Live advert forced to change script
28 November 08

Media planner PHD and creative agency The Hive had the unusual idea of doing a live commercial on RTE television and radio for 11850, the directory assistance firm, at the half-time break of the Munster versus All Blacks match on Tuesday. The idea was that actors Paul Reid and Feidhlim Cannon would natter on for 90 seconds, talking about how the match was going.

The point behind doing a live advert was to show that 11850 is a brand that supplies up-to-the-minute information.

However, with live TV there comes script issues, and this was just the case as half time neared. The three pre-prepared scripts all assumed that New Zealand were winning the match when Munster were actually ahead. Cue some quick rewrites by Jason Hynes, creative director at The Hive. "I was writing the script minutes before the ad was due to air," he says. "The client was next door in the control room and the door was locked, so I had to slide the script under the door to get approval." When the ad was broadcast, Hynes was on his knees in front of the actors holding up the script. Would he do it again? Not in a hurry, though he thinks the effort was worth it.