Radio Advertising

Television commercials for Pepsi Cola products shared top honors in the International Broadcasting Awards announced Wednesday. An ad for Diet Pepsi called "Missing Link" was named the world's best TV commercial of 1989, while one for Pepsi Cola that had been similarly honored in 1987, "Apt. 10-G," was selected as the best TV commercial of the past 30 years. Both were products of the BBDO ad agency in New York.

Their voices move imaginations, widen smiles, even refresh our fantasies. So we pump up the volume when Casey's bedroom chuckle and Jack's easy nuances make foreplay of radio commercials for Shedd's Country Crock. Or Beringer Wines. Or 3-Day Blinds. Clearly, their marriage must be an endless honeymoon. In our minds, Tom Bodett is a fictional character. Or he could be an actor taking a cue from Garrison Keillor's cracker barrel. Maybe he's the president of Motel 6 looking to break into show biz.

In a move that is a sign of significant change in organized labor, the AFL-CIO plans to launch a massive television and radio advertising campaign extolling the virtues of unions early next year. The labor federation's Executive Council approved the $13-million, two-year campaign Saturday, just before the start of the AFL-CIO's biennial convention.

A Los Angeles radio station quickly settled a lawsuit Thursday brought by representatives of Barry Manilow, who alleged that the station disparaged the entertainer and used his name unlawfully in a television advertisement. KBIG-FM (104.3), which began running the 30-second ad last week, agreed to drop the promo and replace it with another advertisement, said Kari Johnson Winston, the station's general manager and vice president.

Upjohn Co. is reaching out to Latino men worried about losing their hair in an effort to get them to try its prescription drug for the treatment of male-pattern baldness. Some analysts said the advertising campaign, which debuts in Spanish-language newspapers on July 25, is a sign of Upjohn's new aggressiveness in marketing Rogaine Topical Solution (2% minoxidil), a product that is selling well by prescription drug standards but has yet to fully realize its market potential. The Kalamazoo, Mich.

The actors who pitch everything from soap to soft drinks on television and radio, often seen as the less glamorous members of the entertainment industry, went on strike Monday against the advertising industry. The strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the first work stoppage in Hollywood in 12 years, is not expected to be settled easily or quickly. It may signal further Hollywood labor unrest.

This is what passes for a revolutionary approach in radio: A rock station in Sydney, Australia, has drawn worldwide attention for its promise never to play more than two commercials in a row. A locally owned country station in Lisbon, N.D., made a similar pledge a few weeks ago. Result: The Sydney station rocketed to the top of the ratings and the North Dakota station won immediate and strong praise from listeners.

There's a war going on each morning for the hearts and minds and ears of Southern California radio listeners. The battle cries go something like this: "Wake me up, Ken and Bob Company, wake me up. . . ." "Rick Dees in the morning! Live all over Southern California!" "This is Jay Thomas, Power 106, at 6:55 in the morning. . . ." "Hello, this is Mark and Kim along the KOST. . . ." "Pirate Radio. Welcome to the jungle. . . ." Nine million listeners populate the Los Angeles radio market.

Opponents of the Ahmanson Ranch development have stepped up their campaign against one of the largest developments in county history by launching a series of radio attack ads against Washington Mutual Bank, parent company of the land developer.