ESB Electric Ireland - Tweet 'em Home For Christmas

Yesterday ESB Electric Ireland announced that Mike Carey, Liz Cotter and Ian O’Flynn were selected as the lucky drivers who will help Tweet ‘em Home for Christmas. Each of the drivers and their “star navigator” will receive €10,000 from ESB Electric Ireland for their chosen charity and will also have the chance to win an additional €20,000 for the winning charity by competing to generate Tweets using the three team hashtags.

Team A: Musician Mundy and Comedian Joe Rooney
Charity: Concern Worldwide
Hashtag: #ESBElectricIrelandTeamA

Team B: Comedian Andrew Stanley and RTE Presenter Katie Van Buren
Charity: Irish Cancer Society
Hashtag: #ESBElectricIrelandTeamB hashtag

Team C: Magician Keith Barry and Rugby Commentator Brent Pope
Charity: ISPCCwill
Hashtag: #ESBElectricIrelandTeamC

The teams will travel from Dublin to Galway and back again this Thursday and Friday, December 8th and 9th in a Renault Trophy, a DeLorean and a New York yellow taxi cab. The teams will compete in a number of challenges in various towns along the way to earn additional Tweet energy for their cars.

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager, ESB Electric Ireland commented, “ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Em Home for Christmas is just around the corner now. It gives people the chance to give something to charity this year in a fun and engaging way by simply using social media like Twitter and Facebook. We want to urge everyone to help our three teams by tweeting or by liking on Facebook using the relevant hashtags to power the cars as they drive across the country on Thursday and Friday!”

People can follow the progress of each of the teams in real time using the Facebook App on the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook Page

For further details on ISPCC visit www.ispcc.ie, on Irish Cancer Society visit www.cancer.ie, and on Concern Worldwide visit www.concern.net

The Saba Cookbook

If you're a regular reader of Digitology you'll know that I love Thai food, and in particular I love Saba here in Dublin. So you can imagine how incredibly delighted I was to hear that Saba have just launched a cook book, The Saba Cookbook. To tell you the truth, this isn't a new idea and has very much been on the cards for Tweesak Trakoolwattana (known as Tao), Saba Executive Chef, and Saba’s owner Paul Cadden for some time. The two have always wanted to create a cook book that would showcase their restaurant's authentic Thai food.

What makes this a particularly noteworthy endeavour, beyond the absolute deliciousness of the offerings therein, is that all proceeds are to be split between an Irish charity, Our Lady’s Hospital for sick children in Crumlin, and a Thai charity, the Thai Red Cross (who help with the recent floods in Tao’s hometown, Bangkok).

The book will offer us budding Thai cooks nearly different authentic 100 recipes and will cover everything from Tao's tasty Thai soups and salads to his now famous curries and stir fries. You'll also find some desserts in there to create the perfect, complete Thai meal.

I definitely recommend this as the perfect gift this Christmas for anyone you know who loves Thai food!

Ireland's Favourite Book

This Tuesday, Eason launched the search to find Ireland’s Favourite Book. As part of their 125th anniversary celebrations, Eason has compiled a list of the top 125 books over the years and has invited the public to cast their vote to crown the nation’s favourite book of all time.

Speaking about Eason’s search to crown Ireland’s favourite book, Maria Dickenson, Head of Book Purchasing at Eason said “As part of our 125th celebrations we have carefully compiled a list of the top 125 books over the years which includes a wide range of favourites from the childhood classic Roald Dahl’s ‘BFG’, William Goulding’s modern classic ‘Lord of The Flies’, much loved Irish fiction Patrick McCabe’s ‘Butcher’s Boy’, Oscar Wilde’s ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Cecelia Ahern with’ PS. I Love You’ and many more.”

Maria continued “We are a nation of book lovers and our team at Eason’s are really excited about hearing from the people all around Ireland as to what their most loved book is. Books often evoke very vivid memories or milestones in our lives. The fun is thinking about all the books that we have read and why it made such an impact on us – it can often tell a lot about a person when they reveal their favourite book so we are really interested to see what comes out top as the nation’s choice.”

Some of the much loved authors who feature on the list of 125 books have shared their personal favourites with Eason;

“I will say that I could die happy if I'd written ‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman” - Emma Donoghue author of Room

“I’m a sucker for doomed romance – ‘Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald-” - Patrick McCabe, author of Butcher Boy

“I feel honoured and so incredibly proud to be included in this list of 125 favourite books. Every day I appreciate how people have welcomed PS I Love You into their hearts. My favourite book of all time is ‘The Time Traveller's Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger - it's a modern classic, a quirky love story which is so beautifully written” – Cecelia Ahern, author of PS I Love You .

“One of my favourite books is John McGahern's masterpiece ‘Amongst Women’. I love its quiet faith, its insistence on its own terms. It conjures a world that is absolutely specific to itself, down to the most minuscule, seemingly inconsequential detail, but in so doing manages the alchemy of saying something about every life. The family it depicts is somehow every Irish family of a certain era, held together by its secrets, bound by its evasions, by a web of loyalties, only one of which is love.” - Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of The Sea

Eason’s is now calling on people throughout the Island of Ireland to have their say and vote for their favourite book by logging onto their new look website www.easons.com/bookpoll. Each voter will automatically be entered into a draw where one lucky winner will walk away with the entire collection of 125 books! Entry is open until Sunday 18th December 2011.

‘S’Up Santa?’

Back in August I posted about Three Ireland's latest campaign, 'S'Up'. The advertising campaign featured Jedward and saw the two pop stars become advertising foremen for the mobile brand.

Now as Christmas quickly approaches Three have launched their seasonal campaign, which also features the duo and promotes their limited edition Jedward handset. The handset, a limited edition Samsung Galaxy Europa I5500, will be the brands Christmas hero handset and feature prominently on all advertising. The above the line campaign of which commenced last Monday (14th November) and runs for six weeks until 22nd December 2011. This consists of 20 second TV advertisements on RTE, TV3, 3E, Sky packages, Comedy Central, MTV E!, Living and E4, and on Video on Demand on 4OD.

The TV ad was directed by Damien O’Donnell, who has directed the films; ‘East is East’, ‘Heartlands’, and ‘Inside I’m Dancing’, and produced by Russ Russell of Russell Curran Productions. The campaign was developed by McCann Erickson.

The Samsung Galaxy Europa I5500 handset is available from all 3Stores and stockists and online at Three.ie from now. The handset comes in a giftbox with some additional Jedtastic goodies including; a signed Jedward postcard, a Jedward phone sock and a limited edition ‘S’Up’ badge!

Commenting on the launch, Sales and Marketing Director, Elaine Carey at Three, said: “We at Three are very excited to be launching an exclusive ‘Jedward’ Samsung Galaxy Europa Christmas gift pack, for just €69. This Christmas we have something for everyone, from handset offers to broadband and bundle offers. Given the popularity of the Jedward ‘S’Up’ phrase in the last instalment of the campaign, we expect lots of people to be asking ‘S’Up Santa?’ in the run up to Christmas.”

Andrea Galligan, Senior Account Manager at McCann Erickson commented ‘All of us at McCann Erickson are very excited to bring Jedward back for Christmas. Jedward and Santa on the same couch, you know it’s going to be magic! We really think this campaign captures the festive mood and we have a feeling that the limited edition Jedward Samsung Europa will be on quite a few wish lists this Christmas.’

Via the 2.8” Capacitive touch screen and Android Froyo 2.2 on board, the Samsung Galaxy Europa is ideal for social networking with direct photo upload to Facebook, Twitter and Picasa Web Albums and direct video upload to Youtube for instant sharing on the move. The handset features a 2MP camera with 4X digital zoom, an MP4 video player, GPS, WiFi, and a music player and comes with a 3.5mm stereo headset.

For further information on Three visit www.three.ie.

ESB Electric Ireland - Tweet 'em Home For Christmas

Last Thursday, 17th November, ESB Electric Ireland announced the launch of their latest campaign, ‘Tweet Em Home for Christmas’. The campaign sees three teams, each representing a different charity (the Irish Cancer Society, Concern Worldwide and the ISPCC), taking part in a two day drive across Ireland on the 8th and 9th December in cars powered by tweets and likes.

As part of this campaign, ESB Electric Ireland are running a competition on Facebook to give three people the chance to drive one of three teams of ‘star navigators’. The teams will include broadcaster Brent Pope, musician Mundy, comedians Andrew Stanley and Joe Rooney, magician Keith Barry and ‘Juice’ presenter, Katie Van Buren.

Team 1: Concern – Mundy and Katie Van Buren in the DeLorean
Team 2: Irish Cancer Society – Andrew Stanley and Joe Rooney in the New York Taxi
Team 3: ISPCC – Brent Pope and Keith Barry in the Ecar

Full details are on the Facebook Page with a closing date for entries of the 1st December 2011.

Each of the charities will receive €10,000 from ESB Electric Ireland and then the three teams will compete to receive an additional €20,000. The celebrity teams will compete to generate Tweets using a hashtag, with the tweets powering their cars as they cross the country. People can show their support for one of the charities by tweeting or posting on Facebook to top up their “tweet tank”.

The teams will be assigned one of three fantastic vehicles for the drive; an Ecar, a DeLorean and a New York yellow taxi cab. The vehicles will travel from Dublin to Galway and back again over two days with ‘star navigators’ taking it in turns to help the drivers cross the country and to generate power using their own social media channels. The teams will compete in a number of challenges along the way to earn additional Tweet energy for their cars and additional details will be announced in the coming weeks. People can follow the progress of each of the teams in real time using the Facebook App on the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook page.

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager, ESB Electric Ireland commented, "ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Em Home for Christmas gives people the chance to have some fun while also supporting charities - particularly important at this time of year - simply by using social media like Twitter and Facebook. The use of Tweets to power the cars makes this extremely innovative, and we’re delighted to have so many personalities on board for the drive as well as three incredible cars, which will be a sight to behold along the three routes from Dublin to Galway and back."

For further details on ISPCC visit www.ispcc.ie, on Irish Cancer Society visit www.cancer.ie, and on Concern Worldwide visit www.concern.net.

TV Guide Ireland iPhone App

"What's small and smart and sits open on 40,000 sofas every evening? Yep, the new and improved TV Guide Ireland Version 1.1 from entertainment.ie which now includes programme reminders and is iOS5 compatible."

TV Guide Ireland, which launched two months ago and has over 40,000 users, has undergone an upgrade and released a new version. The latest iteration of the popular app now features integrated programme reminders. This is an awesome new feature and completes the app in my opinion - not only can you check TV listings for over 60 channels but with the new reminders feature you won't miss them!

The app includes a 7 Day TV listings guide with full programme details and descriptions. It also allows you to create a personalised channel list. The app's most popular section, "Now & Next", is still there and tells viewers what's on each channel 'now' and what's coming up 'next'. For those of you that are on Twitter the app is also fully integrated.

Managing Director of entertainment.ie Julian Douglas said, "It's fascinating to see how this app has become an indispensable companion to TV watching in the evenings. It's a really useful app, has strong usage and traffic and is a powerful tool for both users and advertisers."

Download the latest version of the app here.

Lyons Tea Calls On All ‘Mugs’

Trade in your old mug for Lyons Tea special edition Gold Blend mug as part of Christmas mug giveaway

Lyons Tea last week announced the details of their first ever 'Mug Scrappage Scheme' taking place this Thursday, 17th November, at 11am on Dublin’s South King Street (top of Grafton Street). The Scheme offers tea drinkers the chance to trade in their most unwanted mug and walk away with the much-coveted Lyons Gold Blend mug.

Every tea drinker has their favourite mug. It's the right shape, the right weight and it always makes the perfect cuppa. However, since the airing of Lyons Tea Gold Blend television advertisement, tea drinkers all over Ireland have been itching to get their hands on the now famous red Gold Blend mug featured in the ads. On top of that everyone has an unwanted mug that they would love to get rid off. Perhaps it harbours unhappy memories from a past love, is too thick-rimmed, too big or too small - the reasons are endless. So, between these two situations the 'Mug Scrappage Scheme' was born.

Don't worry though, if you can't make it into the city centre this Thursday, you will be able to get your own red mug with every purchase of Lyons Gold Blend 160 pack this Christmas.

For those that can pop in, the Lyons Tea Team will be on hand to accept all unwanted mugs and of course hand out the popular Gold Blend mugs in return, with lots of Gold Blend tea sampling for everyone who comes along.

What happens to all these unwanted mugs you may ask. Well, as part of its Mug Scrappage Scheme, Lyons Tea has teamed up with Age Action Ireland to put all tea drinkers’ unwanted mugs to good use by selling them in their charity shops.

Liz Finlay, Marketing Manager, Lyons Tea comments, “Tea drinkers place almost as much importance on their mug as they do on the actual tea within. There has been so much demand for our red Gold Blend mugs that we thought a mug scrappage scheme would be a fun way to distribute the sought-after mugs. We hope to see everyone on Thursday 17th trading in their unwanted mugs and in doing so helping to support Age Action.”

Tea drinkers can also add to their mug collection through Facebook where there's a chance to win Lyons Gold Blend red mugs in the lead up to Christmas.


About Lyons Tea
· Lyons Tea employs expert master blenders and tasters to select the best blends and combination of some of the finest teas from Kenya, Assam from India and Ceylon from Sri Lanka to produce the highest quality tea. Lyons Tea is available from leading supermarkets and retailers nationwide.
· Lyons is Ireland’s number one tea brand with 43.9% market share***; Lyons is an iconic Irish brand with more than 100 years of tradition in Ireland, having started business in Dublin in 1902 near Christ Church Cathedral. It is now owned by Unilever Ireland.
· Lyons Tea is Ireland’s favourite tea. The Lyons Tea range includes Lyons Gold Blend, Lyons Original Blend, Lyons Gold Blend Reserve, Lyons Kenya Blend, and Lyons Decaffeinated Tea. Lyons Green Tea is available in original, with Lemon and with Mint. For further information on Lyons Tea visit www.lyonstea.ie
· Lyons tea is currently working with the Rainforest Alliance - independent experts in sustainability and by 2012 all our tea will only come from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms.

***AC Nielsen October 2011

A taste of Thailand with the Smirnoff 'Bangkok Collins'

In preparation of Smirnoff's upcoming Night Life Exchange Project and to honour the brands long standing history of drinks inspired by different cultures, Smirnoff have decided to share with us a delightful new cocktail: The Smirnoff Bangkok Collins.

The drink, inspired by the tastes of South East Asia, will remind anyone who has visited Thailand of some of your favourite Thai places. It includes traditional Thai ingredients that will make you want to experience the Thai culture for yourself.

Create this delicious drink at home using the following method:
Ingredients:
Smirnoff No. 21 - 35.5ml
Lemon juice - 15ml
Ginger syrup - 5ml
Soda - 100ml
Lemongrass stick - 1

Method:
Pour lemon juice, syrup and vodka into the base of a highball glass with crushed ice
Fill the glass with cubed ice
Top with soda and stir
Bash the thick end of lemongrass as it helps to release the flavour
Garnish with lemongrass, lemon wheel and a straw

For the chance to have one of these delicious drinks made for you by a Smirnoff Mixologist, make sure to grab your ticket for the Nightlife Exchange Project, which are now on sale exclusively through the Smirnoff Ireland facebook page.

Carlsberg Wants To Upgrde Your Visit To The O2

Carlsberg offers their Irish Facebook fans the chance
to upgrade their night to a VIP experience at The O2

Carlsberg are all about great night out. Of course then it's not surprising that they teamed up with The O2 to become the concert venues to be their official beer. What might surprise you though is that Carlsberg want to offer you the chance to upgrade* your night to The Premium Club at The O2 for selected gigs through the Carlsberg Ireland Facebook page.

If you're a Carlsberg Ireland Facebook fan with tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Novemeber 4th, Kasabian on November 26th, Duran Duran on December 20th, Primal Scream on December 29th, Snow Patrol on January 20th and 21st or Noel Gallgher on February 17th, you have the chance to upgrade your night and enjoy a Carlsberg VIP after party in The Premium Club @ The O2.

From November 4th, you and up to five of your friends** will be greeted at The Premium Club @ The O2 entrance by Carlsberg hostesses. You will have access to the club pre-gig where you can hang out with your friends and enjoy party beats and the luxury surroundings of The Premium Club.

Then after the gig you can pop back to The Premium Club for a Carlsberg after-party and live set by Irish DJ Mo Kelly. Finally, to make the whole night truly unforgettable, you will also be picked up by a complimentary taxi and brought back to the City Centre* at the end of the night.

Dawn Allison, Brand Manager Carlsberg, Diageo Ireland, said “We are delighted to be bringing a brand new and exclusive experience to our Irish Facebook fans through the Carlsberg Upgrade Your Night campaign. Starting from the first gig on November 4th, we plan to bring a series of exclusive experiences to Carlsberg fans across Ireland and give concert ticket holders the chance to enjoy true VIP treatment.”

Carlsberg Ireland Facebook fans will be able to upgrade their night on a first come first serve basis through the Upgrade Your Night’ Tab on Facebook.com/CarlsbergIreland.


* Upgrades do not include tickets to selected gigs.
** Friends must also have tickets to the selected gigs to gain access to The Premium Club.
** O2 gigs included in the upgrade are Red Hot Chili Peppers on November 4th - Kasabian on November 26th - Duran Duran on December 20th - Primal Scream on December 29th - Snow Patrol on January 20th and 21st
Upgraded guests are allowed to bring up to five friends with tickets for the gig to the Carlsberg experience in the O2 Premium Club.

Counting Down to Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

The count down is well and truly on. There's now just three weeks until the 2011 Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project. In preparation for the event I was lucky enough to be invited to a special Smirnoff experience last Thursday night at in The Grafton Lounge. The event saw Kenji Jesse, Smirnoff Global Ambassador, dropping into town to create and demonstrate an array of impressive Smirnoff cocktails. Ahead of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, Kenji wanted to give a taste of what was in store for guests. His creations on the night included the Smirnoff Thai Collins, Smirnoff Big Apple and Smirnoff Lemon Lime Bitters, as well as a few Smirnoff favourites like the Moscow Mule.

The real fun on the evening came, however, when the guests got to try our hands at creating our own Thai cocktail. I'm fairly proud to say that Jules and I were joint winners with our Lychee-nee-tini. First we crushed Lychees and Kaffir Lime leaves, and blended them with a dash of Lime juice and Lime and Ginger syrup. Then pack the glass with ice cubes and pour over a measure of Smirnoff. Finally, top it all off with soda and a sprig of mint.

This year's Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project will be held in Dublin's CHQ Building on Saturday 12th November. Tickets can be bought exclusively through the Smirnoff Ireland facebook page for just €10 each.

Not only will there be delicious cocktails such as we enjoyed on Thursday but also a assortment of exotic Thai food to nibble on. Beyond the delightful food and drink there will also be some seriously cool music to dance to. Dublin born and Australian tamed dance sensation The Potbelleez will headline the evening with support from Fourplay DJ’s Ray Shah, Killian O’Sullivan, Steven Cooper and Rory Lynam, and DJ Gordo.

For more information check out the Smirnoff Ireland facebook page and stay tuned!

Johnnie Walker

Some time ago I wrote about the brilliant Johnnie Walker ad, 'The Man Who Walked Around The World'. The spot, starring Robert Carlyle, is perhaps one of my favourite ads ever. The concept is clean and fresh. The copy and dialogue is succinct and to the point. The overall effect, though expensive and less than easy to create, is one of utter ease. Carlyle is effortless and the ad feels like it could have been shot by him alone one Sunday in the Highlands.

This is the ad...

Last week Johnnie Walker released a new ad for the Brazilian market. This is the ad...

This ad is contrived, filled with poor acting and lacking any sort of connection with the brand, in my honest opinion. I don't understand how a brand could have come so far, in the completely wrong direction. There is nothing about this ad that I like. It does not make me think of the brand heritage, it does not make me think about the natural ingredients and processes that go into its making, and it does not make me even slightly want to drink Johnnie Walker.

I don't know what you did but it is all wrong.

Tickets Now On Sale For The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

On 12th November, Ireland will receive the very best of Thailand’s nightlife for a one of a kind experience. This week sees tickets for the next Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project go on sale. If you want to pick up some you'll find them exclusively available through the Smirnoff Ireland facebook page for just €10 each.

Guests at the event in the CHQ building, Dublin can expect to sip on delicious drinks, enjoy the best of Thai food and dance to some seriously awesome international music. Kicking off the night in style will be DJ Gordo. DJ Gordo is perhaps best known for supporting Calvin Harris on his Irish tour. Next up you'll experience Dublin's Fourplay DJ’s Ray Shah, Killian O’Sullivan, Steven Cooper and Rory Lynam. Then last, but very much not least, Australian dance sensation the Potbelleez will rock the dancefloor with their unique mix of dance, electro and hip hop beats.

For those of you who think you have the moves, there's also still plenty of time to enter the exclusive online dance competition. To enter the competition to find the best dancer and join Madonna's official dance crew, just upload a sixty second clip of you dancing to a Madonna track. Smirnoff have also confirmed that Madonna will attend the New York celebration to help handpick the overall global winner of a dance competition alongside her choreographers Rich + Tone.

To find out more, follow the action on facebook.

Belfast Crew Land Dream Trip To Caribbean With Captain Morgan

Following a six week search, Captain Morgan has selected a team from Belfast as the most worthy crew to represent Ireland in The Captain’s Island 2011. The Belfast team is made up of three crew members: their leader Ross McDonald and his mates Calvin Holohan Doyle and Jonathan Haggarty. Winning out over 7,500 teams from across Ireland, the crew had to pit their skills in a series of tests and challenges.

The next stage will see the crew compete in an island adventure against 12 other countries from around the world. Their collective leadership, teamwork, bravado, clever thinking and masculinity will be put to the ultimate test in challenges laid out by Captain Morgan himself.

The Captain’s Island 2011 Challenge will be hosted over three days (October 10th-13th) and take place at a secret location in the Caribbean. Actress Mena Suvari will be on hand on The Captain’s Island to report back on the adventures, interviewing the crew along the way.

Captain Morgan commented: “I only want the best crews from around the world on my island and so far the guys who will represent Ireland look to have all the attributes I’d be looking for. However, they’ve only just got over the first challenge – which frankly wasn’t that difficult – so let’s see how they fare when I really put them through their paces on my Island. I’m not going to give my £13,000 bounty to just anyone so they better show they’ve got what it takes to impress the Captain.”

Competition winner Ross McDonald stated, “It’s an incredible honour to represent Ireland on The Captain’s Island. The Irish lads from last year’s Captain’s Cup team won the overall prize in South Africa so it has made us even more determined to bring the £13,000 bounty home to Ireland!’

To follow all of their adventures visit Captain Morgan’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CaptainMorganIreland for exclusive pictures, commentary and videos of the challenge on The Captain’s Island.

Samsung Central Station

Loving this brand new video to promote Samsung's new Central Station range of USB hub monitors. It's a stop motion film featuring the perils of messy cables.

The monitors themselves include a wireless USB 2.0 dongle that you connect to your laptop. The monitor then ‘comes alive’ when your computer is within 3 feet of the ‘Central Station’. In addition you can plug all your desktop peripherals into it to be ready to go when you need them.

Credits
Client: Samsung Electronics
Director / Animator: Jey Mal
Production: The Viral Factory

Kildare Village 'Fill Your Suitcase'

Kildare Village have just launched a brand new campaign inviting their Facebook fans to watch a video and enter their details to be in with a chance to win a series of gift cards or luxury breaks. The Facebook promotion is a tee-up to their new 'Fill Your Suitcase' campaign. Over the next five weeks, five lucky winners will each receive a €100 gift card to shop the luxurious Village boutiques. The competition will then culminate with a €500 gift card or one of two weekend breaks in luxury Irish hotels.

Kildare Village boosts more than sixty luxury boutiques selling everything from daywear, eveningwear and leisurewear, to accessories, beauty products and homewards. The village is open seven days a week and has late night shopping on Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 7pm.

For more information about Kildare Village visit www.KildareVillage.com or check out the Kildare Village Facebook Page for the latest updates.

Saba Celebrates Their 5th Birthday

Pictured at the fifth birthday celebrations of Thai restaurant Saba on Clarendon Street are Thai Buddhist monks, Phrakruprabasdhammavites Phramaha, Sangthong Dhammacaro and Phramaha Chai Sutamedhi.

As you may have guessed from my first Saba post, I'm a huge fan. I absolutely love their food and was delighted to hear about their latest offering. This September sees Saba turn five, and to celebrate there will be a host of activities in store for customers. To kick off their celebrations Saba flew in some very special guests from Thailand for the occasion, to host a special ceremony in which they blessed Saba, the staff and their patrons.

As part of the celebrations, Saba will be hosting it’s “lobsterfest” for the third year running. This shellfish shindig is sure to please all half shelled and lobster hedonists. Diners can enjoy exquisite lobster fresh from the waters of Inisboffin or freshly shucked Carlingford Lough oysters to sip, slurp and sup!

Make a reservation today and get your claws into our delicious lobster inspired specials including seared lobster tail salad for €14.95 or steamed whole lobster with a Thai twist for €26.95. To wash down these tasty delights, Saba has teamed up with Veuve Clicquot Champagne and will be serving a glass of demi sec and lobster canapé for €14.95. Demi Sec is a real treat and is excellent with Thai cuisine. There will also be a French wine sale to tickle your tastebuds.

Saba, 26-28 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2, is open seven days a week from 12 noon. See their menu here and call 01 679 2000 to make a booking.

ESB Electric Ireland Appliance Calculator App

Today, Monday 12th September, ESB Electric Ireland announced the launch of Ireland’s first Appliance Calculator App for Smartphones. The Appliance Calculator App allows customers to calculate how much their various home appliances are costing them to run. You just select your appliances and indicate their typical usage to pin point the energy guzzlers in your home and see their cost.

The Appliance Calculator App works with a range of over 130 different home appliances and enables customers to compare the cost of using those appliances in different ways. This could be washing clothes at 40°C versus 60°C or using a small ring on stovetop versus a larger one. They can then see the positive impact of using their appliances wisely. They can also estimate a complete breakdown of their energy bills by creating a full list of all their home appliances. In addition, the App includes a search function where a comprehensive list of individual gas and electric appliances from games consoles to hair straighteners, kettles to fridge freezers can be found.

The App is available to download for all Smartphones. For iPhones simply search “Appliance Calculator” on the iTunes App Store and for Androids, search “Appliance Calculator” in the Android Market.

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager, ESB Electric Ireland commented, “The ESB Electric Ireland Appliance Calculator App is a fantastic tool to help control costs in your home to make much needed savings. The Appliance Calculator is already a popular tool on our website, but given 600,000 Irish people own a Smartphone, we wanted to bring the App to Android and iPhones.”

Ken continued, “The App will give users an understanding of how their appliances use energy, and how they can reduce their energy costs by making some small adjustments, For example by reducing their electric shower running time by just a couple of minutes per day they can make a significant saving on their bill.”

Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

Back in August I wrote about Smirnoff Night Life Exchange partnering up with Madonna, and yesterday the rest of the story finally unfolded. Smirnoff announced that this years Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project will be taking place on 12th November and will see Ireland exchanging a night out with Thailand.

As with last year's very awesome Argentina night out, party-goers should expect delicious drinks, tasty Thai food and an experience that will, in no doubt, be one of the best they've ever had. Irish Australian dance superstars the Potbelleez will be rocking the dancefloor with help from Fourplay DJ’s (Ray Shah, Killian O’Sullivan, Steven Cooper and Rory Lyna) and DJ Gordo.

For full information check out the Smirnoff Facebook Page and see my posts from the previous Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange activity.

As I previously posted, this year's Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project will see Madonna partnering with Smirnoff to hold a global dance competition. As part of this, Smirnoff have revealed that Madonna will be attending the New York celebration to help handpick the overall global winner of a dance competition alongside her choreographers Rich + Tone. Smirnoff fans can win tickets to the New York finale at the Smirnoff Facebook Page.

“This year’s Nightlife Exchange Project is triple the size of last year’s, has bigger global names and more local original ideas,” said Simon Burch, Global Brand Director for The Smirnoff Co. “We’re going to enjoy it with our fans. We are inviting our Facebook fans to share with us their one-of-a-kind nightlife experiences so we can create them on 12th November.”

Smirnoff is inviting fans to share their ideas and suggestions on the most original aspects of nightlife in their country. Fans with the most original ideas winning an invite to the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project in their city or abroad. Nearly 10,000 ideas have been submitted thus far including local cocktail recipes, new dance styles, types of music and city fashion trends.

The pairings for the 18 countries taking part in the nightlife swap are:
Great Britain with Jamaica
Ireland with Thailand
Brazil with Germany
Australia with Italy
Canada with Vietnam
USA with Netherlands
Lebanon with Mexico
Venezuela with Cyprus
Argentina with Turkey

Carlsberg: JC Jacobsen's Bicentenary

Today, 2nd September 2011, marks the 200th anniversary of Carlsberg's founder JC Jacobsen. Born in Copenhagen in 1811, it wasn't until he was 24 that Jacob Christian Jacobsen inherited his father brewery and became head of what would unquestionably become the most influential beer brewery in the world.

Jacobsen was well known for his explorative mind and entrepreneurial approach to things. And while he had no formal academic or scientific training, he believed that the production of beer had to be based on scientific methods and to be industrialised. In short, Jacobsen wanted to eliminate the element of chance when brewing beer caused by variable yeast quality.

In 1876, Jacobsen took on Emil Hansen to work at the Carlsberg laboratory. There, Hansen dicsovered that yeast was not a homogeneous substance but could be broken down into a number of strains, of which only a few were right for brewing. By 1883 he had isolated and propagated single-strain yeasts for the first time, to finally allow brewers the control over the fermentation process to guarantee a consistent product, brew after brew. Lager yeast is still known as sacharromyces carlsbergensis in Hansen and Jacobsen’s honour.

Dawn Allison, Brand Manager, Carlsberg commented; "Carlsberg is the world's original lager and JC Jacobsen was relentless in his efforts to create perfect beer. He revolutionised beer brewing and selflessly shared his discovery of pure yeast with other brewers so today, there is a little bit of Carlsberg in every lager beer! The brewers at Carlsberg work to live up to Jacobsen's golden words: 'To develop the art of making beer to the greatest possible degree of perfection'. Today is a very special day for the Carlsberg brand as we pay tribute to its founder, JC Jacobsen 200 years after his birth."

Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2011

Back again for the October Bank Holiday weekend (28th-31st October 2011), tickets for the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival are now on sale, and this year's festival is set to be bigger and better than ever, with something to suit every music lover’s tastes.

The most interesting announcement around the festival, in my opinion, is the news that the opening act this year will be none other than the exceedingly talented Damon Albarn. Sometimes Blur frontman Albarn will be joined by his band, Another Honest John’s Chop-Up. Another Honest John’s Chop-Up is a collective of musicians who take inspiration from jazz funk and southern soul.


Another outstanding act who will be performing at the festival is the Kyle Eastwood Quintet. Kyle, who is also known as son of actor/director Clint Eastwood, has made a name for himself on the jazz scene, producing eight studio albums and composing the scores for many of his father’s films including Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby.

Other noteworthy acts on the schedule include; Randy Brecker, the acclaimed trumpet player, Tia Fuller, the saxophonist, who not only has her own highly successful band but also plays alongside Beyoncé and Richard Galliano, the renowned accordionist. Galliano’s performance at the festival will be inspired by the work of Coppola and the music from The Godfather.

Barry Fitzpatrick, Brand Manager, Guinness commented, “We are very excited to introduce this year’s line up. The Guinness Cork Jazz festival maintains its jazz soul, but the line up includes some unexpected talent which will definitely appeal to all musical tastes. We will be announcing more acts in the coming weeks on www.guinnesscorkjazz.com”.

The Guinness Cork Jazz festival will not only have music hosted in more venues than ever before, but ticket prices have also been reduced this year. Tickets can be purchased through www.ticketmaster.ie and more information on all aspects of the festival can be found at guinnessjazzfestival.com/.

Facebook User Stats For Ireland

A great infographic from the lovely people at Edelman:


Thanks to Piaras Kelly for this. Piaras credited help from Dave Molloy and Damien Mulley, so a thanks to you dudes too :)

Kildare Village Celebrates Reaching 20,000 Facebook Fans

Kildare Village, who are just 163 fans away from a milestone 20,000, today announced that they will be giving away a treat for all of their loyal followers when they hit the 20k mark.

When their Facebook Page reaches 20,000 likes, Kildare Village will offer fans the opportunity to receive an additional 10% off the already reduced prices in over sixty boutiques.

Simply like Kildare Village on Facebook and make sure to keep checking in for your chance to receive extra discounts.

Kildare Village is open seven days a week and has late night shopping on Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 7pm. For details of opening hours and more information just visit www.KildareVillage.com.

Three Jersey Trade-In Scheme

From today, Wednesday 24th August, Three is calling on all Irish fans to ‘Go green with pride, pull on the jersey’. Three is giving fans the chance to Go green with pride and trade-in their old Republic of Ireland football jerseys in any Champion Sports store nationwide and get €20 off the brand new Ireland home jersey. The Three Trade-In scheme will run in Champion Sports stores nationwide until 30th September 2011. For every eligible trade-in Three are also offering fans a €10 discount voucher on selected Three handsets and price plans.

Three we be collecting the old jerseys donating them to Friends in Ireland, a charity that cares for orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The charity, founded by RTE’s Marian Finucane, has Sean St. Ledger as an ambassador.

Sean St. Ledger said, “I have been an ambassador for Friends in Ireland for the past year and have been looking for a way to help them with the fantastic work that they do in their South African centres, Three and Champion Sports have launched the Three Trade-In scheme that allows people to donate their old jerseys to Friends in Ireland and are asking fans to Go green with pride. I will deliver the jerseys in person to the centres next year in time for South African’s bitter winter. I know that everyone has an old Ireland jersey lying around at home that they could trade-in for one of the new jerseys, so I would encourage everyone to make an effort for a good cause, and show your support for the team.”

“We are truly indebted to Sean St Ledger, Three and Champion Sports. The Children of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, whether they play football or not, will be delighted with a warm jersey to wear in their freezing icy winters. The poverty and vulnerability of the victims of the HIV AIDS+ pandemic is sadly an all day, every day reality. Every bit of help counts,” Finucane said.

Fans are also being encouraged to log on to the Three Football Facebook page and upload their Go Green With Pride images. This could be anything from dying your hair to painting your house – something that demonstrates pride in the green jersey. For everyone who does upload a picture, there will be the opportunity to win prizes including match tickets. There will also be an overall winner who will be selected for a money can’t buy prize.

Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three, said “As proud sponsors of the Irish National football team, Three is delighted to work with Friends in Ireland and Champion Sports to offer fans a discount on the new Ireland jersey that will benefit a great cause. We want to drive support for the team ahead of two crucial and exciting up coming games so we are asking fans to Go green with pride. Three is committed to football at all levels in Ireland and the fans are central to this.”

Emily Barry, Marketing Executive of Champion Sports, said “Champion Sports are delighted to be partnering with Three and Friends of Ireland for this very special offer. The Three Trade-In scheme is in aid of a great cause and we look forward to seeing the new Three Ireland jersey on the fans at the next match. Champion are behind our boys in green 100% over the coming soccer season”.

Sean St. Ledger also commented, “It also makes a huge difference for the players to see a sea of green when they come onto the pitch and we need everyone to get behind us ahead of these crucial qualifier games next month.”

Velvet - Can Music Grow Trees?

Following on from my posts on ESB Electric Ireland and their Electric Picnic activities I thought you might find Velvet Toilet Tissue's announcement interesting. The luxury toilet tissue brand has announced that their Velvet Luxury Toilets will be making a return to Electric Picnic and they will be joined by a campaign to answer the question, "Can music grow trees?"

Velvet Toilet Tissue have taken three Leylandii conifers and equipped them with their own headphones and MP3 players. The three trees have been planted in the Velvet Greenhouse at Newlands Garden Centre and are currently being played three genres of music (rock, folk, dance) in an effort to see how well the trees respond to music. The trees can be viewed and monitored through an application on the Triple Velvet Facebook page. Fans are also asked to vote for their favourite music type to be in with a chance of winning tickets to Electric Picnic. All three trees will also be on display at the Velvet Luxury Toilets this year for guests to see and the winning tree will be announced.

ESB Electric Ireland Electric Picnic Tweet Hunt

Last Wednesday I wrote about The ESB Electric Ireland Park at Electric Picnic. Beyond being the Official Energy Partner to Electric Picnic, ESB Electric Ireland are also running an energy generating adult playground full of over-sized playground favourites. The twist is that each of the playground items contributes to generating power to help charge participants' phones while they have fun. The playground will also be supported by a host of Ireland's top comedians who will be charged with generating as big a crowd of participants as possible.

This weekend I found out about ESB Electric Ireland's upcoming competition to promote its Electric Picnic partnership.

From Monday, ESB Electric Ireland will be giving away 25 tickets in Europe's first real time treasure hunt using Google Maps and Social Media. The #ShareTheEnergy Tweet Hunt, which is being run through Electric Ireland Facebook Page, gives would be festival-goers the chance to win tickets to Electric Picnic using a Facebook App with a Live Google Map that combines a live Twitter feed to reveal five secret locations around Ireland where tickets are hidden. The Tweet Hunt begins on Monday 22nd August at 9am and ends on Friday 26th August, with one lucky person having the chance to win five tickets to Electric Picnic each day.

To find the secret locations, participants need to tweet #Sharetheenergy. The more the hashtag is tweeted, the closer the map zooms in to where the tickets are hidden. Then, a special code word is revealed along with the exact details of the secret location where the Electric Ireland Sparkheads are waiting with the tickets. After that the first person to find the Sparkhead, and tell them the daily code word will receive five tickets to Electric Picnic.

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager, ESB Electric Ireland commented, “The ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Hunt is a new addition to our Electric Picnic sponsorship this year. Tickets are like gold dust and we hope would be festival-goers will enjoy this innovative competition using social media channels in a fun and unique way to try to win tickets to this fantastic festival.”

For more info on the campaign or any other details of ESB Electric Ireland's Electric Picnic activities, pop over to the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook Page.

Additional information about the ESB Electric Ireland Tweet Hunt:

• The innovative Facebook App and social media mash-up was developed by Tequila Ireland and Agency.com.
• The App features a live Twitter feed so users can check the tweets to the hashtag and see the 13 zoom levels as each is revealed.
• The Facebook page will show pictures of the winner each day and announce the race for that day is over with the next day’s Twitter Hunt commencing at 9am.
• The Twitter Hunt is open to residents of the Republic of Ireland aged over 18.

Smirnoff Night Life Exchange & Madonna

Today, 18th August, Smirnoff made the announcement that the next iteration of their Night Life Exchange project will not only attempt to get 10 million people to discover, share and swap the most original nightlife experiences in 50 countries but also to find the best dancer from their fans for an opportunity to join Madonna on her next tour. To mark the announcement the Smirnoff Ireland dance troupe were on the streets today for a number of impromptu performances all over Dublin City Centre to spread the word.

The initial goal sees Smirnoff fans worldwide invited to co-create and participate by contributing ideas on what makes their local nightlife distinct in the categories of drinks, dance, fashion, music, places, and more, creating a nightlife cocktail of unique events. The most inspiring suggestions from each region will then exchanged with another country in November. Participating fans will have the chance to win a place at one of the global events or experience another country’s party at a Smirnoff NEP event in their own city.

The second part of this years NEP, focusing on the importance of dance, offers fans the opportunity to showcase their own style and flair through an exclusive online dance competition. Starting today, fans just need to submit a 60 second video demonstrating their best moves. The best dancers from around the world will then be chosen to compete for the grand prize at one of the NEP venues. On hand on the evening, Madonna will judge the final herself and select a winner to join her on her next tour as one of her dancers.

Talking about the project, Madonna said, "What attracted me to the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is the combination of participating in the celebration of nightlife around the world and the opportunity to discover the world's best unknown dancers. The best dancers are always in the clubs looking for the most original experience, just like Smirnoff is doing."

Simon Burch, Global Brand Director for The Smirnoff Co., said, “Smirnoff mixes original nightlife from around the world and gives everyone the chance to be there through extraordinary, one-of-a-kind experiences. Who better to decide the best in the dance category than Madonna herself?”

The 50 countries participating in the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project include: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Uruguay, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months and pop along to the

The ESB Electric Ireland Park at Electric Picnic

This week ESB Electric Ireland announced what they have in store as the official energy partner of Electric Picnic. Teaming up with comedian Karl Spain, ESB have revealed their energy-efficient playground for grown-ups where festival goers can play and use the energy they generate to charge their phones. The playground will feature an adult sized merry-go-round, a giant hamster wheel and see-saws, all of which generate energy that people can share and use. For those that prefer something a little less childish, there will also be fifteen bikes in the Park to help generate power.

To help get everyone into full power-generating swing the ESB will have a number of Irish and international celebrity MCs on hand, including Karl Spain, Andrew Stanley, Damian Clark and Gearoid Farrelly. These guys will be tasked with recruiting festival goers to make use of the playground and also to find volunteers to get on their bikes! On top of this, the MCs will also host a number of small challenges throughout the weekend and may even take part in some of these challenges themselves.

Speaking at the launch, Karl Spain said, “Yes, ESB Electric Ireland has brought an even crazier element of fun to the EP line up this year and I’m looking forward to trying the playground out for size! It will really show people how much energy it takes to power even small things like a mobile phone. From see-sawing to merry-go-rounding and peddling there’ll be even more ways to generate energy at this year’s Picnic. It’s a great initiative and I can’t wait to share my energy with fellow festival goers in September.”

Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager ESB Electric Ireland commented “As the Official Energy Partner to the festival, ESB Electric Ireland is delighted to show festival goers how much fun sustainability can be. We are well aware how important having a facility to recharge phones is to festival goers so it’s great that we can provide this in an entertaining way! We are delighted to have the comedians back this year to MC and between the comedians, the bikes and the playground it will be a fully sustainable festival of fun.”

Outside of their energy-generating playground, ESB Electric Ireland's position as official energy partner of Electric Picnic sees them providing 6 km of energy efficient festoon lighting around the camp sites and walk ways to the main arena, and providing e-cars to transport artists around the festival site. All of this will see the festival’s lighting emissions reduced by 80%.

To stay up to date on all of the campaigns details and upcoming competitions, just head over to the ESB Electric Ireland Facebook Page.

Guinness 'Five' - The Guinness Food Experience

Yesterday evening, Thursday 11th August, I had the absolute pleasure of popping along to the Guinness Storehouse to experience their brand new Guinness food experience. Adding to its already top class offering, the Guinness Storehouse unveiled an incredible new food experience which sees the entire fifth floor dedicated to Guinness and Food.

The €2 million investment in the heart of St. James’s Gate has been fittingly named “Five. Guinness and Food Experience”. The new experience includes an authentic Irish Bar called Arthur’s Bar, an 18th Century inspired Brewers Dining Hall, a restaurant named Gilroy’s inspired by the iconic Guinness advertisements by John Gilroy. Beyond this, however, there will also be live cooking demonstrations where foodies and Guinness drinker’s alike can see an unique Guinness gastronomical experience driven entirely by the Irish tradition of wholesome, local produce. Finally, there is also an interactive recipe sharing bank that allows visitors to take Guinness recipe cards home to try the recipes for themselves and also share their own Guinness inspired recipes with others.

Speaking about “Five” the new Guinness and Food Experience at the Guinness Storehouse, Managing Director, Paul Carty said “We are delighted to officially open the doors to our new Guinness and Food experience which marries the best of Irish produce to Guinness, an iconic Irish brand. We have a dedicated team who have been working on this specific food project for over a year now, so we are thrilled with the results which we look forward to sharing with our visitors from all over the world, show casing the best of Irish produce”.

The Storehouse team have carefully selected a number of key local suppliers to work alongside with and their produce can be seen on the menus at “Five” including Ardsallagh goat’s cheese, Irish mussels from Carlingford and MD Bakery in Waterford who supply the Waterford Blaas.

Executive Chef at Guinness Storehouse, Justin O’Connor, said, “Certainly the most recognisable and popular Guinness dish in the world is Beef and Guinness stew; in fact, since we opened our doors in 2000, we have served over 400,000 portions of Beef and Guinness Stew. We have refined this traditional dish as part of our project using Hereford beef from Nenagh in Co Tipperary. The meat is marinated for 24 hours in Guinness and aromatics and then slow cooked for succulence and taste.”


Full outlet details...

Brewer’s Dining Hall
The Brewer’s Dining Hall takes inspiration from the 18th and 19th century dining room of the same name. This traditional dining hall catered for the hard working at St. James’s Gate Brewery, who wanted to eat well. The Brewer’s Dining Hall is an informal dining experience served buffet style featuring the freshest and most wholesome ingredients. All of this is experienced with full views of the working kitchen which is on show through a large glass viewing area.

Gilroy’s Restaurant
Gilroy’s restaurant is inspired by the artist, John Gilroy, who was the artist and creator behind the “MY GOODNESS, MY GUINNESS” marketing campaign. In Gilroy’s you will be greeted with a warm setting surrounded by the wonderful animal characters created by Gilroy, all of which are displayed prominently overhead to add to your dining experience.
Gilroy’s is a waiter style bistro restaurant offering a premium food experience serving traditional Irish food complemented by a contemporary twist.

Arthur’s Bar
The Irish Pub is an integral part of Irish life and always has been. The pub is the focal point of community life where music, sport, literature and family occasions are all celebrated.
Arthur’s Bar is a modern twist on a traditional Irish pub, taking elements of a traditional Irish pub, and showing them in a contemporary manner.

Captain Morgan's Caribbean Adventure - The Captain's Island

Sun, sea, surf, Captain Morgan and a chance to win €15,000….. where do I sign up?

Simples. Just pop over to the Captain Morgan Ireland Facebook Page and start your adventure for a chance to join Captain Morgan, Mena Suvari and 13 other teams of aspiring buccaneers in a contest to win a €15,000 share of the Captain's legendary bounty on The Captain’s Island (from 9th – 14th October) in the Caribbean.

Before you get the chance to prove yourself against these other teams you first need to be selected to go - not everyone can get to The Captain’s Island. First you need to show Captain Morgan that you have traits befitting of a Captain – leadership, camaraderie, bravado (without recklessness), clever thinking and determination. To prove yourself, you will need to complete a number of different challenges on the Captain Morgan’s Facebook page to earn ‘keys’. ‘Keys’ are also available on promotional Captain Morgan packs in supermarkets & off-licenses, in bars, at events and in a number of other secret locations. You will need to collect five keys in total.

Captain Morgan commented: “The chance to have a three day legendary experience on my Caribbean Island and a share of a €15,000 bounty - why wouldn’t you want to be part of that adventure? Sign-up for The Captain’s Island and if you’re lucky enough it could all be yours. Oh, and did I mention that you’ll get to hang out with me, the Morganettes and get interviewed by Island reporter Mena Suvari too? What are you still reading this for – enter now!”

Mena Suvari added: “But you’re going to have to impress Captain Morgan to stand a chance here. If you can’t show leadership, camaraderie, determination, bravado and clever thinking then you can kiss goodbye to an Island adventure and a share of his bounty. He doesn’t just give this away – you have to earn it.”

The contest is open now to everyone in the island of Ireland above legal purchase age and challenges conducted via Facebook require a fun-loving Buccaneer who has a passion for adventure, creativity and a winning spirit. The closing date for crews to sign up and collect five keys is 18th September 2011.

About Captain Morgan:
In 1654 a young Henry Morgan left his native Wales for the West Indies. He never looked back. A born leader, he quickly made Captain and became famous as a legal pirate or Buccaneer, defending British interests and generally rocking the Caribbean. His awesome exploits on the high seas earned him a knighthood and by 1680 Sir Henry Morgan was a plantation owner and Governor of Jamaica. There he lived out his final days until his death in 1688.

Centuries later he became the figurehead for a company that became as famous as the man himself… The Captain Morgan Rum Company.