Before Rutger Hauer’s “Pure Genius”, before the fish on a bicycle, even before the famous toucans, Guinness was promoting its benefits with the aid of an oyster (or two). To celebrate more than 80 years of memorable Guinness advertising, visitors to the Guinness Storehouse – one of Ireland’s top visitor attractions and a must-see for those with a taste for the Black Stuff – have been treated to a whistling mollusc. So who could they find to put the whistle into the oyster’s shell? David Morris of course!
To launch the exhibit, visitors to the Storehouse were treated to a special workshop with David, where they could learn the art of whistling, perfect their technique and skills, and hear how it should be done with a performance from the man himself.
David said: “It is fantastic that a visitor attraction like the Guinness Storehouse is celebrating the art of whistling through the permanent feature of the Whistling Oyster in its new Advertising Exhibit. The Whistling Oyster has a special place in the rich heritage of Guinness Advertising. I was delighted to bring that archive ad to life.”
Eibhlin Colgan, archivist at the Guinness Storehouse, added: “We want visitors to not just see but really ‘experience’ the ads so we took the Whistling Oyster from its original print format and brought him to life as a giant animatronic oyster who really whistles!”
You can see the whistling oyster in action in this video…
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