It is interesting how often I hear uillann pipes in commercials. We often note the their use in theatrical productions, but they are very distinctive in television commercials as well, with prominant eary wails and airs. This morning I noticed a new commercial featuring Tiger Woods for the company Accenture which used uilleann pipes as the background track. In the past I have heard the UPs used for commercials for the Nissan Pathfinder, The Hartford Insurance and for AT&T long distance phone service. All of those marketing efforts seem to strive for the same serious yearning feeling and effect. I guess the pipes are THE instrument of choice for that category. Anyone else pick out the pipes in other marketing efforts? It is amazing to hear them on national TV and yet 99%+ people would have no idea of what instrument they are hearing.
Whenever I am watching golf (my other obssession) tournaments, the UPs are constantly heard in the sound track accompanying adds for clubs, insurance, investment brokers and so forth…their use in such adds is more prevalent than a lot of people realize.
I brought this up a while ago as being a sign that UPs are more popular than ever and got pooped on. But I agree. I hear them all over the place: as one of a multitude of instruments in the Discovery Channel’s little “You are watching …” blurb, and as background music on the Space channel’s little time fillers of recent satellite and telescope shots. I agree that most people probably have no idea what they’re listening to, but the sound is out there in the commercial market, and I think if people actually had more opportunity to see the UPs being played they could put the instrument together with the sound they’ve been hearing all over the tv.
djm
Oh, and another thing, I really get a kick out of the fact that my children often hear the pipes on TV and call out to me, “Hey Dad, there is a commercial on TV with uilleann pipes again”. They are fiddlers (and hopefully will pick up the pipes soon), but obviously their ears are well trained or maybe I should say conditioned to pick out the sound of the pipes. My little part to spread the recognition.
Neil
Bud too 
a new species maybe?
Slán go foill 
Uilliam