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.   
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Disappearing Acts: When Popular Brands Are Discontinued

Under the Influence gives listeners a rare backstage pass into the hallways, boardrooms and recording studios of the ad industry.Join host and adman Terry O’Reilly for fascinating (and humorous) stories that connect the dots between pop culture, marketing and human nature. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Almost every movie and television show needs cars, and auto companies are happy to supply them – because it helps sell a lot of cars.   We’ll look back at James Bond and Starsky & Hutch, and explore auto partnerships with movie franchises like Transformers and Marvel.   We’ll also tell a crazy story of how the most sought-after car from a Steve McQueen movie was finally found – and the cosmic coincidence that led to its discovery.   Cars are the stars. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cars Are The Stars: Automobile Brands in  Hollywood

Take a walk down any busy main street, and you’ll probably see one of the oldest forms of advertising:   The sandwich board.   They have been around for over 200 years.   Cities try and ban them. Storekeepers love them.   They can make you smile. They can make you angry. They can attract a lot of attention.   They are the pop-up ads of the physical world.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ham on Wry: Sandwich Board Advertising

Customers often lie to companies in surveys, polls and focus groups.   Yet advertisers rely on that flawed and false feedback to market brands and create advertising campaigns.   So what are advertisers to do?   One solution is Google.   What we type into the Google search window is like a truth serum. We all pour our most intimate, honest questions into that search box. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pants on Fire: When Customers Lie to Marketers

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.  

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cheeky Advertising

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. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Disappearing Acts: When Popular Brands Are Discontinued

Download our free app to listen on your phone