Irish Actor Peter Coonan Embodies Hollywood Stereotypes to Make Powerful Statement

​The Public House, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, and Peter Coonan call out Hollywood with powerful statement about stereotypes.

As long as Hollywood has been making movies, they’ve been telling the same story about the Irish. We're almost always a joke or a punchline, and four weeks ago, when a new film trailer hit cinemas and socials, along with poster promo and bus ads, it sparked outrage online.

The trailer that left viewers commenting 'Can’t write, I got sick in my mouth', featured acclaimed Irish actor Peter Coonan as Paddy, the embodiment of every tired Hollywood trope imaginable: a flat cap, shamrocks, a tweed jacket, and a whiskey glass clasped in a bloody-knuckled hand.

Luckily, this movie wasn’t quite what it seemed…

It wasn’t a real trailer, and it wasn’t a real movie. It was the latest campaign for EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, who are once again challenging the outdated stereotypes about Ireland, and making a point about Ireland’s true contribution to the world. EPIC has developed a powerful reputation for delivering a unique way to understand Ireland and the Irish. As a result, the brand has a history of taking on the negative, outdated tropes that hold the nation back. And this time, they’ve taken on Hollywood.

Hollywood movie marketing is famous for a good tease phase, and this was no different. A two-punch ‘tease and reveal’ device was deployed to first hold a mirror up to Hollywood, showing them and the public how outdated these depictions of Ireland are… before a reveal that offered EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum as an antidote to the problem, with an invitation to find out who the Irish really are at the museum.

The campaign has resonated with movie lovers and media outlets alike. In The Guardian, Rory Carroll wrote of how “Irish critics howled – in mirth and agony – at the whimsy and dodgy accents in the likes of Wild Mountain Thyme, and Irish Wish.” while acclaimed film director Lance Daly commented: “We have to be careful that we’re not sponsoring foreign film-makers to make fools of us.” and Dr Sian Barber, a film studies lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, pointed out how far from reality Hollywood’s view of Ireland is, saying “It’s playing to this tourist idea of what Ireland can offer”.

This is the latest iteration of EPIC’s ‘This is not us’, a platform created by The Public House which has yielded sharp and powerful campaigns since 2022 - each time inviting people to look past the tired clichés and visit EPIC to discover who the Irish really are.

​Aileesh Carew, CEO and museum director of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, said, “For far too long, Irish people have been boxed into clichés - the drunk, the fighter, the leprechaun. At EPIC, we tell the real story of Irish identity: diverse, resilient, creative, and global. This campaign holds a mirror up to those tired tropes by initially feeding expectations - and then turning them on their head. The strong response shows that people are ready to move past caricatures and start a more meaningful dialogue about who we truly are.”

​Rob Maguire, ECD at the Public House added, “With this campaign we’ve used Hollywood’s own language to make our point - treating the production, the marketing approach, and even the poster design the same way a genuine film would be treated. EPIC have, once again, been incredible partners on this journey - trusting in The Public House’s ability to get people talking, and in the power of the idea to inspire genuine reflection.”

This work is another example of the agency’s anti-formula approach to building attention grabbing work that is in line with their philosophy that ‘Boring Doesn’t Sell’. The independent creative agency works with a diverse portfolio of ambitious clients including FBD Insurance, Redbreast, 48 Mobile, Cadbury and Renault.