Radio Mercury Awards Name Danny Gonzalez 2026 Chief Judge.

Danny Gonzalez, co-founder and co-Chief Creative Officer of ad agency Bandits & Friends, has been named 2026’s chief judge for the 35th annual Radio Mercury Awards competition.

Before the start-up of Bandits & Friends, which was awarded Ad Age’s “Newcomer Agency of the Year” award for 2025, Gonzalez’s 20-year advertising career included nine years as Executive Creative Director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and two years as Creative Director for Barton F. Graf 9000. He also served as a copywriter for TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. 

Gonzalez was also recognized in Adweek’s 2024 “Creative 100” list, and is himself a Radio Mercury Award winner, having won “Best in Show” for work on Ragù in 2012, with recognition for his work on campaigns for Liberty Mutual and Little Caesars.

“As we walk into the 35th annual awards, we want them to be as celebratory and relevant as always, and indicative of radio in all its forms," RAB President and CEO and Radio Creative Chair Mike Hulvey says. “Danny’s been a great friend to the awards and will do a great job of leading the charge for this year’s event.”

Gonzalez adds, “From being a Radio Mercury Awards winner to now being named the 2026 chief judge is a real honor to me. I am looking forward to working with an incredible final round jury to hear the best of the best that gets entered.”

Awards categories for the 35th annual Radio Mercury Awards, the only competition exclusively devoted to radio and audio, will be announced in December.