Gervais wins award for prostate ad

The contentious advert Ricky Gervais made for the Prostate Cancer Charity has been named the best radio ad of the year.

The commercial, which features Gervais as a doctor conducting a prostate examination on a surprised patient, won the Aerial Gold Best Ad of the Year award as well as its category, for charity and public service ads.

 Gervais, who has won countless awards for The Office and Extras, said: ‘I'm very proud of this award. Cancer charities are particularly close to my heart and it feels good to do something worthwhile now and again.’

Charity chief executive John Neate added:  ‘We are enormously grateful to Ricky Gervais for bringing his unique humour and talent to the creation of such a powerful advertisement.

‘I must also thank the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre for the additional media interest created in our advertisement by its initial attempts to censor the times it could be played - later retracted in the light of huge public opposition.’

Initially the watchdog insisted the removal of ‘squish’ sound effect, played when Gervais’s doctor inserted a finger inside the rectum of patient Karl Pilkington.

Even with this change, it initially restricted it to go out only after the 9pm watershed, until it was pressured into making a U-turn.

To listen to the “squish” ad visit www.prostate-cancer.org.uk

Published: 27 Mar 2006