Immigration Rights awareness: No Irish Pub by Dan Margulis

To refocus the current immigration debate from ‘legal status’ to ‘human stories’, Detroit advertising creative director Dan Margulis has opened a 'No Irish Pub'. The bar opened for one day during Detroit’s St. Patrick’s celebrations, and treated the Irish like America used to treat Irish immigrants. A bouncer, echoing America’s ‘No Irish Need Apply’ legacy, refused entry to people of Irish heritage or anyone wearing green, claiming Irish ancestry for the day.

A video documenting the experience was released on St. Patrick’s Day and has quickly spread organically. Margulis calls the No Irish Pub a 'social experiment' in tolerance. It was designed to ‘shock people into empathy’ by having them experience the same discrimination suffered by many of their ancestors. The effort got people to react viscerally, not habitually. The video has stirred up heated debate across the web.

Dan Margulis is an awarded ad agency creative director, but the “No Irish Pub” is an independent passion project, not attached to any brands or agencies.