Pouring some light relief on the rain

Following on from the well publicised lack of summer this year, Murphy’s have launched a unique smartphone app that gives you a free pint – when it’s raining.

Eschewing previous competitor campaigns where a free pint was distributed when it was sunny (remember those days?), Murphy’s have decided to embrace the drizzle and downpour that we all love to hate.

“I suppose the idea just came from looking outside the window,” said Peter Murphy, Brand Manager at Murphy’s Stout (but no relation).

“Unfortunately the summer has been poor this year, so we thought we would do something real and pragmatic to boost people’s spirits, rather than pretend that we have beautiful sunshine on our beaches.”

“We just want to make the summer a little more bearable and help in our own small way.”

The app, which is available for free on iPhone and Android, tells you when Met Éireann predict some rain in Cork in your area and allows you to claim a free pint of Murphy’s in your local. 

However, Peter is no fool, knowing how much rain falls in Cork and Ireland they have a limit of 1,000 pints per day for the duration of the promotion, which will last 60 days.

“We have gotten a great response since we launched on Tuesday. We have over 100 pubs signed up and we already gave away a load of free pints.”

To publicise the app, Murphy’s filmed a promotional video on Garretstown beach to explain how it would work. However, the typical Irish weather didn’t play it’s live up to its side of the bargain.

“We filmed in Garretstown and it was beautiful day!” said Peter.

“We wanted it to be rainy but it wasn’t, which is fairly typical. Look it’s, a bit of craic and humour. If you go online and watch the video you’ll see that, it’s just our way to give back a little.”

To access the pubs participating in the When it Rains, it Pours campaign, visit www.murphys.com or download the app in the App Store or the Android market.