Powerscourt Ritz Carlton advertises a Wicklow getaway with a photograph of… well, not Wicklow

If you buy the Irish Times on a Saturday, you might have noticed the above ad running on the front page for the Powerscourt Ritz Carlton. In terms of hotel accommodation, it’s one of the jewel’s in the crown of County Wicklow <– Click on this link to see the County Wicklow promotional video.

The ad text runs :

“Your perfect getaway is closer than you think, yet it feels a million miles away from the everyday. We invite you to relax and enjoy long summer days and bright summer evenings deep in the hear of the Garden of Ireland and only 45 minutes from Dublin City.”

I’ve seen the ad a number of times over the “summer” weeks. I always scratched my head wondering where in County Wicklow the photograph was taken. Didn’t recognise it at all. I emailed Ritz Carlton at the end of June to enquire about the photo. Didn’t hear anything back and as I kept seeing it over the weeks, I emailed again recently direct to their PR person who got back very quickly and directed me to the ad agency McConnell’s.

No wonder I was puzzled, the photograph is a stock image of “somewhere in Ireland”, but it’s not County Wicklow. The PR person explained that the brief for the ad was to evoke a feeling of getting away from it all and in that respect, the ad does evoke that feeling.

Given the wonderful location of the hotel and the stunning scenery in County Wicklow, it wouldn’t have been to hard to evoke the “getting away from it all” vibe using Wicklow as a backdrop.

Totally wasted opportunity to showcase some Wicklow scenery to a big Saturday readership.