Fine Gael's new advertising slogan "It's time to eradicate the Celtic Snail" sounds more like a case for David Bellamy than a persuasive advertising message.
The snail theme was created by the party's long time agency DDFH&B and it first appeared in press ads last Sunday. These have been followed by an extensive outdoor campaign with an estimated budget for this first phase in the region of £150,000 (€190,000).
Outdoor and press are the only mainstream media available to Irish political parties as they cannot advertise on television or radio.
Advertising outside election time is highly unusual for an Irish political party and this first phase of the campaign is timed for the run-up to the Budget. The second phase will coincide with the Fine Gael ardfheis in the spring.
A PR campaign with the snail theme will run concurrently. That is being co-ordinated by the party's press office and it also kicked off this week with leaflets and chocolate bars being given out to traffic-stalled Dublin motorists. Creating the "Celtic Snail" expression is risky given the general boredom with the vastly overused Celtic Tiger. According to Fine Gael the snail idea "crystalises the frustrations and feelings people have about a whole range of services".
"We're trying to communicate very difficult concepts," says Mr Sean Whittaker, of DDFH&B, "and to do that we needed an image that would first be high on impact and then simple to understand." The spokesman for the party stressed that the snail is not "supposed to represent Bertie" or to start a knocking campaign but it is intended to focus attention on slow-moving problems such as childcare, traffic and hospital waiting lists.
Both the agency and the party feel that advertising is an acceptable way for political parties to communicate policy.
"It's a way for political parties to be heard," says Mr Whittaker, "and to communicate their message to a wide audience that isn't particularly interested in politics or political debate."
It's unusual for a product or service to be allied with as unattractive creature as a snail but the agency sees no problem with this.
