Panned 'Wild Mountain Thyme' proves to be a smash hit ... for Tourism Ireland 

Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt in a scene from  the film 'Wild Mountain Thyme'.

It may have been panned by the critics but Tourism Ireland got bang for its buck from a marketing campaign around Hollywood film Wild Mountain Thyme.

The movie was lampooned for its Irish accents but that didn't stop the tourism agency spending more than €17,000 capitalising on its release across the Atlantic.

Tourism Ireland said the YouTube campaign, which ran in the USA and Canada, yielded more than 600,000 views on the video channel.

The behind-the-scenes video — featuring interviews with stars Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan — was also shared across their social media channels.

Figures released under FOI detail spending of €11,556 on the US part of the campaign with the 30-second and one-minute videos running over the course of a week in December. 

A further €4,644 was spent promoting the video in Canada while another €738 was spent on video editing and the addition of subtitling for possible use in other markets.

The tourism agency said promotion of Ireland through 'Wild Mountain Thyme' would continue as the film was released in Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the Nordic countries over the summer.

The film was shot in Mayo in 2019 at a variety of locations, including Crossmolina and Ballina, and features extensive footage from along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Tourism Ireland said the video was intended to “highlight the magnificent scenery” of Mayo and the west of Ireland.

It measured success of the video by a cost per completed view of just three cents and a video completion rate of 47%, which it described as a “strong performance”.

Behind the scenes video had also been shared on Facebook and Twitter in Britain, France, and Australia to coincide with release of the film in those countries.

An information note said: “On Facebook, the video had a combined reach of 22,821; and on Twitter, it achieved 14,235 impressions (or opportunities to see).”