The Monkeys has won Round two of the 2018 Siren Awards taking out the single category and overall win with an ad for Ice Break Iced Coffee.

The fast-talking ad titled “Travis Auctioneer” by creative Grant Rutherford, breaks with convention by cramming 150 words into a 30-second radio spot.  The script focuses on a professional auctioneer who needs to start the day strong with an extra shot iced coffee.

“Anyone that’s written a radio ad knows that expecting 150 words to fit into 30 seconds is truly ridiculous, but it worked,” Rutherford said. “It’s amazing how much rapid-fire information the ears can take in and the brain can still process.”

The winners of the campaign category were J. Walter Thompson creatives Tim Newton and Wilora Keeley, with three hard-hitting ads for the WA Police Union in support of a 1.5 per cent pay rise for police officers.  The campaign, titled “How Much To…?”, uses real-life scenarios to pose confronting questions about how much money it would take to encourage the average person to do the job faced by police.

The craft winner for round two was an ad called “Soothers Soothes the State v State Sore Throat” for Soothers Throat Lozenge by production company Eardrum and sound studio Song Zu.

Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, said the Siren Awards highlighted the diverse ways radio can be used to make an impact.  “The winning ads have all displayed a high level of creativity in how they have used radio to achieve very different emotional responses,” she said.

Ten other ads entered into round two were Highly Commended by judges.  Three were in the single category: a second ad for Ice Break, titled the “Disclaimer Guy”, also by Rutherford; “Hitting the Sales – Insolvent Rugs” by Christie Luxton from Clemenger BBDO Brisbane for BCF Boating Camping Fishing and “Hotel” by Joe Hawkins and Neil Martin from Marketforce for Lotterywest.

Highly commended in the campaign category were Nick Cole and Pat Allenby from Y&R Sydney for the ad “Less Talk, More Eat” for Menulog; Will Edwards and Chris Badger from J. Walter Thompson for “Home Loans” for HSBC; and Christie Luxton from Clemenger BBDO Brisbane for “Hitting the Sales – Insolvent Rugs, Towel Town and Storage Celebrations” for BCF Boating Camping Fishing.

Four ads were Highly Commended in the craft category.  Production company Eardrum and sound engineer Paul Taylor from Sound Reservoir were Highly Commended for three ads for HSBC Home Loans – “White Wedding”, “Career Change” and “Unexpected Pregnancy” for HSBC.  Carl Step and Zachary Taylor from The Studio at SCA were also Highly Commended for “42^nd Street is in Town” for the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

The Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, celebrate the best in radio advertising and are judged over five rounds throughout the year by a panel of industry experts, made up of creative directors from leading ad agencies, known as the Siren Creative Council.

The 2018 Gold Siren winner will be announced in May 2018 and wins a trip to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.  The client of the winning 2018 Gold Siren Award also wins a ticket to Cannes.  Silver Sirens are awarded in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft.  There is also a client-voted award, a $5000 cash prize, presented to the writers of the ad voted the best, by a panel of clients.