St. Patrick’s Day is associated with huge parades, tons of green beer, Irish recipes galore, and even a green river (thank you City of Chicago!). But what’s with people pinching other people who aren’t wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day? It’s called the “St Patrick’s Day Pinch”, a tradition started by school children. They pinch classmates who don’t wear green on this holiday. Wearing green is strictly a U.S. custom, as the color green is not popular in Ireland. Green is connected to the old green flag and a time when Ireland was not free.

Some other St Patrick’s Day traditions include eating Irish food such as Irish Stew, Corned Beef and cabbage and kissing the famous Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone is supposed to give you the ability to talk your way into or out of most anything. The legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. It’s difficult to reach the stone. People must lie on their back and bend backward or downward, holding iron bars for support.

St. Patrick’s Day customs and traditions vary significantly far and near. Whether you celebrate in a big way or not at all, wear green and clink a toast to the amazing St. Patrick.  Remember, a Toast on St. Patty’s day is as much a tradition as anything else.  Here are few Irish standards to get you by.
Sláinte!
(Pronounced ‘slawn-cha‘, meaning Health! A common toast in Ireland, the equivalent to ‘Cheers’)

‘Lucky’ Irish Toasts
Wherever you go and whatever you do,
May the luck of the Irish be there with you.
If you’re enough lucky to be Irish…
You’re lucky enough!

May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold—
And at the end of all your rainbows may you find a pot of gold.

May your pockets be heavy— Your heart be light,
And may good luck pursue you each morning and night.
Irish Toasts to Friends & Family
May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a smooth road all the way to your door.

There are good ships, and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.

Here’s to you and yours, And to mine and ours,
And if mine and ours ever come across you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do as much for mine and ours,
As mine and ours have done for you and yours!

May the lilt of Irish laughter lighten every load…
May the mist of Irish magic shorten every road…
And may all your friends remember … all the favors you are owed!

Here’s to the land of the shamrock so green,
Here’s to each lad and his darlin colleen,
Here’s to the ones we love dearest and most.
May God bless old Ireland,…That’s this Irishman’s toast!

Irish Everyday Toasts
May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows your dead!

May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.
May your heart be light and happy,
May your smile be big and wide,
And may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!

Always remember to forget the troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

May neighbours respect you,

Irish Birthday Toasts
May you live to be 100 years, with one extra year to repent.

We drink to your coffin. May it be built from the wood of a hundred year old oak tree that I shall plant tomorrow.

May God grant you many years to live, for sure he must be knowing, the earth has angels all too few and heaven is overflowing…

May the good Lord take a liking to you…
But not too soon!

May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous spouse.

Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, The foresight to know where you are going, And the insight to know when you have gone too far.

May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, and never catch up.

First down, no yellow feet
If you watch football on TV, you’re familiar with the first down line that appears on the field as the players are running around. It’s usually a bright yellow line that moves with each play, and it’s pretty obvious that it’s not really on the field but is superimposed for TV broadcast. I figured it was just some simple overlay done in the TV studio. Then one day, I happened to stop on a game while flipping through the channels and noticed that when a player walked across the line, his feet didn’t turn yellow. In fact, the line never once encroached on any solid item that crossed it.

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Click on this link and turn up your volume!! GO BUCKS!!

The inaugural Pig Roast was a huge success! City BBQ catered the event and homemade Sangria was enjoyed by all. The weather was a sticky 94 degrees, but that didn’t stop many of our media friends and clients from coming! Thank you for all who were able to join us, and if you couldn’t make it this year, we hope to see you next!

Click the “Read More” tab below to view photos from the event. Also, click on the image to view a higher resolution version - you can then print the photo and use it to blackmail your friends!!!

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Think of your advertising budget as a water pitcher (containing your monthly budget) and a cupboard full of glasses (your marketing choices), all the same size and shape. How many glasses do you need to achieve the best level of marketing your business each month? The answer is less than you think!

Media fragmentation, time demand on consumers and endless choices to market to the consumer all tug at our marketing pitcher. Many of us pull out seven or eight or even more glasses and fill them each with a certain amount of the budget. Then, at month’s end, we are disappointed because our marketing goals fell short. The reason; too many glasses were only being slightly filled diluting the overall marketing message.

Instead of buying too many different newspaper publications, a little cable, a little broadcast, a little radio and direct mail, choose only two or three and fill those “glasses” to the rim. You may reach fewer people, but you will reach them a greater number of times. Realistically, only 2% of the population is looking for a new vehicle at any given time, so reducing the number of ways you attempt to reach this market should not affect you negatively. The converse is true; you should see a positive impact by reducing the number of glasses (reach) and filling them fuller to achieve a greater frequency.

To learn more about how to fill less glasses and achieve better results contact the Bravura Advertising & Design team.

- Thanks to Automotive Consultant Jim Doyle for assistance with this article.

The Bravura Advertising & Design Sketchbook (blog) is a place where we as designers and creative thinkers can express ourselves and share items we find interesting. This is a collection of ideas, comments and random thoughts, though you will find the occasional grilling recipe or Michigan Football joke. We ask that you keep all of your posts clean as we reserve the right to remove any post we deem inappropriate.

Lastly, we would like to thank our web design intern Melissa for all of her hard work in designing/programming our new sketchbook. Melissa is about to start her Junior year at Bowling Green State University and is studying Visual Communications. She will be with us through out the end of the summer. Great job Melissa!