In his inimitable statesman like style, Trump has once again opened his orange gob and firmly placed a cankled foot in it. During his recent golfing visit to Ireland he sparked a diplomatic row after voicing support for Irish unification, stating he would love to see it happen and claiming it is inevitable. Being half Irish (My mother was born in County Cork) and having worked on several Irish based accounts during my long and somewhat checkered Mad Man career, this immediately caught my attention and brought back memories of working on the Irish Tourist Board account back in the sixties whilst Copy Chief at DeGarmo, New York.
Besides encouraging us to produce great work, the Marketing Director, who was an internationally recognized and published poet, always insisted on having meetings at 11.00AM that would last less than an hour, allowing us to get an early start to a multiple martini lunch that would take up the rest of the day!
Then in the seventies, back in London, I worked on the Strathern account. This was a manufacturer of very high-end audio equipment based in Belfast. It was also at the height of “The Troubles.” So our apres meeting multiple martini lunches (Obviously an Irish tradition, irrespective of which side of the border you are on) would invariably be accompanied by the sound of riots and car bombs. Who said the ad biz isn’t tough?
On a final note, whilst on his Irish golf tour, the “brilliant” international statesman blessed us with these thoughts on the Falkland Isles…
Well, the Falkland Islands is very interesting because here we go again. I remember as a young boy, a pretty young boy anyway, but the Falkland Islands, and I think it was a different country at that time, the UK a little bit, but they went in and they took it over. I’m not sure they’re doing that. They have a little problem with immigration. They have a little problem with energy and then have some other problems they have to take care of. So, I don’t know. You know, I don’t know if they’re going to be willing to travel that far. That is very far away. You’re talking about weeks by boat. I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out. But right now, you have two countries that are not happy concerning the Falklands.”
Well, the Falkland Islands is very interesting because here we go again. I remember as a young boy, a pretty young boy anyway, but the Falkland Islands, and I think it was a different country at that time, the UK a little bit, but they went in and they took it over. I’m not sure they’re doing that. They have a little problem with immigration. They have a little problem with energy and then have some other problems they have to take care of. So, I don’t know. You know, I don’t know if they’re going to be willing to travel that far. That is very far away. You’re talking about weeks by boat. I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out. But right now, you have two countries that are not happy concerning the Falklands.”
Dear old Maggie must be spinning in her grave!
