The Monkeys takes out Gold Siren for Ikea ‘Holidays’ radio spot – Silver Siren to Gatecrasher, Perth for Alcoholics Anonymous campaign
A radio spot for Ikea, called “Holidays”, created by The Monkeys in Sydney, has taken out the 2012 Gold Siren award for best radio commercial of the year, which was presented at the Siren Awards breakfast in Melbourne.
The single spot, written by Tim Green and Tim Cairns (pictured), also won a Silver Siren for winning the single category.
The winning commercial, which uses a child telling his class about his school holiday experiences of his dad installing a kitchen, was announced today at a breakfast in Melbourne. The spot also won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Advertising Festival last year.
Judge, John Mescall, executive creative director, McCann Worldgroup, said about the winning ad: “Holidays” didn’t win just because it was funny. Nor did it win just because it had a kid in it who said f***. It won because it dared speak the ugly truth about IKEA: assembling their furniture can be a real pain in the a***. Such irreverent self-deprecation has always been a hallmark of great Australian advertising, and long may it be so.”
The winning team said: “We were inspired by the idea of a regular unskilled guy attempting to install a kitchen by himself and what the flow-on effect might be. We tried to imagine what having your Dad install a kitchen would be like, seen through the eyes of an enthusiastic six year old.
“Radio ads are often used to speed read a shopping list of product benefits, but like all good ads if you can just focus on saying one thing well, you’ll be winning.”
The winning writers will receive airfares, accommodation and tickets to this year’s Cannes Advertising Festival, to be held next month. This year, for the first time, the client also wins a trip to Cannes and the festival.
Winner of the Silver Siren for the campaign category announced today was “AA Campaign” for Alcoholics Anonymous, written by Des Hameister from agency, Gatecrasher in Perth.
Pictured left to right: Scott Illingworth, Pete Best, Merrick Watts, Des Hameister, Marty Braine.
The ads are very confronting about the effects of alcohol on everyday situations. Des Hameister said about the ads: “At the end of the day, alcoholics don’t just hurt themselves. And this spot empathises with that fact in an impactful way.”
Judge, John Mescall, executive creative director, McCann Worldgroup, said about the spots: “A very strong radio idea, brilliantly realised. As scripts, they probably could’ve gone either way, given the degree of difficulty inherent in the execution. But as finished commercials, they’re bloody great. Everyone involved should take a bow.”
The Silver Siren winner for the craft category was an ad for SA Lotteries called “Scratched Record”, and produced by sound engineers, Scott Illingworth and Pete Best from production studio, Best FX in Adelaide.
Says chief executive officer, Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner: “This is in recognition of the important role clients play in driving the writing, production and delivery of high quality radio ads.”
The same Ikea ad also won the 2012 Siren Client Award, the best ad voted by a judging panel made up of clients, with the writers receiving a cash prize of $5000.
The national Siren Awards, now in its eighth year, are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. A winner is announced in three categories: single, campaign and craft, which receive Silver Sirens as well as an overall winner which receives the Gold Siren. The awards are judged by the Siren Council, comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising agencies and studios throughout Australia.
Ms Warner said the Siren Awards provided a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising and had grown in stature each year: “Each year the creative bar is lifted in terms of delivering a great product – it is essential that radio ads continue to be creative and produce good results so the medium is showcased as a very beneficial way to advertise.”
Today’s breakfast was hosted by Merrick Watts, drive time host at Triple M.
2012 Siren Award winners
SirenAwards 2012 Overall Category Winner (Gold Siren)
(alsowinner of 2012 Client Category (cash prize)
Agency: TheMonkeys, Sydney
Writer: Tim Green and Tim Cairns
Client: Ikea
CommercialTitle: “Holidays”
SirenAwards 2012 Single Category Winner (Silver Siren)
Agency: TheMonkeys, Sydney
Writer: Tim Green and Tim Cairns
Client: Ikea
CommercialTitle: “Holidays”
SirenAwards 2011 Campaign Category Winner (Silver Siren)
Agency: Gatecrasher,Perth
Writer: Des Hameister
Client: Alcoholics Anonymous
CommercialTitle: “AA Campaign”
SirenAwards 2011 Craft Category Winner (Silver Siren)
SoundEngineers: Scott Illingworth and Pete Best
ProductionStudio: Best FX, Adelaide
Client: SA Lotteries
CampaignTitle: “Scratched Record”
4 Comments
DDBoom!
Nice one cairnsy
That is the best promo pic i have ever seen.
Shame. Political correctness still rules.
Some great beer ads in there that never stood a chance against serious AA.