Irn-Bru defends new 'Gets You Through' advert against comedian's claim she was "ripped off"
Barrs soft drink Irn-Bru has defended its new advert from a claim that it was “ripping off” a joke made by Scottish comedian Janey Godley while she auditioned for a role in it.
The new advert for Irn-Bru, made by it’s agency of record, The Leith Agency, features the embarrassment of a train passenger as the toilet door unexpectedly opens in front of him as he is using the facility. He then falls forward with his trousers around his ankles as the lady pushing the refreshments trolley passes and hands him a can of Irn-Bru to help improve the situation.
Godley told comedy website Chortle that the advert was originally dialogue-free before she improvised the line “crack on” which is featured in the advert as the punch line of a passing cyclist parking his bike at the passengers exposed backside.
Speaking to Chortle, Godley claimed: “I know that parking the bike in the bum is an old joke but there was no dialogue in that advert. When the guy says ‘where can I park my bike?’, I was the trolley dolly lady and supposed to just look as if to say “uh hmm” and motion with my eyes.
“But I went ‘crack on’ and the four people in the room all burst out laughing. And I went, ‘Guys, you cannae use that, that was me ad-libbing. You can't get me to write your advert’. I just had my suspicions because of the way they looked at each other.”
A spokesperson for IRN-BRU told The Drum: "We met lots of budding comedians during the creative stage for our new Irn-Bru ad. 'Bottoms up' was almost as popular as 'crack-on'. It’s good to know our consumers share our sense of humour."
The new campaign was released on Thursday evening and continues the ‘It’ll Get You Through’ position