Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

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...

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 overwhel...

From our Season 12 Archives, 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 ins...

Another favourite from our Season 12 Archives. 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 am...

From our Season 12 Archives... another favourite. 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 th...

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...

If you searched the question: “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 “...

The Beatlology Interviews (Season 2, Episode 1) What if John Lennon had never died in 1980. What if George Harrison was still with us? What would it have taken to convince the Beatles to give one more major concert? In “Reunion: A Rock ’N Roll Fairy Tale” author Gary Burr tackles all those questions in a very entertaining novel. By the way, Gary has also played on nine Ringo Starr albums. He’s got...

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 anti-hero. Like the Sopranos, Dexter and Breaking Bad.   Anti-heroes 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 unapologeticall...

From our Season 12 Archives... 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in t...

From our Season 12 Archives. 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 t...

From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in t...

From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites 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. We know you want to...

People often tell me they love the storytelling in Under the Influence.  One of  my  favourite storytellers of all time is the late, great Stuart McLean. Which is why it’s been such a joy for our network to partner with Stuart’s long-time producer Jess Milton and the Vinyl Cafe team to bring you the podcast “Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe.” Today we are sharing the very first epis...

From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites. 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.  We know you want to listen to all the ads in this...

From our Season 12 Archives.... one of our favourites. 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.  We know you wa...

We thought you might enjoy an episode from our sister podcast, “We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast” - this week it’s the history of the goalie mask. Coaches didn’t want them, managers rejected them, the NHL didn’t want them - but one goalie did. The rest is history. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscribe ad-free here....

From our Season 11 Archives, one of our favourites. 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...

From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ad...

Now that we’ve moved the Beatlology Interviews to its own feed, you might not be caught up. Thought you might like to hear one of my favourite episodes - singer Dion DiMucci is one of only five people still alive who are on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. Dion was also supposed to be on the plane with Buddy Holly that fateful night - and he tells us that heartbreaking story. He also gives the best descr...

From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites. 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. We know you want to listen...

From our Season 11 Archives, one of our favourites. 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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-cha...

This week, it’s our annual Ask Terry episode. As we do every year, we open the show to questions from our listeners.   This week, we’ll answer a question about the longest-lasting slogans in history, we’ll explore why there is so much dancing going on in commercials these days, and we’ll play a fun game where you have to guess the celebrity voice. We know you want to listen to all the ads in...

Dramatic car stunts are not just the stuff of movies. They’re also the stuff of car commercials. We’ll talk about one ad where skydivers risked their lives spelling out the word “Honda” in the sky, a commercial where a car speeds on the roof of a skyscraper, and a story about a car that was dropped from an airplane - and the parachute didn’t work. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this...

This week, we explore how advertisers market to people with disabilities.  Disabled people are usually ignored in advertising campaigns. Yet people with disabilities control half a trillion dollars in spending money. We’ll look at four powerful campaigns that not only feature people with disabilities, but these commercials are disrupting the public’s negative perceptions of the disabled. We k...