At first, you hear the shrill blast of a coach's whistle.
Then a gruff voice says: "All right. Today I'm going to demonstrate the proper way to execute the sacrifice."
Sounds like baseball talk, right? Not exactly.
The gruff voice goes on to say: "Say you do something to disgrace your family name. It happens, no biggie. All you have to do is sacrifice yourself to get your family's honor back. Take a sword."
That's where the sound effects of a sword being pulled out of a sheath come in. "Hold it out in front of you, pointy side in. And plunge it in your gut." (sounds of pain) "Now sing about how sorry you are."
Then there's a swell of opera music, and listeners get the first clue that this is a radio spot for the Baltimore Opera Company, complete with the number to call for information.
It was one of two spots created by Shout Inc., a Baltimore advertising agency that earned the best-of-show Saturday night, topping about 700 entries in the Advertising Association of Baltimore's 25th Annual Best in Baltimore ADDY Awards Show, a formal affair held at Baltimore's Hyatt Inner Harbor.
Shout is a nearly 2-year-old, two-man shop with a crew of free-lancers called in as needed. The agency had 11 entries and received three ADDYs, two citations of excellence and best-of-show.
Chuck Thompson, 41, Shout owner and creative director, has done advertising since 1982, and worked at W. B. Doner & Co. and Eisner & Associates before starting his own agency.
His challenge for the opera company was to design radio spots that would run during radio broadcasts of Orioles games and help broaden the opera's audience.
Thompson and Marc Sherman, copywriter at Shout, looked for common ground between sports and opera.
"If I end up making you laugh, and you have a positive reaction to the product's message, then maybe you'll try it," Thompson said.
At least one of the judges said she was surprised and happy to see a radio spot in position for best-of-show. "I loved them," said Patricia Martin, a partner in Martin & Lipton Advertising in New York. "I thought it had the blue collar approach to a highbrow subject. I loved the tag line, 'It's better than you think. It has to be.' "
The spots worked, according to opera company spokeswoman Deborah Goetz. "We saw significant increases in awareness of the opera and in the propensity of people who had heard the advertising to attend," Goetz said of the spots, which cost about $15,000 to produce and air and were part of a larger awareness campaign.
"A lot of people are intimidated about opera or don't understand it," she said. "So we use humor to try to make them more comfortable. Humor breaks down people's reservations."
Of the 71 ADDYs awarded, Eisner & Associates received the most with 20 (last year's top scoring agency earned nine). This year, the agency with the second most ADDYs was Doner Direct with 11, followed by the Campbell Group with seven.
In all, there were 162 finalists in the 60 categories.
"Baltimore agencies continue to demonstrate that this market should be ranked with the hottest creative markets in the country," said Chic Davis, director of the Advertising Association of Baltimore, which runs the awards program. "They continue to do cutting edge work that wins awards at the local, regional and national levels."
Local winners here go on to the national competition, which covers the Northeast, in New York on March 29. The national competition will be judged April 30 and May 1 in Washington.
ADDY winners
Local radio single: Cornerstone, Eisner & Associates Inc.
Regional/national radio: Doner Direct, Eisner & Associates Inc.
Regional/national campaign: Doner Direct, Eisner & Associates Inc.
Audio/visual -- slide, video, audio or film sales presentation: TCI.
Medium -- self-promotion: Robinson Design.
World Wide Web and disk-based sales package: Callahan and Co., Rand Interactive.
Advertising for the Arts, print/collateral: Spur Design.
Broadcast/electronic: Shout.
Broadcast/electronic campaign: Two ADDYs for Shout.
Public service print/collateral: Two ADDYs for Eisner & Associates Inc.
Broadcast/electronic -- single entry or campaign: Eisner & Associates, Inc.
Sales promotion -- product or service sales presentation: Cornerstone.
Packaging: Cornerstone, Marriner Marketing Comm. Inc.
Point of purchase: Cornerstone.
Stationery package: Ground Zero Creative Inc.
Logo/trademark design: Two ADDYs for Ground Zero Creative Inc.
Annual report: Kathryn Shagas Design, Spur Design.
Brochure: Siquis Ltd.
Poster, single: The Campbell Group
Poster, campaign: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Special event material: The Campbell Group, Blakeslee Group
Direct marketing -- specialty advertising: The Campbell Group.
Business to business, single: Cornerstone
Business to business campaign: Shandwick International.
Business to consumer single: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Business to consumer, campaign: The Campbell Group.
Mass transit: Doner Direct.
Interior or exterior sites: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Out-of-home: Doner Direct.
Full page business trade publication: The Campbell Group.
Business trade publication fractional page: Shandwick International.
Business trade publication spread or multiple page: Doner Direct.
Business trade publication campaign: The Campbell Group.
Consumer magazine fractional page: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Consumer magazine full page: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Consumer magazine spread or multiple page: Doner Direct
Consumer magazine campaign: Marriner Marketing Comm Inc.
Newspaper, half-page or less, B&W; or color: Cornerstone, Eisner & Associates Inc.
Newspaper, spread, campaign or insert: Doner Direct, Anne Schulte.
Television, local, single, under $10,000 budget: Doner Direct.
Television, local, single, unlimited budget: Two ADDYs for Eisner & Associates Inc.
Television, local campaign: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Television, regional/national, single, consumer products: Doner Direct.
Television, regional/national, single, consumer outlets: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Television regional/national, single, consumer services: Doner Direct.
Regional/national television, single campaign: Doner Direct
Business to business, local or regional/national: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Business to consumer -- local: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Agency/design studio: Callahan and Co., Siquis Ltd., Mullin/Ashley Associates Inc.
Advertising supplier: TCI, Noble Photography Inc.
Ad club: Callahan and Co., two ADDYs for Marriner Marketing Comm. Inc.
Advertising Illustration: The Campbell Group, Marriner Marketing Comm Inc.
Still photography: Noble Photography Inc.
Video/film animation or special effects: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Musical score: Eisner & Associates Inc.
Pub Date: 3/02/99