Gary Graf Radio Spots

Okay, it would be drawing a long bow to suggest that expertise in creating radio commercials necessarily makes anyone that much better a web developer. However, the ability to dream up impactive, relevant and compelling radio spots, which also manage to deliver a story in a minimum number of words, can't hurt.

Since no copywriter I knew ever put a radio reel in his or her portfolio, I didn't make it a practice to save my radio work. Which means I don't have that many spots to choose from. Below you'll find links to five of them (click either the radio icon or the title of the spot to hear them).

GE Air-conditioners .30

'Shhh'
Production company: United Sound, engineer: Terry O'Brien
Ever since arriving in Australia I'd kept my ear out for distinctive voices. This fellow, whose name I've forgotten, was a radio announcer I used to hear mixing it with an early morning DJ. Though new to this sort of work, he did fine. GE provided the quiet air conditioner; for the loud one Terry and I went up on the roof and taped the building's air-conditioning compressor.

Speedo Jockettes .30

'You Dirty Rat'
Production company: David & John, engineer: John Taylor
When I started at Coudrey, Dailey, it was to replace two copywriters, and they had left a few briefs behind. Including a briefs brief. After the usual welcoming tour of the agency, I returned to my new office to find a queue of suits waiting. One of the most pressing jobs was a radio campaign for Jockettes, so I wrote four spots that afternoon. The master, Keith Scott, did the voices.

Ampol Long-Haul Oil .30

'Not So Trivial'
Production company: David & John, Engineer: Danny Grifoni
It seems the chairman of Ampol was into racing big time and since all his cronies listened to the results on 2KY (and 3KY), it was decided to run Ampol ads during this time slot. In casting George and Gerry (GG, get it?), the two race fans who meet every afternoon in the pub, I chose gravel-voiced, laconic Tony Barry and high-pitched, over-the-top Henry Szeps.

Sydney Electricity .30

'Who Are You?'
Production company: Hello Testing, Engineer: Paul Goodwin
This 1991 campaign was my tongue-in-cheek homage to an execution once popular in TV advertising. Typically, a company spokesperson would magically appear at the appropriate moment during some slice-of-life crisis to offer a solution. In real life the fellow who played the representative worked as a project engineer for the Harbour Tunnel (then under construction) and invited me for a walking tour. Fascinating.

RTA Seat Belts .30

'Your Own Sake'
Production company: Hello Testing, engineer: Paul Goodwin
The problem with doing ads about drink driving, speeding, driver fatigue, seat belts and other similar subjects is that everyone's heard it all before. So you're always on the lookout for a new angle. If you come up with one, it then becomes a matter of making it as personal as possible to the listener/viewer. Making them react, What if that was me? The voice-over is Guy Blackmore.

If you'd also like to peruse my print work, just click Print. To see to my TV commercials, click TV. And to check out previous Radio Spots, click Archives.