"It's colourless, it's soulless, it's hard to detect, so carbon monoxide deserves your respect..."
Since 2014, Tommy McAnairey has been reminding the people of Ireland to reguarly check their carbon monoxide alarms and learn their sources of carbon monoxide poisoining via the medium of traditional Irish ballads. There's just one twist - Tommy is an anthropomorphic canary! The first Tommy McAnairey Public Service Announcement premiered in late October 2014
on behalf of Bord Gais Networks (later renamed to Gas Networks Ireland the following year). Since then, Tommy has appeared in a handful of PSAs in which he performs new songs, still on the subject of preventing carbon monoxide poisoning.
The campaign was created by Dublin-based advertising agency Piranha Bar and features Irish singer-songwriter and comedian Paul Woodfull as the voice of Tommy McAnairey.
The ads can be easily viewed on YouTube.
Tropes found in these ads:
- Animal Occupation Stereotypes: Tommy's ancestors including his late Uncle Pat worked detecting carbon monoxide fumes in coal mines.
- Chaste Toons: Averted with Tommy being the proud father of his daughter Drimnagh.
- Dateless Grave: Almost averted with Pat McAnairey, his grave shows he was born in 1933 but the year of death is obscured by floral tributes.
- Feather Fingers: How else could Tommy play his banjo?
- Funny Animal: Tommy and his family are all anthropomorphic canaries.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: All of the members of the McAnairey family. Tommy appears to dislike wearing shoes, though.
- Gallows Humor: Tommy's other speciality besides singing and performing.Tommy (singing): Poxy chores, poxy chores, they only wreck me head, but do just one poxy chore...Tommy and Drimnagh: ...or ye might be brown bread!note
- Goth: Tommy's daughter Drimnagh is one.
- Lighter and Softer: The "Monthly Chores" PSA features a more upbeat song and more brightly-lit setting than previous PSAs.
- Mascot: He's more or less become one for Gas Networks Ireland since his debut.
- Minimalist Cast: The only characters seen on screen are Tommy and his relatives, both alive and deceased.
- Missing Mom: We don't yet know who Drimnagh's mother is.
- Mood Whiplash: Tommy often changes the tone of his songs from upbeat to dour on the last line in order to sell the seriousness of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Mythology Gag: This PSA is essentially the same list of tips for detecting carbon monoxide given in other Gas Networks Ireland PSAs, this time set to music.
- Phoneaholic Teenager: Drimnagh is burying her face in her phone in her debut appearance. The only thing that pulls her away from it is the fright she gets when Tommy tests the carbon monoxide alarm in the kitchen.
- Punny Name: In keeping with Tommy's "any fuel can harm" message, this PSA for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week 2016 features a song title dedicated to a deceased relative of Tommy named Annie Fuel. In the background there's a memorial picture of her posing with coal, turf, gas and wood.
- Set Behind the Scenes: The setting of the "what to do if your carbon monoxide alarm goes off" PSA, featuring Tommy shooting a music video.
- Theme Naming: In the Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week 2016 PSA, done in the style of an album infomercial, the song titles are all related to Tommy's mission. There's such gems as "Th'Oul Carbon Monoxide's a Terrible Thing", "Stone Dead in Three Minutes Flat" and "Sweep the Divil From Your Chimney".
- Theme Tune Extended: A two-minute song adapted from the ads called "Carbon Monoxide is Lethal as Hell" was released for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week in 2015.
- Tuft of Head Fur: Tommy's daughter Drimnagh has a green-dyed combover fringe of feathers.
- Visual Pun: In the first ad, Tommy mentions his "dear Uncle Pat" in a song. The camera pans over to a portrait of Patrick McAnairey, who is wearing mining gear, making him a literal canary in a coal mine.Tommy (to crowd): Thank you. That was for my canary ancestors who worked down the mines detecting the lethal gas carbon monoxide.
Coal, turf, gas, even wood - any fuel can harm - so get yerself a carbon monoxide alarm! (Or ye might just wake up dead!)
