AIB, take a bow.
#TheToughest is embedded into the minds of Gaels at this stage.
What started off as a marketing campaign is pretty much a part of our Games now. It’s a part of the Gaelic community and it is a quintessential part of Irish life.
When you see #TheToughest, you think of championship. You think of what it means, starting off with your club, building from grass roots and making it the whole way to Croke Park with your county. For most people, it’s just a dream. It’s THE dream.
For others, it’s a real journey. It’s the toughest journey.
#TheToughest Choice: You can only pick one for Saturday – who do you pick?? https://t.co/42zt84GTDo #GAA
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 30, 2016
Ahead of the Mayo and Dublin replay on Saturday, AIB – who back both club and county – have owned the weekend even before it begins.
Coppers after the All-Ireland final is as much of a tradition as breakfast before the game now, mostly thanks to Mr Cullen back in 2011. (Not that it needed much reinforcement)
“See ye in Coppers!”
So AIB have merged the championship and Coppers once more with a clever bit of word play.
Where the pulling and dragging and all the tough antics that go on between Mayo and Dublin are no secret, jersey-pulling has another meaning in Irish pop culture.
Jersey-puller: Someone attracted to a male or female predominantly because of their ability to play Gaelic Games. A county jersey (number on the back is obligatory) automatically proves your ability and success in your chosen field. A county jersey therefore is attractive in the eyes of the jersey-puller.
Something like that.
If you’re a jersey-puller then, it makes sense to be in Coppers on the night of the All-Ireland where the biggest GAA after-party takes place.
And what better way to welcome them than what AIB have done?
The projection is lighting up Harcourt Street in Dublin and has set the scene wonderfully for Saturday night. Not for the game particularly (they do enough good promotion around that), but for the party afterwards.
Will it be Mayo (or the Dubs) 4 Sam? Wooly, Paul Galvin and Conán Doherty preview Saturday’s All-Ireland final replay.
