Jameson serves cardboard ‘desk decoys’ for St. Patrick’s Day to boost PTO

Dive Brief:

Jameson Irish Whiskey is selling customized cardboard cutouts called Jameson Desk Decoys to be used as stand-ins for consumers taking St. Patrick’s Day off from work, per a press release.
Regina Hall stars in a 60-second spot that sees the actor-producer use a desk decoy so she can celebrate SPTO — St. Patrick's Day Time Off. Desk decoys are available for $17.80 with proceeds benefiting the Restaurant Workers' Community Fund (RWCF) on top of a $25,000 donation from the Pernod Ricard brand.
The humorous campaign is informed by a survey showing 61% of Americans report feeling guilty for taking paid time off (PTO). The effort builds on previous celebrity-led campaigns around taking PTO on St. Patrick's Day, which falls on a Friday this year.

Dive Insight:

Jameson is back with another campaign that encourages consumers to take PTO on St. Patrick's Day and comes as six in 10 consumers feel guilty about taking the time-off they’ve accrued, according to a Zippia survey cited by the brand. Jameson is toying with this insight with the help of a desk decoy, a novelty product available for $17.80, in a nod to the year the brand was founded, that can be customized with consumer headshots and SPTO-inspired outfits.

The 60-second video has fun with the desk decoy concept, having actor-producer Regina Hall use the stand-in in a variety of settings before going to a bar that is also staffed by a desk decoy. The video also references some consumers' ambivalence to the return-to-office movement that has picked up in recent months, with Hall flatly saying, "Well, here we are. Somehow they got us back into the office. Yay."

"We've all been there before — your boss forgot you took an SPTO and swings by to meet one-on-one. Or your finance department didn't get your SPTO memo and requests your latest expense report while you're out of the office," Johan Radojewski, the brand’s vice president of marketing said in the press release.

The desk decoys proceeds and an additional $25,000 donation benefit the Restaurant Workers' Community Fund in a purpose-driven element that seeks to boost an industry that is still feeling the aftereffects of pandemic-era restrictions. However, the amount is significantly less than the $150,000 the brand donated in 2021 when restrictions and difficulties were much more acute.

The St. Patrick's Day campaign follows more significant brand-building work by Jameson. The brand in September launched its largest U.S. campaign in over a decade with “Widen The Circle,” an effort created by TBWA\Dublin that encouraged spontaneity and the forming of new connections.