Share The Craic

BACK TO OUR WORK

CLIENT:

Magners

COMPLETED:

2026

CATEGORY:

PUBLIC RELATIONS, SOCIAL MEDIA

Everyone loves a laugh. But rather than simply putting Magners next to something funny, we wanted to give the brand a credible role in comedy culture. So we tapped into the Irish art of shared joy, the craic, and took it nationwide.

Introducing Share The Craic: our search for Britain’s next breakthrough comedian.

Comedy has an obvious connection to Magners. The brand’s all about good craic: that uniquely Irish art of shared joy, storytelling and good times.

But the challenge was turning that cultural connection into something credible. Rather than chasing around for comedy fans, we wanted Magners to show up where the comedy conversation was already happening, and give the brand a genuine role within it.

The brief was simple: make Magners relevant again to 25–54-year-olds through comedy.

the challenge

MAKE MAGNERS RELEVANT THROUGH THE POWER OF COMEDY

THE SOLUTION

BRIDGING THE GAP FOR CRAIC

The more we explored the comedy world, the clearer it became that comedy is about much more than jokes. And if Magners wanted to be part of the culture, it needed to contribute something meaningful to it.

With 95% of comedians reportedly losing money by participating at the Fringe, we spotted the opportunity. Rather than simply borrowing from comedy culture, Magners could back the people trying to break into it.

Enter: Share The Craic, a nationwide search for Britain’s next breakthrough comedy talent, giving one rising act the chance to get their Fringe break, without breaking the bank.

It transformed Magners from comedy spectator into comedy supporter, championing grassroots talent while building a genuine connection with the UK comedy scene.

THE execution

TAKING THE CRAIC NATIONWIDE

We took the search on the road, meeting emerging comedians where they were and building the campaign from grassroots comedy clubs all the way to one of the biggest stages in the world.

Irish comedian Emma Doran became the face of the campaign, bringing authentic comedy credentials, Irish roots and a highly engaged audience spanning Magners’ target age groups.

A nationwide call-out kicked off the search, followed by five regional heats across Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow and London, before five finalists headed to Soho for a live final at Underbelly Boulevard.

From launch photography and talent interviews to regional media, listings and comedy press, we built a phased PR campaign around every step of the journey, turning individual comedians into local stories and the competition into a national one. The campaign strategy stretched from launch through regional heats and the winner moment to the Edinburgh Fringe itself.

At the final, comedian Ashlee Bentley was crowned the winner, securing a fully funded month-long residency at Underbelly’s Wee Coo at the Edinburgh Fringe, taking Share The Craic from a PR idea to a tangible opportunity for emerging comedy talent. The original campaign proposition was designed around exactly that career-defining, fully funded Fringe platform.