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. We know you ...
Jan 27, 2024•27 min•Season 13Ep. 4
Recently, we recorded a live show at Reid’s Distillery in Toronto. Reid’s is a great gin joint, and the vibe is a cool lounge with vintage tables and seating. There was no stage, so we recorded the podcast on the floor, with the audience seated all around us. In this episode, we talk about ads that are so bad… they become cult classics. Like the commercial where a woman has fallen and can’t get up, the local jeweller who wears tights and a cape in his ads, and that commercial where Patrick gets ...
Jan 20, 2024•29 min•Season 13Ep. 3
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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free her...
Jan 13, 2024•27 min•Season 13Ep. 2
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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
Jan 06, 2024•27 min•Season 13Ep. 1
Happy New Year. We have a fun 2024 season planned for you. Here'a a sneak peek at what's in store... We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 02, 2024•1 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 u...
Dec 05, 2023•36 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 thei...
Nov 25, 2023•32 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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...
Nov 04, 2023•27 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 a...
Oct 21, 2023•34 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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...
Oct 07, 2023•29 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 tou...
Sep 23, 2023•33 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in ...
Sep 09, 2023•26 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 deb...
Sep 02, 2023•34 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 ...
Aug 21, 2023•28 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 figh...
Aug 05, 2023•27 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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...
Jul 22, 2023•27 min
We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. 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 i...
Jul 08, 2023•29 min
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 b...
Jun 24, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 25
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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance...
Jun 17, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 24
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 ...
Jun 10, 2023•29 min•Season 12Ep. 23
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 mirro...
Jun 03, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 22
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 ro...
May 27, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 21
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 pa...
May 20, 2023•27 min•Season 12Ep. 20
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 13, 2023•40 min
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 b...
May 06, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 18
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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. We ...
Apr 29, 2023•30 min•Season 12Ep. 17
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 tel...
Apr 22, 2023•29 min•Season 12Ep. 16
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 ...
Apr 15, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 15
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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 R...
Apr 08, 2023•28 min•Season 12Ep. 14
If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free , subscribe here. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you don’t , subscribe ad-free here. Hosted on Acast. See acast...
Apr 01, 2023•27 min•Season 12Ep. 13
