NEW YORK CITY, NY (June 5, 2013) – Publicis Kaplan Thaler received the prestigious Radio Mercury Prize for the zzzQuil “Sleep Line” radio campaign at the 22nd annual awards at New York City’s Highline Ballroom. Years ago, many media experts predicted the death of radio broadcasting. They claimed the MP3 and CD player would far surpass talk radio and top-40 stations in a matter of years. They were wrong.
Today, radio is still one of the most expensive mediums to advertise on in some major urban markets. Droves of commuting listeners are still glued to their car radios during rush hour and several radio-only award shows still recognize the best in audio advertising.
The Radio Mercury Awards were established in 1992 to recognize and reward the radio commercials and PSA’s that embody the essence of what radio does best – connect with listeners. Today, the Radio Mercury Awards is the premiere creative competition for radio.
Publicis Kaplan Thaler flexed some muscle at this year’s show. Three campaigns, including Vick’s zzzQuil “Sleep Line,” Scope mouthwash “Good Breath is a Good Move” and the non-profit Boostup.org “Pomp and Circumstance,” all made the final cut. zzzQuil’s “Sleep Line” took home an award for its highly entertaining call-in service, which provided curious customers with a variety of boring content to put them to sleep. The awards were enthusiastically accepted by Liz Rosenthal and Lauren Schneidmuller.
Congratulations to all of the PKT teams who worked diligently on these innovative campaigns, but as is normally the case in advertising: on to the next one.
A list of all Radio Mercury Award finalists can be found here and winners can be found here.
About Publicis Kaplan Thaler
Publicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.
About the Radio Mercury Awards
The Radio Mercury Awards, the only competition exclusively devoted to radio, was established in 1992 to encourage and reward the development of effective and creative radio commercials. The annual Radio Mercury Awards competition draws entries from advertising agencies, production houses, radio stations, and educational institutions across the country. Approximately 17,500 commercials have competed for over $3 million in prizes. The Radio Creative Fund (RCF), a non-profit corporation funded by the radio industry, governs the Radio Mercury Awards. The Radio Advertising Bureau produces the Radio Mercury Awards.
Publicis Worldwide is the largest global network within Publicis Groupe. 
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