Every one of these campaigns is light-hearted and fun – drinking or eating is ‘just a harmless little treat’.
But all these harmless little treats battle 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to remind us, entice us, guilt-trip us to consume. Every moment, mundane and significant, is colonised by this battle of the brands.
Their well-funded, tax-minimised campaigns range from obvious advertising, to much more subtle forms of product placement, retailing, PR-generated news stories and influencer marketing. Their economic power outperforms public spending. It means that Ireland’s charities, community organisations, sports clubs and schools often have little choice but to accept their support and promote their partnership, normalising the world we live in.