ARE the Americans - those who usually take a polite sip of their first glass of Guinness before making a face and moving onto their beloved Bud - finally succumbing to Uncle Arthur's black brew.

The Margin noticed that Guinness poured a third more stout into the US last year, benefiting from what the somewhat snooty Wall Street Journal calls "the new generation of beer snobs". Now Guinness is hoping to keep the stout flowing with its first large scale television ad campaign.

No surprises for guessing when the Guinness campaign gets under way - St Patrick's Day - with a tag of "Why Man was Given Five Senses".