Publicis Sanchez & Levitan First To Win Two Radio-Mercury Awards.

Publicis Sanchez & Levitan, the Hispanic marketing agency of Publicis in the U.S., has been awarded the coveted 2002 Radio-Mercury Award, making it the only Hispanic advertising agency ever to win it for a second time. Laura Hagan, President of Katz Hispanic Media, presented the $5,000 Hispanic Category Prize during a recent luncheon at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel for the 30-second spot “Ronquidos” (“Snoring”) promoting a FloridaLottery/Carnival Cruise Lines scratch-off game.

The commercial, cited for its imaginative use of sound, features a bored man who snores and suddenly perks up when he hears about the new game that gives him the chance to go on a cruise. His snoring then becomes the sound of the cruise ship’s foghorn. Writer for the spot was Ignacio Valle, with Cary Ravelo producing and Fausto Sanchez serving as Creative Director. It was produced at Outpost Audio in Miami with Steve Johnston as chief sound engineer.

The Radio-Mercury Awards were established in 1992 to encourage and reward the development of effective and creative Radio commercials. Approximately 11,000 commercials have competed for over $2.1 million in prizes. The Radio Creative Fund, a non-profit corporation funded by the Radio industry, governs the Radio-Mercury Awards.