This week, we look at banned commercials. The majority of the time, ads are banned for being sexist or too suggestive. But many commercials are banned for other, more fascinating reasons. Sometimes bans cripple a campaign, other times they’re puzzling, but more often than not, they’re rocket fuel. Hope you’ll join us.  
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S8E24 - God Save The Commercial: When Ads Are Banned

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

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Philosophy

Places & Travel

Every company dreams of doubling its profit.   It’s almost impossible to do.   Yet, some companies do it by tweaking one tiny thing.   We’ll talk about an industry that put three words on their packaging that doubled their profit.   A company that created a catchy jingle that doubled their revenue overnight.   And a business that changed one single word in a headline and their profit went up 100%. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz: How Companies Double Their Profits

This week, we shoot for the moon.   Now that commercialized space travel has arrived, the world of marketing is setting its sights on the stars.   We’ll talk about ads on rocket ships, ads on spacesuits, and television commercials filmed on the International Space Station.   There are companies who want to employ hundreds of tiny satellites to create logos in the night sky.   Some companies even want to put ads on the moon.   And those ads might even be cheaper than Super Bowl commercials.

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

Houston, We Have Pizza: Advertising in Outer Space

Occasionally, an old advertising campaign is brought back from the dead.   Even if it has been off the air for decades.   This week, we’ll discuss a recurring Coke commercial that has been called the most popular ad of all time.   A much-loved beer campaign that has been revived after 34 years.   And a controversial commercial that was yanked off the air in 1989, but was re-run again recently. 
 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Die Another Day: Reviving Old Commercials

This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode.
We read a lot of books to research Under The Influence.  But there’s never enough room to include all the great stories we find.
So this episode is dedicated to those great stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. 
This year, our theme is bravery.
We’ll tell an amusing story about how Danny DeVito made a bold decision when he was auditioning for the sitcom Taxi.
We’ll salute Lucille Ball’s bravery.
And we’ll talk about how Jacques Plante revolutionized goaltending by being brave enough to defy his coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bookmarks 2024

Under the Influence fans know that at the very end of each episode there’s a Fun Fact – an interesting little tidbit related to the show. Well, this year we’re asking you, our listeners, to record that Fun Fact. All you need is a phone or computer. Just visit our Fun Fact Page, follow the prompts and have fun with it.
We choose two listeners every week – to be featured in the podcast and on CBC Radio.
Happy recording. Oh, and keep checking back. The latest Fun Fact is refreshed every week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S8E24 - God Save The Commercial: When Ads Are Banned

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