• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 10, 2017

Oink Ink, the organization that celebrates radio ads shot down by clients, has announced the winner of its 18th annual Oink Ink Dead Radio Contest. Emmanuel Torres, an art director at Toronto agency Cundari won for his 60-second spot called PUSH for client fixauto.com. Torres had the idea for the script seven years ago in his first advertising class in college. Through the years, he has pitched it numerous times but was never able to convince a client to take such an edgy approach. 

"This script was born in one assignment. When I presented it to class, they laughed. It was pretty out there, but everybody got the joke," Torres said. "I've tried to bring it to other clients when it would work under their category, but the opportunity to run with it never happened until now." 

Over the years, numerous Dead Radio winners, all of which were initially rejected by clients, went on to air. In fact, several have been recognized by some of the industry's biggest award shows including Cannes and the Radio Mercury Awards. The Dead Radio Contest, now in its 18th year, aims to give a second chance to great radio scripts that clients deemed too risqué, too zany or were simply overlooked.

 Of Torres' win Oink Ink Co-Founder Dan Price said, "Emmanuel's story -- how he actually wrote his script while at ad school -- is exactly what this contest is all about. We're thrilled to have been able to rescue 18 spots that belonged on the air but for various reasons hadn't been given the chance." 

Each year, Oink Ink takes submissions from writers worldwide for the contest, and a panel of industry professionals selects the top spots. This year's entries were reviewed and judged by an international panel including Tony Hertz, CEO of Tony Hertz: Radio & Brand Sound, Philippines and Ralph van Dijk, Founder & Creative Director, Eardrum, Sydney, Australia. 

Torres spent last weekend at Audio Engine, Oink's New York-based studio, and enjoying the city. He was able to witness the resurrection of his shelved script as the spot was recorded and brought to life. 

Of the production team at New York-based Audio Engine which gave life to the script, Torres said, "The talent was first class. The script has a lot of screaming. They were really good at ad libbing. Dan knew how to direct it all and what would make this spot the best and I learned a lot watching him in action." 

Rick Ardito, a New York-based freelancer, won second place for a spot he wrote for Starz' television show Ash vs. Evil Dead called "Casting". Daniel Jordan, of OKRP/Chicago, won third place for a spot he wrote for Groupon. 

You can listen to Torres' winning spot here.