Irish independent creative agency The Public House has launched their Christmas campaign for EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.
The campaign features a choir of NYPD veterans correcting a musical myth at the heart of The Pogues’ classic Fairytale of New York.
The song was the most played Christmas song of the 21st century and features the chorus ‘…the boys of the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay…’ — but there was never an NYPD choir, nor did they ever sing Galway Bay, until now.
36 years after the initial Pogues’ record release, The Public House and EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum recruited a handpicked group of retired NYPD officers, joined by a local amateur choir, to gather in a recording studio in the heart of New York City to lend their voices to the Galway Bay.
The campaign supports EPIC’s mission of recognising the vital contributions and monumental impact Irish people have made worldwide and to encourage the diaspora — many of whom are in the United States — to return to their homeland and visit the museum.
The result is a rendition of Galway Bay — a timeless Irish song, penned by emigrant Dr. Arthur Colahan as a tribute to his homeland and his brother.
In theory, the Irish have no right to have had such an impact on the world, but you only need to listen to the talent and creativity in songs such as ‘Fairytale of New York’ to understand why it has. Rather than making a traditional ‘ad’ this December, we erred on the side of meaningful by building on Ireland’s greatest ever Christmas anthem, which just so happens to have multiple tales of emigration at its core.
The Public House founder and Executive Creative Director, Colin Hart
The campaign is immortalised in a special limited edition 7” vinyl and supported with social, digital, press, and OOH.
Featured image: The NYPD Choir sing Galway Bay
