Voting Fishiness Mars Victory Auto Wreckers TV Ad Contest

Caption: Former Victory Auto Wreckers’ employee Bob Zajdel became an unintended cult figure appearing in 1985 TV spot.

After some unintended voting fishiness, Victory Auto Wreckers announced that everyone is a winner in a contest to replace its 30-year-old TV commercial of a car door falling off its hinges and barely missing the foot of a shaggy-haired, 1980s dude grabbing a wad of cash for his old wreck with his leather-banded hand.

The Bensenville auto business was inundated with hundreds of video entries from wanna-be Don Drapers when it launched a contest in January inviting fans to submit their own versions of the well known commercial beloved by Chicagoland residents for decades.

The 1985 classic Victory Auto Wreckers ad spot

Voting was to have ended Tuesday for the best of the eight ads, but according to a statement on the the Victory Auto Wreckers’ Facebook page, the fix was in.

“This contest was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be for the people of the Chicagoland area, who have been watching (or, more likely, being subjected to) our commercial for the last 30 years. It was not meant for anyone OUTSIDE of the local area...California, Washington, Bangladesh.... It is a shame that some contestants felt that they needed to ‘win at all costs.’”

Jesse Padilla, marketing director, IT guy and occasional counter clerk for the auto salvaging business founded by a couple of vets at the end of World War II (hence the name “victory”), said there were some unexplained voting results.

“We were getting tons of votes per minute that we couldn’t explain,” Padilla said. “To qualify where they were coming from would have taken time away from our day and we wouldn’t have had the chance to show the commercials. We’re auto wreckers, not contest promoters.”

Watch the eight finalists’ commercials

Instead of disqualifying contestants, Victory Auto Wreckers decided to show all eight finalists’ spots on MyFoxChicago, each of whom was compensated with $500. The fan-submitted ads will start airing this weekend until the company’s new professionally produced commercial (with the same amateur cheesiness) hits the airwaves on May 1.

“The contest was just to celebrate the old commercial but the way the news media took the story we thought, why try to fight it,” Padilla said, who was the brains behind the contest.

The company decided it was time to end the spot’s 30-year run after a million-dollar makeover of the auto business located next to O’Hare International Airport at 710 E. Green St., Bensenville. For one thing, the self-service scrap yard has been paved over. Now customers can roam the yard looking for auto parts without their designer Italian shoes being gobbled up by the mud.

“I came in at the tail end of the mud,” Padilla said. “I’ve seen pictures and it was bad.”

Victory Auto Wreckers has also added Smartphone apps and customers can now sign up on the on the company’s website to be notified when a coveted car part -- say a 2000 Dodge Caravan side mirror -- arrives on the property.

“We’ll email or text you a picture when a part comes up,” Padilla said. “No more calling back everyday.”

As for the thick leather watchband worn by long-ago employee/cult figure Bob Zajdel, whose foot almost famously got wonked by the falling car door, it will live on in perpetuity on YouTube.

“That leather band is iconic to Chicago,” Padilla said.