Surprising success - Clicked millions of times: Small Northern Irish pub tackles loneliness with Christmas ad
The video was viewed millions of times in just a few days: A pub in Northern Ireland has landed a surprising success with its Christmas advertisement. In it, an old man leaves his house with a walking stick, visits a cemetery and then enters a pub. Sitting alone at a table, he experiences a special moment of humanity.
"We never thought we'd end up in the news. It's just crazy," says Una Burns (32), the manager of "Charlie's Bar". The pub in the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen is named after her grandfather and has been in the family since 1944.
Pub opens on Christmas Day
Even on Christmas Day, December 25, the pub traditionally remains open. Her father used to be asked if he didn't want to spend the day with his family and four children. But he wanted to be there for people who might be alone on Christmas Day, Burns said. "Why should they have to sit at home alone?"
This Christmas ad for a pub in Enniskillen is better than anything John Lewis has ever put out pic.twitter.com/GFlkhDgyuj
— Greg Murphy 🤓 (@TheGregMurphy) November 25, 2023
For some people, the holidays are not a particularly happy time, he said. "It's not as merry then as it sometimes looks on TV," Burns told the German Press Agency. With their video clip advertising the opening at Christmas, they also wanted to point this out. It seems to have struck a nerve.
The power of small gestures
In a post on the short message service X (formerly Twitter), the video has been viewed more than 8.7 million times, and there are more than 80,000 likes on the pub's Instagram channel. The British newspaper "Guardian" has already rated the clip as the best Christmas advertisement of the year, even though the video was made on a small budget. The BBC also reported on it, as did the Times newspaper.
The two-minute video shows a gentleman walking through the city to the song "People Help The People" by singer Birdy. He lays flowers at a grave. Wants to greet people on the street who don't respond. Then sits alone in a pub and orders a beer. Non-alcoholic, as Burns emphasized. It is important to her that you don't have to drink alcohol in the pub.
In the video, a young couple then decide to keep the strange man company. They wanted to remind people to be friendly, said Burns. "It doesn't take much - maybe a simple hello, maybe a smile."
Loneliness in society
Author Jan Howley wrote in a Times article that she was not surprised that the video was so successful. She explained this with a feeling of loneliness. In today's society, people are living longer and longer. The truth is "that we all feel like this at some point". Whether you are divorced or widowed, struggling with retirement or an empty nest.
"Until you've experienced loneliness, I don't think you can imagine how hard it hits you," wrote Howley, who says she organizes meetings for older people. When you meet other people, you feel less lonely. "And if the Charlie's ad sends us all into Christmas with that message, it's probably better than any department store offer."
Read also:
- The success of the pub's Christmas advertising campaign in Northern Ireland has sparked praise from various sources, with some even claiming it surpasses the beloved Christmas ads from John Lewis.
- Recognizing that not everyone experiences the holidays as a time of joy, "Charlie's Bar" decided to use their Christmas video to emphasize the importance of small gestures, such as a simple hello or smile, to combat loneliness.
- As the manager of the family business, Una Burns shares her father's tradition of keeping "Charlie's Bar" open on Christmas Day, ensuring that people who might be spending the day alone have a place to go.
Source: www.stern.de
