Is Guinness Surfer Actually Good, Or Am I Just Really Good At Lying To Myself?

As marketers, we're all guilty of holding onto our favourite campaigns like children's bedtime stories. And then there's that one campaign that comes along every once in a blue moon and hits us smack dab in the feels. It's "unexpected,” it's “groundbreaking,” it's… the Guinness surfer ad. You've seen it, I've seen it, your dog probably had it in front of its nose while you're pondering its sheer genius.

Chiseled jawlines, dreadful prognostications of watery doom, and that one horse who upped its day rate to star in a beer commercial. Excuse me while I wipe a tear. The question stands though; is the Guinness Surfer ad all it's hyped up to be, or are we just exceptionally good at deluding ourselves?

Let's explore together using-

1. The GASP method (Guinness Analysis for Surfer Propaganda).
2. Random facts I snort out for no reason.
3. Shameless self-congratulation on being a marketer… and occasional self-loathing.

GASP Method

What's "The Wait" all about? A horde of Pollock-esc horses, broodily handsome surfers and deliciously understated Irish beer. It's like Game of Thrones met Baywatch over drinks. Is it about the anticipation? The build-up? The surfer could be waiting for the perfect wave, or perhaps for his Guinness to settle. When both happen simultaneously, is that when his life is in perfect balance? Aim high, young surfer!

The ad has been touted as having a deeper, inexplicably mystical connection with the product. Perhaps we're all a bunch of philosophers downing pints, seeking cosmic truth at the bottom of a Guinness glass? Or we're a tribe of marketers sipping Kool-aid and regurgitating buzzwords we don't entirely understand ourselves?

Random Facts

Did you know 54% of consumers don't trust most beer commercials? Now, that's a sobering thought. It's like discovering Santa isn't real or realising your lifetime of marketing wisdom is based on optimizing strategies to sell adult beverages.

Shameless Self-Congratulation

Let's pat ourselves on the back. We've survived yet another marketing think piece. By intellectualizing a beer ad, we've reassured ourselves that it's not just about blokes sharing pints, we're illuminating a grand human struggle. Fight the wave, win the wave; buy a Guinness.

In conclusion, I'd say the Guinness surfer ad is as good as our capability to manufacture meaning out of a surfboard and dark beer foam. Are we great at lying to ourselves? Undoubtedly! Do we create fantastic narratives out of rolled eyes and chuckles? Without question! But isn’t that what marketing is in the end, a mass illusion with a dash of Don Draper’s charm? Stick around for the next instalment where we run a daring exposé on whether the Cadbury gorilla is a symbol of repressed consumer capitalism or just a primate hitting drums. Now, I need a beer.