The Oscars of Radio officially have their date! The 2022 Radio Mercury Awards will take place on June 9 at Sony Hall in New York City, and the pool of nominees offers nothing short of greatness.

We at Iliad Media Group are honored and proud to have three radio ads nominated! In fact, one of our clients we advertised in a nominated spot, Cupbop, just scored an enormous win on NBC’s Shark Tank. Talk about momentum!

You can hear our nominated ads for Cupbop,  our own company, and 95 other nominees here. Of course, you may not have time for them all though, so we combed through the entire pool of nominees, and are serving you up the best! Come for the entertainment, and stay for the knowledge, as we’ll be breaking down why the chosen spots are so effective.

Without further ado, here are the 5 best radio ads of the upcoming Radio Mercury Awards - and yes, we’ll explore 5 outside of our own!

1. “Relatable and Undebatable” - Cancer Screening Campaign for Penn Medicine (three :15-second spots)

Cancer screenings, a topic no one is giddy to talk about. But Penn Medicine makes it easy with this trio of spots. Each one begins with a clever shout-out to its target audience), but not too clever that it’s confusing. Throw in some relevant, hysterical sound effects perfectly timed, and you have a campaign that packs a whole lot of humor, health, and advertising in 15 seconds. Oh yeah, and get your screenings. 

2. “Pets Stay Free” - Motel 6

Ethos, pathos and logos are the three classic rhetorics developed by Aristotle, and thousands of years later they are cornerstones of advertising appeal. Ethos appeals to authority of the speaker or author, pathos to emotional response, and logos to logic. Well, Aristotle was not wrong, he just should have added one more potent rhetoric - appealing to our love of animals. And this campaign capitalizes on it hysterically while still not fixing what ain’t broken - the feel and tone of Motel 6’s campaigns.

3. “Ticks Suck” - Steve’s Pest Control

Coming off pets, how fitting that we pivot to ticks! Steve’s spot is a delicate one - you want to make the audience eek out from all that ticks represent (and how serious of a problem they definitely are in certain areas of the country). But you don’t want to go too far, to an all-our gross out. The comedic intro revealing non-tick things that suck is wonderful bridge-building, segueing us into the tiny pests. The descriptive language perfectly gives the audience that uncomfortable feeling of just seeing a tick, much less finding some on you or your pet. Bottom line, it’s fun, and its language heightens what’s most important for a business’ ad - they solve a serious problem.

4. “Hiking” - Donate Life America

Okay, far and away the best example of repetition advertising in this year’s class. On top of hammering home its message (you only need one kidney), it weaves in not just humor, but storytelling, as the audience progresses with this hiker’s wild adventures. It’s well-established that a huge risk with repetition in advertising is known as the two-factor theory, or wear-in/wear-out. But guess what? You can only donate a kidney one time. Risk averted, for this tremendous (and appreciated) call to action!

5. “Andy Haulsbeir Windy City Burger” - Tinners Public House

This is a glorious idea for a :60-second spot, because the scene just wouldn’t work if it was :30.  The sound design and voice talent are exceptional, with the gravely tone of the private investigator roping in even the most distracted of ears. As for Tinners Public House, they incorporate two of the most important facets to a restaurant in great detail - strong happy hour, and delicious food people come back for.

Radio Advertising in Boise IS This Good

The past year has brought about sensational radio content, and we hope you enjoyed our cream of the crop selection as we head into June 9’s Radio Mercury Awards. 

As for us here at Iliad Media Group, we’re not big on resting on our laurels. We’re thrilled we had three spots nominated, but we’re getting right back to work. So if you or someone you know has a small business that wants to be heard on the best radio stations in Boise with the best ads in Boise, well we would love to have a conversation. Happy listening, and happy advertising!