She was revealed after two weeks as a spoof designed to prove the effectiveness of a magazine ad. A second phase of the ad will launch this week, officially clarifying the fact that it was placed by the Periodical Publishers Association of Ireland (PPAI).

Bernie has become a focus of public fascination as hundreds of magazine buyers and contributors to radio chat shows - not to mention advertisers and journalists - puzzled over who she could be.

Appearing under the headline `Yes, it is me', Bernie announced she was ``sick to death of watching you lot fighting over my money.

"I am not dead yet. So here you go. I am spending it. I am putting this message in every magazine I can find, and will keep doing so until the money is gone. Then maybe you can stop all the bickering. Shame on you all.''

Hundreds of readers rang magazines to voice their support for Bernie's principled stance. The campaign became a topic for chat show hosts including Gerry Ryan, Ian Dempsey and Ray D'Arcy, as well as hosts on Tipp FM and Cork 103.

One fellow advertiser in Food & Wine magazine rang up its publisher to offer Bernie a caseload of wine.

Those who suspected a prank were directed by magazine sales departments to the advertising agency Cawley Nea TBWA, which had placed the ads, but it refused to reveal the identity of its client.

The PPAI has been on a drive for two years to convince advertisers to direct more money to magazines.

Cawley Nea TBWA came up with the concept of Bernie, a fictional 74-year-old widow from Clontarf with four squabbling adult children, and found a suitable image in file pictures. The idea was to demonstrate how good magazines were at niche marketing and how close their relationship was to the consumer.

Bernie was to proclaim her message to a wide variety of Irish magazines to make sure each one of her children was exposed to her ads, despite their varied professions and interests.

``We wanted to create something with a more emotional appeal than straightforward research,'' said PPAI chief executive Grace Aungier, who has been surprised by the scale and the speed of the reaction to Bernie.

``I thought we'd get a month out of the Bernie story,'' she said. ``But I think this shows that magazines really have an emotional connection.

"People know that magazine ads are about brand-building, because they tend to remain around the house or office for weeks, but they don't always think that magazine ads can have an immediate impact.''

The Bernie ads are scheduled to appear in most of the PPAI's 178 member titles in the coming weeks.

The Irish magazine industry is estimated to be worth €152 million, with 24 million magazines sold each year. But magazines account for less than 3 per cent of advertising spend.