Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

80% of all advertising is ignored.

That’s why some advertisers employ cheeky advertising.

It’s usually bold – outrageous – and sometimes even rude – but always with a playful undertone.

We’ll talk about a fruit company that printed an open letter to the Pope.

An airline campaign that told you to “keep it in your pants.”

And a product that claims your grandparents had more sex than you.

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Most tourism marketing aims at the largest audience possible.

This week, we look at a sub-category aimed at the smallest audience possible:

Billionaire Tourism.

The super wealthy get bored easily.

That means luxury tour planners dream up extreme vacation ideas.

From outer space, to the bottom of the ocean, to secretly getting the key to the Sistine Chapel, it’s a whole new pricey world.

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There are some time-honored honorifics in the world of marketing.

“Honorifics” are titles like Mr., Mrs., Doctor, Captain or Colonel. 

Like Colonel Sanders, Dr. Scholl’s, Mr. Clean and Mrs. Butterworth’s.

They’re usually leaders in their category.

Is it because those products are the best?

Or – is it because those brand names give the products a sense of respect and authority?

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Arkells is a band that likes to have fun.They are also a very smart band that understands the critical mix of artistry and marketing in a competitive industry.

Frontman Max Kerman tells Terry the inventive ways they market their music, the creative ideas Arkells use to launch new material, and what marketing from other bands they admire.

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As Oscar night approaches, we head to theatres to figure out why movies about brands are so popular.

“Barbie” is breaking box office records.

 “Air” tells the story of Nike signing Michael Jordan.

“Blackberry” explains the spectacular rise and fall of the first smartphone – and is getting great reviews.

And a movie about the origins of McDonald’s – starring Michael Keaton - just might surprise you.

They don’t only tell the brand stories, they each ask big, existential questions.

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Last week, we talked about the best historic demonstration commercials of all time. This week, we feature some of the most recent.

Like an air freshener commercial that tricked blindfolded people into thinking a filthy toilet smelled like flowers.

And a stunt where an ad agency put $3 million dollars between the glass of a bus shelter - unguarded, to demonstrate a point.

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This week, I ask a dozen of the top creative directors in the advertising business to tell me the best “demonstration commercials” they have ever seen.

Because there is nothing more powerful than a dramatic product demonstration.

We’ll talk about a famous Krazy Glue commercial.

And a Volvo ad where the ad writer risked his life to demonstrate a point.

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This week, we look at the most creative audio ideas from around the world.

Including a podcast for runners that only works if you’re actually running, a police recruitment campaign that capitalized on the popularity of True Crime, and a very ambitious alternative audio track created to be played over Disney’s Pocahontas movie – that tells the truth behind the fairy tale.

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Recently, we produced an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it’s a brand-new, challenging marketing category.

As a result of that episode, I asked the Ontario Cannabis Store to introduce me to an actual cannabis producer.

I wanted to know how a cannabis producer becomes licensed, how a craft cannabis company competes with the big companies, and how a small cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category.

In this bonus episode, I talk to Wallace McDonald-Rogers. He is the founder of Primeau Craft Cannabis. 

I think you’ll find his answers very interesting - and some of them are surprising.

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This week, we analyze the remarkable marketing skills of one of the top music artists in the world – Taylor Swift.

She has challenged the status quo at every turn – she regained ownership of her master recordings. She convinced Apple and Spotify to pay artists in a more equitable way. She defied Hollywood. She markets her music to her fans in very surprising ways.

And holds over 70 Guinness World Records.

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This week, we go one toke over the line and look at the emerging world of cannabis marketing.

We start with the question - just how does a plant become illegal?

We’ll explore the history of cannabis.

We’ll talk about which celebrities have their own brands (Hello Willie Nelson!)

Which high-end retail stores are now selling expensive cannabis paraphernalia.

And which non-cannabis businesses are seeing a surprising uptick in sales - like fertilizer companies and fast-food restaurants.

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This week, we look at copycat brands.

Even though they walk a razor’s edge legally, copycat brands seem to pop up all over the world.

You may like Walmart here, but there’s a Wumart in China.

You may like North Face apparel, but did you know there was a South Butt brand?

And, we’ll tell the story of a copycat cookie that overtook the original to become the best-selling cookie in the world.

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To kick off our 2024 season, we look at a strange phenomenon happening in Canada.

Well-established brands are suddenly leaving the country.

Kleenex is leaving after nearly 100 years.

Skippy Peanut Butter has skipped the country after nearly 90 years.

And KFC actually held a funeral for their terrible-tasting French fries.

What’s happening up here?

Find out.

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Happy New Year. We have a fun 2024 season planned for you. Here'a a sneak peek at what's in store...

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Every once in a while, we drop an interesting show into our feed that we think you’ll like.

This week, it’s “Twenty Thousand Hertz” - a show about the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

The show’s title comes from the highest frequency that can be perceived within the human hearing range.

In this episode, host Dallas Taylor explores the world of advertising jingles.

They used to be an advertising staple, but these days, most have disappeared.

Except - for insurance company commercials - that are bucking the trend.

It’s an interesting sonic journey - and Under The Influence host Terry O'Reilly makes a special appearance.

Enjoy.

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This week, we turn the show over to listeners. It’s our annual “As Terry” show. We asked you to submit any questions you had about the advertising world, and you responded with a record amount of very interesting, very insightful ones that touch on subjects like negative political advertising, why there are so many bad local commercials, and what do background actors really say when their lips move. 

Join us for some surprising answers.

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This week, we invite you to our Book Club. We'll be telling stories from Terry's favourite advertising books, and will examine the incredible lessons they contain that have served him well for his entire career. 

By the way, a few of those books aren’t even about advertising. In fact, one is a book about science, and another is about theatre actors.

But each one contains incredible wisdom that can be applied directly to the world of advertising and marketing.

And everyday life.

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As you might know by now, the team behind Under The Influence has more podcasts executive produced by Terry. More on the Apostrophe Podcast Network can be found here.

One of the podcasts we are very proud of just started its second season with Apostrophe. It's titled Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe. Backstage welcomes listeners into the warm and comforting world of the Vinyl Cafe. Each episode features stories about Canada’s favourite fictional family: Dave, Morley and the kids, narrated by the late, great Stuart McLean and recorded live in concert.

But that’s not all.

For the first time ever, listen in on hilarious backstories from the popular show. Long-time Vinyl Cafe producer Jess Milton tells all, sharing memories and stories from 15 years touring, travelling, laughing, and recording with her close friend, Stuart.

This particular episode is a perfect one to be hosted by Under The Influence, as Dave’s record store suddenly finds itself with competition in town.

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This week we’re going shopping. The topic is “Three Foot Marketing.” Research shows that 75% of shopping decisions are made in the store, and they are all made within the last three feet – meaning that critical distance between your shopping cart and the shelf. We’ll examine how stores use design, technology and psychology to influence your decisions - from the moment you walk in to when you line up at the cash. We’ll also look at the interesting tug-of-war that happens between stores and brands. There’s no doubt about it, those three feet have become one of the biggest battlegrounds for your dollar.

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This week we look at “Dynamic Duos”  - those rare ad agency/client relationships that resulted in some of the most famous advertising of all time. We’ll examine the relationship between Nike founder Phil Knight and his ad agency creative director Dan Wieden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and Creative Director Lee Clow, tempermental winery owner Julio Gallo and his legendary creative director and tough guy, Hal Riney, and we’ll tell the story of the creative director who created a Hall of Fame campaign around the fact his client looked like a chicken.

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This week we look at how smart marketers use Speed Bumps to generate greater sales. While modern marketing loves a friction-free fast transaction, smart marketers know that a perfectly-placed speed bump can slow the selling process down Plus, we reveal why Van Halen wanted all those brown M&Ms taken out of the bowls. You may be surprised.

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In case you missed it, the team behind Under the Influence has more podcasts. Five, to be exact. Executive produced by Terry O', meet the Apostrophe Podcast Company.

Apostrophe brings you Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe, Surviving Life with Survivorman Les Stroud and We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast – where we tell stories of how the world’s most celebrated people overcame debilitating career rejection to achieve mammoth success.

We Regret To Inform You has 2 million downloads across 70 episodes – and there's one in particular we think you might enjoy. Brylcreem those strands, suit up and take a stroll down Madison Avenue. This week, we tell the rejection story of AMC's Mad Men:

According to Rolling Stone, Mad Men is the fourth-greatest television show of all time – bested only by Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. But before Sterling Cooper ever opened its doors, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was rejected by every major network – including HBO, FX and Showtime. Weiner was told no one would watch a series about advertising, that his main character was an unlikable smoker slash philanderer and that viewers hated period pieces. Mad Men gathered rejections, then dust. Until Weiner got a phone call from a basic cable movie channel.

Listen to Part 2 here.

Follow Apostrophe:

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

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This week, Under The Influence listens to the sounds of persuasion. Advertising has used sound to sell for decades. But sound can be used for more than painting pictures on radio – sound can be carefully created to persuade. The stories behind those sounds are fascinating - from the earliest recorded sound, to the first use of sound in radio commercials, to signature sounds on famous ad campaigns, to the startup sound we hear on our computers every day.

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This week, we look at the concept of “Genericide” – when brand names become generic. Many of the pioneering brands in our world risked losing their trademarks – as courts would rule that their names had become generic. Zipper, escalator and refrigerator were all trademarks at one time. The board game Monopoly just lost its trademark recently. Now brands like Kleenex and Band-Aid are fighting to save their valuable names. And their stories are fascinating.

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This week, Part 2 of how Madison Avenue invented… the housewife. Over 100 years ago, the advertising industry realized they had thousands of household products to sell. All they needed was a customer. So they invented the Happy Homemaker, and for the next 25 years, encouraged women to be stay-at-home moms. That strategy created the biggest business in the world: Housekeeping.

The rest is advertising history.

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This week, we look at how Madison Avenue invented… the housewife. Over 100 years ago, the advertising industry realized they had thousands of household products to sell. All they needed was a customer. So they invented the Happy Homemaker, and for the next 25 years, encouraged women to be stay-at-home moms. That strategy created the biggest business in the world: Housekeeping.

The rest is advertising history.

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It’s our final episode of the season already.

And as always, we throw the show open to our listeners.

And answer your questions.

We’ll explore why jingles have disappeared, how old jingles are being used to help Alzheimer’s patients, we’ll talk about Eddie Shack and his Pop Shoppe commercials, why the biggest companies have the dullest ads and we’ll answer that burning question: What ever happened to the “follow the bouncing ball” sing-along commercials.

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 So many things in our world are influenced by marketing.

This week, we look at various aspects of our lives influenced by marketing. – but you wouldn’t know it.

It’s marketing hiding in plain sight.

Like the concept of jaywalking – born of marketing.

How marketing created the 10,000-steps-a-day health goal.

And how marketing was the inspiration for one of the most popular TV series that everyone is talking about right now.

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This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode.

I read a lot of books to research Under The Influence. 

But every season, there isn’t enough room to include all the great stories I find.

So this episode is dedicated to those stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. But are so good, they are worth telling.

We’ll tell an amazing story about the book Goodnight Moon.

We’ll tell you why David Bowie seemed to have two different-coloured eyes.

We’ll talk about why inspiration is 90% perspiration and the inside story of the historic music score from the movie Jaws.

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 20th century movies and TV shows were dominated by the traditional “hero.”

With high morals and an ethical code of honour.

The 21st century has a different take.

Today, we cheer the antihero. Like the Sopranos, Dexter and Breaking Bad.

Antiheroes are liberated from that line in the sand that holds the rest of us back. They do things we are afraid to do. And do it unapologetically.

And if advertising is the great mirror to pop culture, it just may explain the emergence of antihero brands – who dare you to like them.

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For over 100 years, “free” has been one of the most powerful words in the marketing world.

And believe it or not, companies love freebies as much as their customers do.

Because giving away free products generates a lot of goodwill. And goodwill generates free press.

We’ll talk about a ketchup company who gave a man a free boat.

A hotel who gave a couple 18 years of free stays because they had nookie in one of their rooms.

And we’ll tell the story of how one company helped a teenager with huge feet – by giving him a pair of size 23 shoes. 

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Marketing contests can be tricky business.

On one hand, contests can be designed to help companies achieve certain business goals.

On the other hand, companies can lose control over them pretty quickly.

This week, we look at some of the most interesting – and hilarious – marketing contests.

Including one about a city that held a contest to name a new building – and the public voted overwhelmingly to name it after a past mayor named Harry Baals.

True story.

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Jesse Brown, founder of Canadaland Podcast Network, and Terry O'Reilly have a fun conversation about the business of podcasting, the line between journalism and advertising and how Terry had to get used to being touched by strangers.

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Billboards are one of the biggest creative challenges in the marketing world.

They need to be seven words or less.

They need to contain an idea.

And they need to communicate quickly as people speed by.

This week on Under The Influence, we look at the most creative billboards from around the world.

We’ll talk about a car maker that used tiny billboards to get inside their competitor’s vehicles.

How one airline used a billboard that could detect planes passing overhead.

And we’ll tell you the hilarious story of a billboard stunt gone wrong that involves a giant… muffin.

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This week, we take a look at four brands that have found a way to survive for decades.

One company has been entertaining crowds with wax for 200 years.

One restaurant has been topping their ice cream cones with a unique swirl for over 80 years.

Another company teamed up with a certain debonaire spy 60 years ago.

And a fourth brand has made a fortune blowing bubbles for over 75 years.

Their stories are fascinating.

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You’ve probably seen those Red Bull Mini Coopers driving around town with the giant Red Bull can on their roofs.

This week on Under The Influence, we look at the wild and wacky world of marketing mobiles.

They’ve actually been around for over 100 years.

We’ll crack open the story behind the Planters Peanut Nutmobiles.

We’ll take to the skies to tell you an amazing story behind the famous Goodyear blimps.

And we’ll tell the story of the famous Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles.

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There are some very interesting loopholes in the world of marketing.

Because businesses are always looking for an upper hand in a competitive category, loopholes can offer legal advantages.

A loophole can help a company overcome barriers in the marketplace. 

Sometimes, the way a product is marketed can give customers a loophole they can take advantage of.

And sometimes a 20-year-old kid can spot a loophole that panics a giant corporation.

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Even though brand names are often protected by trademarks and copyrights, it’s remarkable how many times companies end up with the same names.

And they either get along – or they sue each other into oblivion.

This week, we look at “Brand Twins.”

We’ll talk about when Guns N’ Roses sued Guns and Rosé.

We’ll explain why there used to be the Saskatchewan Roughriders AND the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.

And that time Ringo sued the Ring O sex toy company.

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This week, we look at the ways libraries market themselves. If you think libraries are quiet, you’ve got another thing coming. We’ll talk about a library video series that played like a TV cop show - and - we’ll look at library wars - when libraries battle each other on social media.

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“What player has won the most Wimbledon singles titles,” Google will tell you it’s Roger Federer with 8 wins.

 But that’s incorrect. Martina Navratilova has 9.

 This week, we look at remarkable ideas that promote gender equality.

 Including an idea called Correct the Internet.com.

And one that challenged menstruation taboos with a program called “Touch the pickle.”

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This week, we talk about hotel marketing. 

Specifically, how some hotels attract guests by advertising specific rooms.

Some of those rooms are decorated like TV shows, some are inspired by movies, and some hotels advertise the fact something famous – or infamous – happened in their rooms.

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This week, we’re talking about the creative ways Hollywood markets films.

We’ll talk about how a low-budget horror movie got a ton of press just by asking people to smile.

And we’ll examine the marketing of Top Gun: Maverick – the Tom Cruise sequel that Steven Spielberg says single-handedly saved the theatrical industry.

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This week we look at horror in advertising.

We’ll talk about why the Red Cross produced a horror commercial for blood donations. How Nike had a horror commercial yanked off the air. And a water company that actually cast its product as the villain in a 45-minute horror film.

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In this episode, we talk about one of the legends of the advertising business – George Lois. Out-spoken and fearless, he launched Xerox, helped elect Robert F. Kennedy, designed famous Esquire magazine covers and even once climbed out onto a window ledge to convince a client to buy an idea. 

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This week, I ask my advertising colleagues for their most outrageous ad stories. The advertising business is a big money, high stress industry. And so much can go sideways. Sometimes film shoots go horribly wrong, sometimes clients make the most ridiculous demands, sometimes celebrities refuse to say their lines and sometimes even a James Bond campaign can go up in flames.

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With multiple ways to skip commercials at our fingertips, advertisers have found a new way to reach the public. They’re jumping out of commercial breaks and into the storylines of television shows. This week, we look at a list of popular TV shows that aren’t just entertainment. They’re big marketing vehicles for companies. 

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This week, we take a look at the most creative “help wanted” ads in the world. We’ll talk about how IKEA recruited new workers without needing to buy an ad. How VW found new mechanics by posting ads in the most unusual place. And the amazing ways the intelligence community recruits spies and code breakers.

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This week, we take a look at church signs. With congregations declining, churches are using their signs as marketing tools to attract new members. And they’re using humour to do it.

 We’ll look at the history of funny church signs, we’ll examine how effective they are, we’ll talk about some of the funniest ones we’ve seen, and a few epic church sign fails.

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This week, we look at companies that have spent decades advertising to only one gender - then suddenly decide to approach the opposite sex. L’Oreal is now marketing makeup to men. Scotch distillers are now targeting women. And lingerie companies are now designing intimates for men. It’s a brand new, gender-bending world.

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This week, we look at candy bar advertising. Millions are spent marketing candy bars every year. We’ll talk about how the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was owned by a candy company. And we’ll reveal whether it really was Phil Collins inside that gorilla costume in that famous Cadbury Dairy Milk commercial.

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We are very excited to welcome Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe to the Apostrophe Podcast Network.

Each episode will feature two Dave and Morley stories as told by Stuart McLean. And for the first time ever, his longtime producer, Jess Milton, will tell you the backstories behind those stories.

I have a story, too. The first time I met Stuart.

Enjoy. 

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To kick off our 2023 season, we look at how the Queen’s death affects the marketing world. Over 600 companies had been granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Elizabeth,

giving them prestige and enviable marketing power. But with the monarch’s death – all Royal Warrants become null and void. It’s now up to King Charles to honour them

– or not.

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Happy New Year. We have a fun 2023 season planned for you. Here's a sneak peek at what's in store...

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This week, we feature our annual look at Five Remarkable Brands: A certain scientist who is such a powerful brand that he has displaced other great thinkers, a company that makes our world a little more colourful, a comic book that has enthralled teenagers for over 70 years, a honey of a product that was born in the back of a pick-up truck, and the most Emmy-nominated TV show in broadcast history. Best of all, they’re not only remarkable brands, they’re remarkable stories as well.

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This week, we look at the Great Women of Advertising. The Hall Of Famers who broke the rules, kicked open the doors and created some of the most famous advertising of our times. We’ll meet the first advertising woman ever, the woman who created the first images of wives as Happy Homemakers, the woman who revolutionized the retail business, the female creative director who inspired the “I Love New York” campaign, as well as some of the top ad women of today. 

Move over Mad Men, it’s time to honour the Mad Women.

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This week, it's Part Two of "Marketing Rock and Roll." As the 1980s unfold, technology changes rock and roll marketing forever, with the arrival of MTV.

The launch of MTV is one of the great marketing stories of all time, and it almost went under before it began – but was saved by Mick Jagger and a one dollar bill.

We’ll analyze how MTV changed the music business, and how Michael Jackson’s video Thriller changed MTV. We’ll also talk about how the Internet revolutionized the marketing of rock and roll forever. From iTunes to YouTube to the invention of Apps – suddenly technology was the newest rock star.

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This episode looks at the concept of “Risk.” We tell the stories of the marketers who took the biggest risks, and reaped the greatest rewards – including how one of the best loved movies of all time only survived because the producer risked his career on it, a board game that dared break the conventions of the category, a watch company that risked all and saved the Swiss watch making industry in the process, and a CEO who made a decision that was so unpopular even his board of directors bet against him. 

They are the true warriors who “burned the boats” so there was no turning back – and then made history.

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This episode is about how the advertising industry covets the 18 to 49 year-old consumer. Almost all advertising is aimed at that demographic, because the conventional wisdom is they have the most disposable income and are most willing to try new brands. But the big surprise is people 55+ are the ones with the most disposable income and spend the most in almost all categories - yet the advertising industry doesn't chase them. We examine why that is.

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One our favourite episodes from our sister podcast, We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast is the inspiring story of Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and how he overcame unbelievable rejection. It’s hard to imagine that he was rejected over 1,000 times (!) and still continued to persevere. This week, we wanted to bring you this bonus episode to remind us all to Never Ever Give Up.

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This week, we talk to baby boomers and take a look at the commercials they grew up with. From the toy and game commercials that inspired your lists to Santa, to the soft drink ads you can still sing along to 40 years later, to the ad for your first underarm deodorant, to the commercial for your first perfume, to the ads aimed at Mom but still got burned into your memory bank. So put on your pajamas and gather round the radio.

And remember one thing – you have to be in bed by the time Bonanza comes on.

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In part one of a two-part series, we’ll trace the marketing of rock all the way back to its origins with Elvis Presley and his wily manager Colonel Tom Parker. We’ll tell the story of how the Beatles lost millions by not following Elvis’s blueprint, and how the Rolling Stones borrowed a page right out of the books of Madison Avenue to compete against the Fab Four.

Plus, what show on marketing rock and roll would be complete without mentioning the biggest marketing machine in the history of rock and roll – KISS.

Part Two will begin with the emergence of MTV.

It's a fascinating and interesting journey.

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This week, Age of Persuasion Goes To The Movies. Just in time for the Oscars, we look at great movie marketing, and talk about the landmark movies that completely altered the way Hollywood sells its films (Yes, one of them involves a shark, but the movie that made the shark possible has a little karate in it). We’ll also feature some of the most inventive movie ads ever done, and trace the history of movie trailers -  which were originally created to drive people OUT of theatres, not into them. It’s true. Hope you’ll join us. And pass the popcorn.

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In this episode, we look at the Marketing Pioneers who created products that created industries. We talk about the first company to link diamond rings to engagements, how alcohol inspired the very first travel agent, how a brainstorm while ice-fishing ignited a $97 billion dollar industry, how a traveling salesman and his date led to the first car rental, and how an embarrassing moment in a restaurant revolutionized the way we shop. Each pioneer was a visionary, each overcame almost insurmountable obstacles, and all of them changed our lives forever.

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The advertising industry has a long history of using real people in advertising. It may be a testimonial, a hidden camera, a man-on-the-street interview, a prank phone call or a blind taste test. The results are often hilarious and memorable. 

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This week, Terry O'Reilly looks at the ever-changing world of Green Marketing. He'll look back at how the green movement started, how it's evolved, how marketers navigate the shoals of green marketing today - and what it all means to everyday consumers. One thing for sure... it's not easy being green.

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Luxury Marketing is a category that is completely different from traditional brand marketing – because it is in the business of selling fantasy. We’ll look at the top 10 most powerful luxury brands in the world and we’ll delve deep into our collective psyches to examine why we all desire expensive products in our lives -and what that really says about our inner selves.

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We're re-releasing all the episodes from the last season of Age of Persuasion in 2011.

All episodes have been remastered to fit our Under The Influence format.

Episodes drop every two weeks from now until November. Enjoy.

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This week, it’s our annual Ask Terry episode – where I answer listener questions. This year, someone wants to know which advertising category does the worst advertising, which celebrities were the most fun to work with and why the roads in car commercials are always so darn wet. You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

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This week, we look at some of the biggest arch rivalries in the marketing business. We’ll tell a story about how Burger King figured out a way to offer Whoppers at McDonald’s, how Wendy’s threw a mixtape at their rivals and how the CEO of a pizza company set fire to a cease & desist letter.

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This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode – where we tell the great stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. Including a story about Frankenstein, one about the waffle iron that inspired Nike and a very funny story about a presidential campaign billboard that mistakenly featured the wrong candidate.

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This week, I tell the stories of four of my favourite brands. One holds the record for the most Oscar wins, one was a kid’s animated show produced by a church, another became one of the best-selling toys of all time and one found a way to cut through late-night TV. And all lasted for decades.

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This week, the topic is rule breakers. It takes a courageous advertiser to flout the rules. The results can either be a goldmine or a landmine. We’ll talk about a burger chain that dared show moldy food in its advertising and a rule-breaking stunt involving the NRA that you won’t soon forget.

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This week, we look at boring products. There is a truism in the marketing world - boring sells. And in some of the biggest categories, boring products are the runaway best-sellers. Why do we overwhelmingly choose white cars, gray wall paint and beige carpets? And what does that say about us?

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In case you missed it, the team behind Under The Influence started a podcast network. We wanted to bring you a bonus episode this week from one of our other podcasts titled, "We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast."This episode is about how the Rubik's Cube faced endless rejection as a toy - before finally finding success. Now over 450 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold. It's a story full of twists and turns. If you like what you hear, there are over 40 episodes to dive into. Enjoy.

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This week, we look at how books are advertised and marketed. Over 2.2 million new books are published every year - so how do books get noticed? One bookstore uses movies to sell books, another gets prison inmates to write book reviews and one grocery store breaks all the rules by putting books in the vegetable section.

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This week, we look at the history of animated commercials. One of the very first hit the air in 1941 - for “crinkle-proof ties.” Next came Reddy Kilowatt, to quell the public’s fear of electricity in the home. Then Esso’s Put a Tiger in Your Tank tangled with Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger - and that’s when the fur started to fly.

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This week, I ask my advertising colleagues for their most outrageous ad stories. The advertising business is a big money, high stress industry. And so much can go sideways. Sometimes film shoots go horribly wrong, sometimes clients make the most ridiculous demands, sometimes celebrities refuse to say their lines and sometimes even a James Bond campaign can go up in flames.

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This week on Under The Influence, we tell the surprising origin stories of some famous products and brands. Because sometimes, backstories have backstories.

We’ll tell a surprising tale about Coca Cola and the Civil War. We’ll delve into the bootlegger background of NASCAR.

And we’ll tell the story of how the Lamborghini supercar began with a tractor… and an insult.

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This week, we look at cities and towns that are actually named after companies. We’ll talk about one town named after a shoe company, one named for a chocolate bar and another town that’s even named after a dish soap. 

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To celebrate Canada Reads on CBC this week, here is the first chapter of Terry's latest book, "My Best Mistake". Enjoy!

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This week, we look at the most outrageous Hollywood Publicity Stunts. The crazier the stunt, the better. From sneaking a full-grown lion into a hotel room, to convincing women to throw panties at Tom Jones to spending $8 million dollars on a single stunt for a movie - wild publicity stunts were catnip to the press.

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This week, it’s Part Two of our “Don’t Do It Advertising” episode. Last week we looked at ads that asked you NOT to do something. This week, it’s ads that ask you NOT to do something, but really want you to DO something. It’s reverse-psychology at work.

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This week, we look at a category of advertising that doesn’t try to sell you something. As a matter of fact, tries to get you to STOP doing something.

Like littering. And smoking. And drinking & driving.

And spilling secrets.

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This week, we look at the reasons why successful companies suddenly change their names. Sometimes those name changes are for legal reasons, sometimes it’s because the old name has too much negative baggage, sometimes it’s to boost a stock price and sometimes a name changes because of a tornado.

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This week, we look at powerful hospital marketing. Hospitals need marketing to generate much-needed donations. We’ll look at how one hospital uses celebrities, how another uses riveting patient stories and how one hospital threw away the rulebook and created advertising that looks like Nike commercials.

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In this episode, we dive into the Super Bowl. The broadcast not only attracts the biggest viewing audience of the year, it is one of the biggest marketing machines. It affects beer companies and supermarkets and even record sales of the halftime performers. And we’ll also revisit some of the most outrageous Super Bowl moments.

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This week, we tell the story of one of the most colourful characters in the history of Canadian advertising - Jerry Goodis. He founded a legendary advertising agency and created some of Canada’s longest-running ad campaigns. And while doing that, he attacked the ad industry for producing terrible ads. He was loved and hated but couldn’t be ignored.

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This week, we explore how dating agencies Sell Love. We’ll talk about the very first dating service in history, we’ll explore one app that is more about lust than love and we’ll talk about how heartthrob Reynolds created one of the best dating commercials of the last 10 years.

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This week, we look at the ways libraries market themselves. If you think libraries are quiet, you’ve got another thing coming. We’ll talk about a library video series that played like a TV cop show - and - we’ll look at library wars - when libraries battle each other on social media.

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In this episode, we talk about the most unexpected ads of 2021. Quite a few commercials made eyebrows rise last year. From a fast-food restaurant that created outrage on International Women’s Day, to a Christmas ad that generated the most complaints of the year, to a Super Bowl commercial that was nearly derailed by a DUI charge.

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We’re back with our new season and the first episode is all about Bottle Cap Marketing. A bottle cap is a tiny thing but offers big opportunities. We’ll talk about how Coke figured out a way to help sophomores make friends, why a beer let other brands advertise on its bottle tops and how Pepsi staged a bottle cap promotion and almost made a $32 billion snafu.

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This week, we explore famous products named after their inventors. Some products are so cemented in our minds we forget those names once belonged to people. Shrapnel was invented by Henry Shrapnel, nachos were invented by Nachos Anaya and the leotard was invented by a Jules Leotard.

We’ll even look at some inventors who wish their names had been forgotten...

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This week, we look at products that went from worthless to priceless. 

Products someone created out of something everyone else ignored. It might be scraps on the ground that people stepped over, or useless waste destined for the scrap heap. But in each case, the resulting product was a masterpiece of instinct and insight…

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This week, we explore the world of celebrities in advertising. We’ll tell the story of a super shy mega star at one of her very first gigs, how Alan Arkin defied all advertising norms and why an afternoon behind the mic makes Alec Baldwin sweat. Celebrities cost big money, have big opinions and make big demands. But if the commercial is good, their presence can be rocket fuel.  

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This week, we debunk urban brand myths. Myths that live on as assumed facts in marketing textbooks, MBA courses, endless business seminars and dinner parties. It's easy to accept rumours as truth because they're usually dramatic and juicy. But many of the myths you’ve heard and maybe even passed along are actually...untrue.   

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This week, we explore the fascinating world of Comic Book Advertising. A world where Sea-Monkeys could be trained, X-Ray Specs saw through clothes, Charles Atlas taught bodybuilding secrets and one-day karate courses could be yours for just a dollar. You probably spent your allowance on one or two in your day...

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This week, we explore how marketers solve difficult problems. We’ll look at how Monty Python stopped piracy by giving away content for free, how a wardrobe change transformed Steve Martin’s career and why the president of Bogota replaced police officers…with mimes. Sometimes the only solution is a wild and crazy idea.

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This week, we explore how marketers saved certain foods from oblivion by changing…their names. Many foods you enjoy started out life with very unappetizing names. Some so off-putting, I’m willing to bet you would have never gone near them. But you probably have one or two in your fridge today…

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This week, we delve into the emerging world of subscription marketing. 

Did you know you could have underwear sent to your door every month? How about joining the Salami of the Month club? Or maybe your cat needs a regular toy top-up. 

You can subscribe to just about anything these days - and some of the items may surprise you.

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