The holiday advertisement for Charlie's Bar in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, was released on Friday. It features an old guy strolling around the town by himself while wearing a dejected expression. Once inside the bar, he is accompanied by a couple who sit, drink and converse with him.
The PA news agency was informed by Charlie's Bar manager Una Burns that the establishment aimed to produce a Christmas advertisement that would ideally “resonate with people.”
The manager of a family-run pub in Northern Ireland said on social media how "lovely" it felt to see a Christmas advertisement they created go viral.
Charlie's Bar in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, launched their Christmas commercial on Friday. It shows an elderly man with a forlorn countenance walking alone through the town. A pair that accompanies him inside the pub sits, drinks, and talks with him.
Charlie's Bar manager Una Burns told the PA news agency that the institution wanted to create a Christmas commercial that would ideally “resonate with people.”
"We didn't anticipate the response it has received; it's just blown up and reading the comments underneath the posts has been really nice as well."
Charlie's Bar was “more than just a business, it's part of our family,” she continued.
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Well done @CharliesPub 💛 #charliesbar https://t.co/uiaFfzt18c
“My granddad was the previous owner, and my dad is the current owner.”
Many social media users expressed their opinion that the bar's advertisement was “better” than John Lewis's holiday offering, while some users expressed emotion, with one user writing: "Brilliant... You need a heart transplant if you can't cry after seeing this!
The advertisement, she added, was the first that the bar had done properly, but it might have to be done every year.
“After the response to this commercial, we have set the bar really high for that, but we were actually talking about 2024 and maybe releasing a Christmas commercial then,” she remarked.