Addressing what occurs “when bad things happen to good ideas,” Oink Ink Radio has announced the Call for Entries to its 16th Annual Dead Radio Contest. The first of its kind, Dead Radio is a competition for advertising copywriters who have written radio scripts that for whatever reason (too provocative, too silly, too expensive or simply overlooked) were never selected for air by the client. A panel of industry creatives will judge the entries and choose the best “dead” spot, along with 2 runners-up. The Grand Prize Winner receives a deluxe trip to Oink’s studios in New York City, where the once-shelved spot is brought back to life and given the benefit of a fully cast, directed and mixed production. Judging by the success of prior years, Oink Ink expects 2013’s pool of submissions to be extremely competitive.
What began as a humble platform to shine light on overlooked – but great radio ads – has become an arena for writers to gain recognition for stellar work that isn’t always embraced by clients. However, the occasional reigning Dead spot has caused some clients to think twice about their initial rejection – and some ads have made it to the air after all.
“In fact,” according to Oink president, Dan Price, “since the contest began, at least 7 or 8 winning spots went on to eventually win national awards.” Among them Radio Mercuries, Cannes Lions among others. Last year’s Dead winner – Joe O’Neill’s (Manifest Communications of Toronto) “Rock and Roll Casualty” promoted the Canadian Hearing Society, as over 3 million Canadians are affected by noise-induced hearing loss. The spot featured a ‘rock star’ who literally could not hear his cheering crowd.
Since 1998, spots written for IKEA, Southwest Airlines, Durex, Miller Lite, Verizon and even M.A.D.D. have earned recognition as the best of the Dead. Submissions have grown steadily over the years. Dan Price estimates that some 800 radio scripts were sent to Oink last year. “The Contest gives writers hope that the radio spots they love may not be dead after all. Just incapacitated or in a very serious coma,” says Price.
“For all these years, knowing the contest existed gave me a faint glimmer of hope for any good radio spot of mine that had been deep-sixed.” said O’Neill. “There was always the faint possibility that it would be the spot that the Dead Radio Contest would exhume from the grave, fill with the breath of life, and resurrect as a glorious, triumphant spot. And get me to New York for an unforgettable weekend,” said O’Neill. Scripts submitted for competition must not have been previously produced, and should be no longer than 60 seconds in length.
“The Contest gives us writers hope that the radio spots we love may not be dead after all. Just incapacitated or in a very serious coma,” said Cam Boyd, 2007’s Grand Prize Winner.
This year’s submission deadline is December 13th. Contest details and submission forms can be found on the Dead Radio Contest Website.