(Edited press release)
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association's radio advertising campaign won a Gold Lion Award at this week's 56th International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France. The award is one of the highest honors handed out at the radio industry's international awards competition. The NTRA radio campaign also won a Gold Lion Award at Cannes in 2005.
The 2009 NTRA campaign, produced by the New York advertising agency DeVito/Verdi, defeated hundreds of entries from around the world including major marketers and brands like Kraft, General Mills, Proctor & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, Toyota, and McDonald’s. The NTRA campaign, entitled "And They're Off," features a race announcer calling the proceedings of everyday leisure events with the same brio as he would a horse race.
"It's very gratifying to again be recognized with one of the most prestigious awards in the field of advertising," said Keith Chamblin, NTRA senior vice president of communications and industry relations.
Since its debut in 2004, the NTRA campaign has also won a National Addy Best of Show, three Gold Addys, the $100,000 grand prize at the Radio Mercury Awards honoring the nation's top radio advertisement, three One Show Gold Pencils, a Gold medal from the Art Director's Club, and the Grand Award for Best Radio Campaign at the New York Festivals. The campaign also was named "Best of the Best" by the National Retail Federation's Retail Advertising Conference and was honored by the Sports Marketing Association as the top sports broadcast advertisement in 2004.