American Commercial Accuritely Portraying Irish Culture

Today I was reading an article about an American commercial company’s accurate representation of authentic Irish cultural in a commercial targeted towards the US population. As I was reading the article I felt like it related well to Appiah’s idea that cultural interaction is what defuses conflict and brings people and societies closer.

RSA Films out of New York City created the commercial, “A Parting Glass”, which is advertising the Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew. I have attached the video below, however if you do not feel like watching it, I will give you a quick synopsis. The commercial starts of with four younger men in their finally dressed suits walking on a dirt path through green fields towards a church. They are singing the Irish song “A Parting Glass”, which the article explains to be a traditional Irish song sung as some one passes or departs a community. The commercial illustrates the importance of community and family among the Irish as these men toasts with a glass of whiskey to their friend getting married.

Laurence Dunmore, British director, shares the title of director, and the creative work, with Paul Opperman, owner of the commercial company. This film is authentically Irish because the two men took it upon themselves to know everything about Ireland in order to properly produce this short film. Looking at the logistics of the commercial I thought it to be a great representation that aligns with Appiah’s ideals of cultural interaction, and additionally contradict what the majority of this quarter’s readings have illustrated about the U.S. “one-way” media flow.

The commercial created by an American company, with a British director about an Irish culture is being accurately targeted towards American consumers. Not only does this represent Appiah’s theory from The Case for Contamination article, but also is additionally a great representation of cultural contra flows between the American and Irish community. Although potentially not Appiah’s original meaning towards cultural interactions, 

Here is the video link and article