The Dublin Hangover Service popped up on my radar around a year ago, invading my Facebook newsfeed as its page gained thousands of ‘likes’, seemingly overnight.
The service was designed to bring items like McDonald’s, coke and crisps to punters who needed food the morning after a night out, but who also felt the journey to the outside world was just that little bit too much. The idea is undeniably genius, so I decided not only to track down the guys who started the idea, but also some people who had opted in for the service.
However, there were a few problems.
Problem 1: For a service that has over 33 thousand ‘likes’ on its Facebook page I couldn’t track down a single person who had used it. In fact, many people seemed to think that the idea was some kind of parody, even though many of these people had themselves ‘liked’ the Facebook page.
Problem 2: (probably more of an actual problem than problem 1) The Dublin Hangover Service isn’t even a thing anymore. It already came and went, running from August 2013 to Christmas the same year.
But, the story doesn’t end there. The makers of DHS have started up a new service in Dublin, called Munch Run. Munch Run is effectively the same idea, but take hangovers out of the equation and replace items like burgers and nuggets with sweets and crisps.
I talked to James Bull, the brains behind both DHS and Munch Run, who explained that the swap to non-perishable food items was to “make the whole process economically viable”. James also said Munch Run currently operates in a different and smaller area than DHS did: in Knocklyon, Firhouse and Tallaght. But despite the smaller delivery area James says that Munch Run is going really well since its launch in July of this year.
Delivery hours are also a major difference between Munch Run and its predecessor – the morning hangover shift has been traded for a more sensible 8pm start. However, the social media reaction to Munch Run hasn’t spiked in the same way that it did for DHS. As many people stated on DHS’ Facebook page, the idea of hangover deliveries was extremely Irish, and perhaps that has something to do with it. Delivering sweets in the night-time just doesn’t say ‘Irish‘ like a greasy hangover-cure delivered straight into your hands.
What lies in the future for Munch Run remains to be seen, but I can’t help but think that the service could be a genius idea for people suffering with a disability, who may be unable to walk to the shop whenever they desire.
As well as hungry students, of course.
For a taste of what Much Run delivers their ‘menu’ and info is below, along with a link to their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/themunchrun
