Since its inception in 2009 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Guinness brewing company, Arthur’s Day has grown into an annual event held every September. The ‘celebration’ sees drinkers asked to ‘raise a glass’ to Arthur Guinness at 6:00 PM, with hundreds of pubs participating in festivities. This year, musical acts such as The Script, Manic Street Preachers and Bobby Womack will be performing at venues around the country as part of Arthur’s Day.
While the festival has been considered a significant financial and marketing success since its inaugural run in 2009, this year has seen a particularly vocal backlash about the event, with many commentators urging a boycott of Diageo’s “manipulative” and “invented” celebrations.
Professor Frank Murray of Beaumont Hospital and chair of the National Alcohol Policy Group spoke to Chris on Breakfast. He believes “the sponsorship link between alcohol and entertainment of all sorts, including sports, is not a constructive thing and it sets the wrong tone. It’s seen as part of the culture, which has been enormously damaging in Ireland regarding alcohol”. You can listen back to the interview below:
Common arguments against Arthur's Day are largely based on the health effects of excess alcohol consumption, as well as problems like drink driving (although Diageo also strongly support the Drink Aware campaign). Critics have also been more vocal this year in dismissing the event as a cynical marketing ploy. Christy Moore is releasing a single strongly condemning Arthur’s Day, with lyrics such as “Arthur’s Alcoholiday is comin round again, he's the patron saint of porter canonised by the Advertisin' Men”. The Waterboys have also recorded an anti Arthur's Day song.
There have also been arguments against the recent Arthur Guinness Projects, which saw artists compete with each other to try and secure funding for their latest projects, with the public voting to support their favourites. Proponents of the scheme argue that Diageo are simply attempting to fill a funding gap caused by decreases in public financing of arts, while others suggest artists are effectively providing free advertising for Guinness, with only a handful receiving funding.
Do you have a problem with Arthur’s Day? Do you agree with the critics or do you feel it is a harmless event? Do Diageo need to play such a significant role in the arts, or do we need to move away from alcohol company sponsorship? Newstalk Lunchtime will be discussing the topic today, and we want to know your opinion. Vote in our poll and leave your comments below.
