If cliches in radio advertising infuriate you, then this year's Mirchi KAAN Awards is sure to evoke a response. Radio Mirchi, India's leading radio station, announced the 11th edition of Mirchi KAAN Awards. With an aim to fight the mediocrity in radio advertising, 'Mute the Clichés' is the theme this year.

Kaan Awards, which honours excellence in radio advertising announced the Call for Entries for the Awards this week. As a prelude to the kicking off of the Call for Entries stage, Mirchi urged advertising gurus to pledge their support against the clichés used in radio advertising through an attention-grabbing skit performed at a dozen top advertising agencies in Mumbai including O&M, Contract, Grey, Havas, McCann, Rediffusion and RK Swamy BBDO, to name a few. Lookalikes of prominent radio clichéd personalities such as Gabbar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Amitabh Bachchan visited these agencies and requested the admen to think beyond the set formula of using their voices/popular dialogues in advertising spots through a crowd pleasing, entertaining act!

Talking about the announcement, GG Jayanta, national marketing head, ENIL says, "Over the years we have seen a surge in the number of entries and this year too we are confident of attracting a record number of entries. It has been our endeavour to honour creativity in radio advertising and this year's theme 'Mute the Clichés' reinforces that."

Started in 2004, Mirchi Kaan Awards celebrates excellence in radio advertising by acknowledging and applauding ground breaking campaigns using radio as a medium. Spread across nineteen categories this year, Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be presented across categories encompassing a range of corporate and retail advertising - from FMCG to jewellery, from banking to educational institutes, from public service to apparel brands. Apart from these, special awards including 'Client of the Year', 'Radio Writer of the Year', 'Agency of the Year', 'Production House of the Year', 'Voice of the Year', 'Crystal Award' and 'Best Use of Radio as a Medium' will also be presented.

The call for entries for Mirchi Kaan Awards 2014 is now open and the deadline for submission of entries is 25th March.

The awards night will be held in mid-April in Mumbai.