2001 Radio Mercury Awards Entry Deadline … March 16th.

Entry deadline for the 2001 Radio-Mercury Awards is this Friday, March 9th, with late entries accepted through next Friday, March 16th.

The Radio-Mercury Awards is celebrating 10 years of honoring creative excellence in Radio commercials with an exclusive, invitation-only luncheon on Wednesday, June 6th at the refurbished Starlight Roof Room in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City. The call for entries is underway to win one of 12 cash prizes including the $100,000 Grand Prize.

Creators of the best Radio commercials of 2000 will compete for the coveted Grand Prize, plus eleven $5,000 awards: nine from the General Category and one each from the Hispanic and Station-Produced Categories. A trophy will be presented in honor of the year’s best Public Service Announcement.

The purpose of the Radio-Mercury Awards is to encourage, recognize and reward excellence in Radio creative. The Luncheon Ceremony attracts luminaries from the creative community as well as high-ranking Radio industry executives, many of whom serve on the Mercury Awards Board of Directors.

Last year’s $100,000 Grand Prize went to DDB Chicago for the “Heroes/Footlong Hot Dog Inventor” spot, developed for Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light. Previous Grand Prize winners include two-time recipients Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser “Louie The Lizard” commercial and for Sega of America; Cliff Freeman & Partners for Staples and The Richards Group for Motel 6.

The Hispanic Category Award last year went to Casanova Pendrill Publicidad, Irvine, CA for a Coors Brewing Company/Coors Original spot and the Station-Produced Award was given to KIEV Radio, Glendale, CA for a Brazos Country Foods commercial.

Entry fee for the 2001 Radio-Mercury Awards is $100. Entry fee for PSA’s is $30. All entries must be received by March 9, 2001 and must have aired for the first time during the 2000 calendar year on a commercially licensed US Radio station. Late entry deadline is March 16th, with a late entry fee of $130 (PSA’s remain $30). To receive a call for entry, contact the Radio-Mercury Awards at me*****@ra*.com or call Wendy Frech at (212) 681-7216.

The Radio-Mercury Awards were established in 1992 to encourage and reward the development of effective and creative Radio commercials. More than 9,000 commercials have competed for almost $1.8 million in prizes. The Radio-Mercury Awards are governed by the Radio Creative Fund, a non-profit corporation funded by the Radio industry.