Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

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...

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.  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.co...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t , ...

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. We know you want to listen t...

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. 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 informat...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you&n...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscr...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance y...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscrib...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscrib...

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? We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscribe...

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 f...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you&n...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance...

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. We know you want to list...

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. We know you want to l...

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.  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 i...

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

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you ...

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. 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 aca...

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. 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...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,  subscr...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chance you  don’t ,&nbs...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this show. On the off-chan...

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. We know you want to listen to all the ads in this...