Good news for some in the ad world at the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards ceremony last Saturday at the Park West. Lou Beres & Associates/Chicago won a Emmy Award in the public service campaign category for its "Click It or Ticket" campaign for the Illinois Department of Transportation's traffic safety division. The campaign was designed to break through to an audience of offenders (primarily young adults) and remind them that cops are there watching, even at night. "The idea was to portray cops and enforcement in a friendly manner that underscores their dedication to a motorist's safety," explained Lou Beres & Associates Chief Creative Officer Andy Madorsky.

And the Walter E. Smithe furniture company and its marketing titan Tim Smithe picked up the Chicago/Midwest Emmy for best TV commercial for a spot that had all three Smithe brothers sitting in baby high chairs. The winning commercial is but one in a long line of outrageously creative spots produced by the Smithe company. In his acceptance speech, Tim Smithe thanked commercial director Bill O'Neil for "making TV magic." Smithe also quoted the character Donald Draper from the "Mad Men" TV series in pointing out that "advertising is distilling a company's communication down to its essence."