Ballygowan's new 40-second "Children of Lir" television advertisement is all dreamy and pure in a Celtic sort of way but a look behind the scenes shows that filming is not the glamfest it's cracked up to be.

Halford Hutchinson made the advertisement for McConnell's Advertising and the crew and the actors spent most of the three-day shoot in Ashford, Co Wicklow up to their shins in freezing water.

A 100 ft by 60 ft wooden platform had to be built six inches under the water to support the cameras and crew, and pre-production included trying to find agreeable mute swans. The "Children of Lir" advertisement is regarded by Ballygowan very much as a companion advertisement for its current "800 years of purity" theme. Both will run concurrently for the next year with media expenditure of £1.5 million - almost twice last year's outlay - to support the brand.