In the eleventh edition of The Interesting Index, one brand’s latest platform succeeds by keeping it simple, while others have found success in the sporting arena, writes Sarah Walsh.
Back for the first time in 2026, The Interesting Index is a quarterly research project designed to understand what advertisements people in Ireland remember, and why.
The Interesting Index – a joint initiative from The Public House, Bounce Insights and Adworld.ie – is a quarterly survey conducted amongst 1,000 nationally representative respondents in Ireland. This survey was conducted in March 2026.
So, what TV ads are resonating with the Irish public?
This quarter’s most remembered ads from the first three months of 2026 are:
- Aldi – It’s Not Complicated Tomatoes / Eggs
- Tesco Mobile Cats
- Sky Mobile Roy Keane World Cup
- Guinness – Guinness 0.0% Ireland’s Call
- Virgin Media – Walrus Whizzer
- Just Eat – Craig David
- Aviva Insurance – Man From Geneva
- Outsurance – Real People Unreal Savings
- Domino’s – Domino’s Chick N’ Dip
- Lidl – Greatness Deserves To Be Seen
First announced in January, Aldi’s latest brand platform ‘It’s Not Complicated’ has proven to be hugely successful in the months following. Initially launching with a campaign centered around overly-complicated supermarkets, the message and humour seem to have stuck well with audiences.
“The Aldi ad about organic tomatoes. They went through all the added “extras” other supermarkets put on which means higher prices paid by the customer. It was quite funny”
But Aldi were not done yet! Following this initial work, in March they released a second campaign. Taking a different perspective on the brand platform, they poke fun at their competitors’ price matching certain products. Audiences once again recognised the clever idea, and clearly got the message.
“It was the Aldi ad where an egg was talking about Tesco matching the Aldi prices. There were a few eggs and one got fried while the other was talking about Tesco. It was made for customers of Aldi and it was a clever idea from them”
Two creative campaigns under the one platform receiving so many distinct mentions is rare, so a strong showing from Aldi in this edition of The Interesting Index. A great example of the benefits of being flexible with a brand platform when possible.
But enough Aldi, who else stood out amongst the results? One area that has been a hot topic of Irish culture recently is our sport. This hype did not go unnoticed by brands, who looked to pounce on any available opportunity to get involved in the conversation.
First up was Sky Mobile, joining in on the hype and anticipation for the upcoming men’s football world cup qualifiers. It was a free win for a brand who have Roy Keane at their face, and audiences consistently pointed out it is a great encapsulation of Irish humour and optimism.
“Sky Mobile – showed the excited fans in the pub getting ready to go to the World Cup – till Roy Keane reminds them we haven’t qualified yet, depicts pure Irish spirit”
With the men’s Six Nations having concluded this month, and the women’s kicking off in April, who better than to utilise the hype than Guinness? The home of the black stuff adapted their ‘Singing Pints’ 0.0 % campaign to now be performing a rendition of Ireland’s Call. Remembered as funny, creative and above all else ‘smile inducing’
“Ireland’s Call being sung by a number of pints of Guinness, their faces contained in the heads of the pints. I thought it was typically brilliant of that particular product and brought a smile anytime it came on”.
Wrapping up the sports was Lidl’s campaign in partnership with the LGFA ‘Greatness Deserves To Be Seen’. Utilizing brand ambassador Katie Taylor as the season kicked off in January, the campaign is not only another example of a familiar face helping with retention, but also that supporting causes which are important to audiences is always a great thing.
“Lidl x LGFA greatness deserves to be seen campaign featured Katie Taylor, it was on point with current affairs”
This sporting hype will only increase as the Fifa men’s World Cup commences this summer, so we will expect to see continued utilisation in the coming months.
Other features include Tesco Mobile Cats, who managed to climb all the way to second place. Unsurprising considering it was the only non-holiday ad to feature in our previous Christmas edition, so it clearly has some staying power with audiences.
However it was not the only campaign to find a way to make a reappearance on The Interesting Index this quarter; Aviva insurance, Outsurance, Just Eat and our old pal the Walrus Whizzer have all returned, now that the annual festivities have subsided.
All of these campaigns have seen continued success throughout their time, quite often utilising humour or music to increase audience retention.
“Tesco mobile, cats talking about humans using rectangles to take photos. Amusing and relatable”
“Just Eat! Craig David is singing an annoyingly catchy tune so it stands out and gets stuck in my head!”
Lastly, Domino’s latest campaign promoting their new products got onto the leaderboard. This is the first time that two separate campaigns featuring realistic cat puppets have made our list, and we will leave it to you to garner any kind of meaningful insight from that…
“Weird Domino’s new ad for sauce where a couple are sitting at a table and a bull barges through the wall of their home and has samurai cat”
Asking our audiences how they feel about this quarter’s advertising overall, we see a significant drop in campaigns making them feel ‘Happy’.
The Interesting Index – a joint initiative from The Public House, Bounce Insights and adworld.ie – is a quarterly survey conducted amongst 1,000 nationally representative respondents in Ireland. This survey was conducted in March 2026
However, no alarm bells are ringing yet as this pattern is expected, and has occurred every year following the Christmas season. Overall quality of ads stayed similar through the quarter, as the majority of those surveyed agree the content they see is good work, if not better.
And that’s it for now! Having found that sometimes the simple approach might be the best one, and that being current in the culture is always a great tool, we can only wait and see what’s in store for us next?
It might just be even more cat puppets…
Sarah Walsh is Head of Strategy with The Public House
