive national alcohol strategy is needed as a matter of urgency.”

As if it couldn’t get worse, top Irish singer songwriter Christy Moore has released a song to coincide with Arthur’s day lambasting its very existence. The whole song is embedded below, but a few choice lyrics include: “Diageo, Diageo have mounted a crusade, Creating Arthur’s day they’ve suckered us into their charade, Start ’em off on alco-pops tastes just like lemonade.”

Diageo, Diageo have mounted a crusade, Creating Arthur’s day they’ve suckered us into their charade. Lyrics from Christy Moore’s Arthur’s day song

In response, one of the headliners – Danny O’Donoghue from The Script – hit back, saying: “Does Christy Moore have an idea of how to employ 500 venues and countless musicians in a festival? It’s not a big day, it’s a music and arts, food and culinary festival…He [Christy] might have an album out soon. If Christy feels this strongly about it then he should ban alcohol from all his shows.”

In a statement, Diageo told Channel 4 News it was working with a number of organisations to promote responsible drinking, including drinkaware.ie.

“Guinness is supporting and showcasing emerging Irish music talent by offering them a stage at over 500 music events,” a spokeswoman said.

“We do not want alcohol to be misused, we do not condone alcohol misuse, we want to work with all stakeholders to address the issues that result in the misuse of alcohol.”

However, there’s definitely a risk of a PR hangover for the drinks giant – but whether it is bad enough for them to proclaim “I’m never drinking again” and cancel the whole event is still up in the air.

“As you would expect for any big marketing event or campaign, we review these on a yearly basis,” the Diageo spokeswoman told Channel 4 News.