Guinness Warns Irish Rugby Fans Against Jinxing the Team

All diehard sports fans know: If you want your favorite team to win, you never say they’re going to win. Ever. Don’t even vaguely suggest it.

Most of the folks in Guinness and AMV BBDO’s cute commercial supporting the Irish Rugby Football Union seem to get that concept. At least one true believer, however, might be reading a different playbook.

Four years ago, Ireland suffered a stinging defeat at the Rugby World Cup. In 2023, the squad’s a favorite to prevail at the competition, which starts today in France.

But if you love the team … don’t talk about it, not a whisper, not a peep, zip it!

Ronan Keating’s laid-back “When You Say Nothing at All” works well on the soundtrack. And Biscuit Filmworks director James Rouse adopts a comic-documentary style well-suited to the subject. Note the cute reveal that lunfurls at the end.

“Heading into another enormous tournament with their team ranked #1 and previous years heartbreaks fresh in their minds, this insight has never been truer for Ireland fans,” say AMV BBDO creative Will Brookwell and Louis Prenaud. “So, our campaign aims to get ahead of the loose lips and remind everyone to support safely, and to never say that one forbidden thing.”