2010 Better Newspaper Contest — Advertising

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

1. Victoria Advocate — Killebrew: Very original. Great artwork. House ad: Great idea! Good spin-off of digital converter box campaign. Jack FM: Really funny ad. Gets your attention.
2. Paris News — Cardiology Center: Very informative. Picture gets your attention. Kimberly Clark: Great artwork. Campbell Soup Supply: Nice product and brand awareness.
3. Laredo Morning Times — Paul Young Dodge: Clean ad. Very easy to read. Paul Young Chevrolet: Nice-looking ad. Cars could have been different colors to stand out more. La Posada: Good artwork. I like the fade into the lower part of the ad.
4. Odessa American — Downtown Odessa: Nice signature page. Some logos were hard to read. Color looked a little off. House ad: Great artwork on mascots. Paul Evans Carpets: Kind of generic concept but very clean and to the point.

Division 3 Dailies 7,000 or Less

1. Seguin Gazette Enterprise — Chevrolet Dealer: Nice ad. I like the car burst. Original Laptop house ad: Very creative. This was the best ad. I love the original laptop. Longtime Subscriber House ad: Good that you used a real subscriber. Makes the ad more personal.
2. San Marcos Daily Record — IsAnZe Hair: Great use of image. Nice choice for the IsAnZe font. Faultline Liquor: Again, good use of fonts. Benningan’s: Nice artwork—it went well with the theme of the ad.
3. Waxahachie Daily Light — WaxahachieDailyLight.com: I like the way the ad was laid out and it had good information in it. Bart Crow Band: I like the design and the layout. I always try to think about how an ad would look in color and black & white. You did a great job. The Greenery: I like the
colors because it was a Labor Day ad. I didn’t like the fact that the pictures were everywhere.
4. Plainview Daily Herald — Gebo’s 50th Anniversary: This is my favorite ad entry for this category. Love the picture and the spacing of the wording. Physician Network Services: This ad has a lot of stuff going on. I’m not really able to focus on the information. Azteca Milling: I love the bottom of the ad. If you were able to stretch that small part throughout, it would make the ad look so much better.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

1. Wise County Messenger — Booth Brothers: Clean and very appealing. Radio Shack: I’ve seen the graphics before, but I love the layout and colors. Sam’s Hairquarters: Well-put-together ad.
2. Hood County News — Woods Furniture For Less: Eye-catching and bold. Love the layout. Lake Granbury Marina: Cute and straight to the point. Arbor House: Cute colors, great layout and simple.
3. Marble Falls Highlander — Alladin Home Store: Clean, simple ad. Bedroom on beach was interesting detail. Made the ad stand out. Backbone Valley: I liked the main font. I wished there was a better image of the restaurant. River City Grille: Great cutout on wisteria vine. This was the best feature of this ad. The background image was a bit too much.
4. Boerne Star — Fernbrook Estate: Simple. Bandera Dealer: Simple, clean and nice. Calamity Jane’s Trading Company: Simple.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

1. Bowie News — Dakota Custom Homes: Nice layout, good heading and follow-up copy. Picture of house is appealing. House ad: Very nice use of imagery. Best ad I have seen today. Bowie Animal Shelter: Cute and pulls emotional strings of consumers. Good, small ad.
2. Gonzales Inquirer — Providence Properties: Nice use of heading. Photos are slightly blurry. Man vs. Beast: Great pictures and layout. Makes you get excited about the event. City of Gonzales: Love the band artwork. Very informative but with a nice design.
3. Lamb County Leader-News — Sudan ISD: Good pictures, nice message. Ace Hardware: Great ad! Color is perfect. Customer should see results. Aim Bank: Very colorful. Nice pictures. Shows the bank in a good light.
4. Breckenridge American — First National Bank: Nice, original idea. Great color. First National Bank: Black and white. Nice pictures. Good heading. Good reverse. Breckenridge Buckaroos: Great signature ad. Lots of supporters. Each ad had attention paid to it.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1. Hays Free Press — Bordeaux’s: Nice background art. One picture is a little dark but looks appetizing. Griffith: Very funny. Clean ad with easy-to-find pricing. Youth Sport Complex: Very cute ad. Love it.
2. Wilson County News — The Steak Company: Good ad. Some of the copy seemed to be a little crowded in spots. Overall a good ad. John Wayne Heating & Air Conditioning: Nice use of artwork. Gets your attention. Caraway Ford: Nice layout for truck month.
3. Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post — Gillespie County Fair: Very informative ad with good picture. Bottom position was a little bland. Timeless Luxury Homes: Beautiful picture. Really gets your attention. Hill Country Home Center: Nice use of color pictures to show off brand.
4. Tyler County Booster — Dixie Youth Baseball: Really like the concept. Sponsor ads could have been better; they got lost. First National Bank: Great ad. Dogwood Festival Rodeo: Way too busy. Background is terrible. Really brought down the entry.

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1. Medina Valley Times — Solitaire Homes of San Antonio: A lot going on in this ad. Can’t really focus. Security Finance: Clean, cute, simple. Joosy Burger: Nice layout, color and picture.
2. Mount Vernon Optic-Herald — Dodge Rodeo.com: Cute graphic. Love the layout and design. First National Bank of Mount Vernon: Cute and eye-catching. Happy Valentine’s Day: Simple and clean.
3. Alpine Avalanche — Porter’s Thriftway: Clean ad design and artwork. Sonic: Good concept, nice artwork. DeLao’s Exxon: I know the tiger is part of the Exxon brand, but it felt out of place in this ad.
4. Clifton Record — Albrecht Health Mart: Too wordy. It made the ad boring. Kettler’s Stone Wall Collections: A little busy. Willie’s Place: Nice concept but it didn’t have a good flow.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1. Elgin Courier — Frontier Bank: Very creative. Great artwork. Sugar Girls: Loved the font. That made the ad really work. Good use of color, too. Frontier Bank: Good testimonial. Like seeing the real people.
2. Hill Country Community Journal — Plant Haus 2: Great artwork. Moore’s Home Furnishings: Nice layout. A little too busy. Food Drive: Good concept with the can lids.
3. Ellis County Press — Big Daddy’s General Store: Simple. Firehouse Grill: Clean and catchy. Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant: Cute.
4. Springtown Epigraph — State Farm Insurance: Cute. House ad: Love, love, love this ad. Cute layout and design. Body Exchange: A lot going on in the ad. I’m not sure what to focus on.

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1. Eldorado Success — First National Bank of Eldorado: I like the layout. Clean, open and a lot of white space. Fireproof: Simple and cute. I thought that the firefighter could be a little darker. Schleicher County Medical Center & Family Clinic: Cute, simple and funny.
2. Farmersville Times — Farmers & Fleas Market: Cute, creative and spacing is good. Collin Park Marina: Simple and to the point. GF Dental Family: I think that black and white ads have to stand out and this one did. I like it a lot.
3. Ozona Stockman — Snug as a Bug: Love, love, love the dog ad. Really cute. Circle Bar Cable Television: Clean, simple and cute. Ozona National Bank: Busy but cute.
4. West Kerr Current — Bill’s Bar-B-Que: This is my favorite ad. Love the layout. Calvary Temple Church: Busy. A lot going on. Kerrville Main Street: Cute, sweet and simple.

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1. Red Oak Record — Red Oak Drug: Simple, clean. This was a good ad. It stood out on the page. Red Oak Chiropractic: Good use of artwork. It Figures: Good artwork. All of these ads were well designed.
2. Lindsay Letter — Gainesville Gold & Silver Exchange: Nice ad design. Red River Peach Orchard: Nice image. Good look. Text on the left side was hard to read. St. Pete’s Homecoming Picnic: This was my favorite. Loved the font.
3. Murphy Monitor — Richardson Door & Weatherstrip: Good ad. Would like to have seen a real door. Whiskers & Paws Pet Resort: Great artwork. Woodbridge Golf Club: A little text-heavy but good artwork.
4. Princeton Herald — Bob Tedford Chevrolet: Good artwork but too busy. Princeton Family Dental: Liked the team pride. Bob Tedford Memorial Golf Classic: Good layout design but I didn’t like the artwork.