Guinness ad on a lot of social media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwndLOKQTDs

I’ve been sent this a lot over the last few days.

The reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive, but I’m not so taken with it.

I like the twist; it’s clever, unexpected and feels like you ought to have seen it somewhere before.

But I don’t like the seriousness, the portentous music, the wanky VO or the attempt to make this gag into an ad for beer.

What it’s got to do with Guinness (other than the fact that friends drink Guinness together, as they do virtually every other beer on earth)?

So it felt pretentious and up its own arse – not great attributes in a beer ad.

UPDATE: here’s an ice cream ad from 2011 (thanks, S&C):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIngSfm_ck

Which just proves the point about it having nowt to do with Guinness.

Or ice cream.

Or anything, really.

UPDATE 2: and the music is from this other, equally up-its-own-arse ad (thanks, A):