Black's Booze Blog: Big brands set for craic-ing 17 March

Being Welsh I'm always a little bit put out by the fuss made of St Patrick's Day when my own (St David's Day, 1 March) goes all but unnoticed — but then we don't market the lovely Guinness, so who am I to complain?

And despite my nationalistic misgivings I still find the goodwill to go out and sink a few pints of the black stuff on 17 March, which goes to show just how popular an event it has become.

Even better, it's one of the few events in the year that is intrinsically linked to the pub. Who stays in to celebrate St Patrick's Day? Freaks.

So it's good news that Diageo has increased spending on Guinness by 30% to support the event this year and the Pernod Ricard-owned Irish whiskey Jameson is also on board. Both firms are focusing their efforts on the on-trade with PoS kits and sampling in bars among the plans.

While I do wish two of our biggest, wealthiest and most creative drinks companies could come up with something a bit more original than some bunting, we have to appreciate brand support when it's offered.

Sure, creating some craic takes more than a few posters (and we've a few ideas to help you out in next week's issue), but a few silly hats and T-shirts are all a help (and its better than the budget going to support discounts in the off-trade). After all, no man is an Ireland (sorry).