4/20/88-Radio pays homage to commercials

VICTOR STREDICKE – April 20, 1988
The sales and management folk at radio stations honored the folks who pay the bills _ advertisers _ at the third annual Soundies Awards last night at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel.
Ten one-minute commercials were honored from a list of 48 nominees heard on Seattle stations.

In a category for best presentation by an announcer, a fast-talker extolled banking at PeoplesBank. The agency was Elgin Syferd.

Copywriters write the commercials, and Jock Blaney and Tracy Schakohl, copywriters, won in this category for a Wendy’s commercial featuring an argument over hamburgers by two British blokes.

The same Wendy’s Restaurants commercial won for an ad “conceived and produced by a radio station.” The station was KPLZ.

A board meeting on “average airlines” won for humor. The sponsor was Alaska Airlines. The agency was Livingston & Co.

For the best use of sound in a commercial, a slamming jail door, titled “Rat on a Rat,” won for the Washington Bankers Association. The agency was Ehrig and Associates.

A Beefy Boy baritone extolling Dag’s Restaurants won for best use of music. Production company was KOMO Radio.

A pseudo-Ricardo Montalban sold “Puerto Seattle” and other local destinations for San Juan Airlines. This Steve Glade & Associates’ project was named the best campaign.

For public service, a conversation between an employer and a disabled worker was devised for the Developmental Disability Planning Council.

Drawing attention to the money that can be spent in developing these arresting one-minute commercial, a category called “From Under $1,000,” brought a winning do-it-yourself jingle by a Pizza Haven executive. The agency was Borders, Perin and Norrander.

And in a concluding indulgence in self-promotion, a spot for “radio self-promotion” was won by KZOK. Mark Edwards was creative director. The station’s own “commercial” used split-second snatches of classic rock songs to point up how quickly a discerning listener could know which station he was listening to.

Ken Boyington, a Seattle comic now working out of Los Angeles, was moderator.