Called Pat? Get free stuff

Guinness is making the patently publicity-seeking move of offering discounts throughout March at Grab, Redmart and on pints of Guinness at certain Singapore bars to people called Pat or a variant in celebration of St Patrick's Day. 

The offer, part of a campaign launched yesterday by Iris Worldwide, extends to Patricks, Patricias, Ah Pats or Pats. It is not known whether expats, Pattapongs, or attendants of St Patrick's School on the East Coast Road are included.

Now might be a good time to befriend Patrick Lee, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, since friends of Pats will be able to unlock other perks. 

Luckily, your correspondent is and always has been named Pat, as per the above byline. 

If, however, you are unlucky enough not to be named Pat, you'll still get a few deals in exchange for signing up at get.guinness.com, including entrance to a St Patrick's Festival of food, Guinness and music on March 16. 

Pat Nut loves the videos released to promote this campaign. Above are two of four masterfully amusing (it's the guy's awkward face - very funny) and shareable nuggets that will be activated across digital, social, OOH and PR to drive website and festival signups. 

Credit to Iris and Guinness for effective use of humour in promoting an event that, well, just isn't that relevant in Singapore. Says Mark Hadfield, regional head of planning at Iris Singapore: “Guinness may be an iconic brand and St Patrick's Day may be an iconic celebration for the ang mohs, but ask Singaporeans to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and they don’t really know why they should.

“So how do you bring Singaporeans together to celebrate something they don’t understand and have no link to? The answer? Honesty. There isn’t a link between most Singaporeans and St Patrick, but there is between most Singaporeans and a Patrick… or Pat… or Ah Pat. So let’s celebrate by bringing them all together for the big Pat Party!”

Pat Nut looks forward to seeing you down at the festival, pint of Guinness in paw, St Patrick's Day hat angled rakishly across head. 

Ad (Pat) Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad (Pat) Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad (Pat) Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad (Pat) Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad (Pat) Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.