Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

By Apostrophe Podcast Network

Society & Culture

What's Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly about?

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.

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One Sentence Sermons: The W...

01.28.2023

This week, we take a look at church signs. With congregations declining, churches are using their signs as marketing tools to attract new members. And they’re using humour to do it. We’ll look at the history of funny church signs, ...

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly episodes:

01.28.2023 One Sentence Sermons: The Wit of Church Signs This week, we take a look at church signs. With congregations declining, churches are using their signs as marketing tools to attract new members. And they’re using humour to do it. We’ll look at the history of funny church signs, ...
01.21.2023 Tools for the Family Jewels: Gender Bending Brands 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 ...
01.14.2023 The Willy Wonka Secret: Candy Bar Advertising 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 ...
01.11.2023 Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe comes to Apostrophe We are very excited to welcome Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe to the Apostrophe Podcast Network. Each episode will feature two Dave and Morley stories as told by Stuart McLean. And for the first time ever, his longtime producer, Jess ...
01.07.2023 London Bridge Is Down: How The Queen’s Death Affects Marketing To kick off our 2023 season, we look at how the Queen’s death affects the marketing world. Over 600 companies had been granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Elizabeth, giving them prestige and enviable marketing power. But with the monarch’s ...
01.03.2023 We're back January 7th Happy New Year. We have a fun 2023 season planned for you. Here's a sneak peek at what's in store... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
11.26.2022 Even More Remarkable Brands (AOP 2011) This week, we feature our annual look at Five Remarkable Brands: A certain scientist who is such a powerful brand that he has displaced other great thinkers, a company that makes our world a little more colourful, a comic book ...
11.12.2022 Mad Women (AOP 2011) This week, we look at the Great Women of Advertising. The Hall Of Famers who broke the rules, kicked open the doors and created some of the most famous advertising of our times. We’ll meet the first advertising woman ever, ...
11.05.2022 S3E05 - Marketing Rock and Roll, Part Two This week, it's Part Two of "Marketing Rock and Roll." As the 1980s unfold, technology changes rock and roll marketing forever, with the arrival of MTV. The launch of MTV is one of the great marketing stories of all time, ...
10.29.2022 Burn The Boats: Brands That Risked and Won (AOP 2011) This episode looks at the concept of “Risk.” We tell the stories of the marketers who took the biggest risks, and reaped the greatest rewards – including how one of the best loved movies of all time only survived because ...
10.15.2022 Ageism In Advertising (AOP 2011) This episode is about how the advertising industry covets the 18 to 49 year-old consumer. Almost all advertising is aimed at that demographic, because the conventional wisdom is they have the most disposable income and are most willing to try ...
10.04.2022 Rejecting Colonel Harland Sanders One our favourite episodes from our sister podcast, We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast is the inspiring story of Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and how he overcame unbelievable rejection. It’s hard to ...
09.17.2022 The Commercials You Grew Up With (AOP 2011) This week, we talk to baby boomers and take a look at the commercials they grew up with. From the toy and game commercials that inspired your lists to Santa, to the soft drink ads you can still sing along ...
09.05.2022 S3E04 - Marketing Rock and Roll, Part One In part one of a two-part series, we’ll trace the marketing of rock all the way back to its origins with Elvis Presley and his wily manager Colonel Tom Parker. We’ll tell the story of how the Beatles lost millions ...
09.03.2022 AOP Goes to the Movies (AOP 2011) This week, Age of Persuasion Goes To The Movies. Just in time for the Oscars, we look at great movie marketing, and talk about the landmark movies that completely altered the way Hollywood sells its films (Yes, one of them ...
08.20.2022 Marketing Pioneers (AOP 2011) 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 ...
08.06.2022 Candid Commercials: Real People in Advertising (AOP 2011) 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. ...
07.23.2022 It's Not Easy Being Green: Green Marketing (AOP 2011) 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 ...
07.15.2022 Luxury Advertising (AOP 2011) 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 ...
07.12.2022 Bonus Episodes from Age of Persuasion 2011 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. Hosted on Acast. ...
06.25.2022 S11E25 - Ask Terry (2022) 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 ...
06.18.2022 S11E24 - Arch Enemies 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 ...
06.11.2022 S11E23 - Bookmarks 2022 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 ...
06.04.2022 S11E22 - Brand Envy 2022 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 ...
05.28.2022 S11E21 - "Rule Breakers" 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 ...
05.21.2022 S11E20 - Brilliantly Bland: Why Boring Sells 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 ...
05.14.2022 Rejecting The Rubik's Cube 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." ...
05.07.2022 S11E18 - Confessions of a Book Lover: The Art of Marketing Books 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 ...
04.30.2022 S11E17 - Put A Tiger in Your Tank: Advertising Gets Animated 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 ...
04.23.2022 S11E16 - Only in Advertising: Stories from the Front Lines 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 ...
04.16.2022 S11E15 - Surprising Origin Stories 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 ...
04.09.2022 S11E14 - From Batawa To Port Sunlight: The Story of Company Towns 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. ...
04.04.2022 S11E13 - My Best Mistake "Bonus" Pod to celebrate Canada Reads on CBC To celebrate Canada Reads on CBC this week, here is the first chapter of Terry's latest book, "My Best Mistake". Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
03.26.2022 S11E12- Lions, Panties & Hotel Keys: Hollywood Publicity Stunts 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 ...
03.19.2022 S11E11 - Don't Do It Advertising - Part Two 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 ...
03.12.2022 S11E10 - Don't Do It Advertising 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. ...
03.05.2022 S11E09 - Tornados & Lawsuits: Why Companies Wrestle with Name Changes 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 ...
02.26.2022 S11E08 - Medicine & Miracles: The Power of Hospital Marketing 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 ...
02.12.2022 S11E06 - Inside The Super Bowl 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 ...
02.05.2022 S11E05 - How Jerry Goodis Made an Advertisement a Beautiful Thing 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, ...
01.29.2022 S11E04 - Selling Love: The Business of Online Dating 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 ...
01.22.2022 S11E03 - Long Overdue: The Creative Boom of Library Marketing 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 ...
01.15.2022 S11E02 - Perry Mason Moments: The Most Unexpected Ads of 2021 In this episode, we talk about the most unexpected ads of 2021. Quite a few commercials made eyebrows rise last year. From a fast-food restaurant that created outrage on International Women’s Day, to a Christmas ad that generated the most ...
01.08.2022 S11E01 - Number Fever: Surprising Stories of Bottle Cap Marketing We’re back with our new season and the first episode is all about Bottle Cap Marketing. A bottle cap is a tiny thing but offers big opportunities. We’ll talk about how Coke figured out a way to help sophomores make ...
12.29.2021 We’re back January 8th We’ve got a fun 2022 season planned for you. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
06.24.2021 S10E25 - Ask Terry 2021 It's our annual Ask Terry episode where we answer listener questions. We’ll delve into why creative advertising agencies have such boring names, to what has changed most - and least - since the Mad Men Era to why the wrong ...
06.17.2021 S10E24 - Can’t Get Enough of That Wonderful Duff: Fake Hollywood Brands This week, we talk about fake Hollywood brands. Whenever directors need a prop and there is no paid product placement, they have to use fake products. From Morley Cigarettes to Heisler beer to that wily ACME Corporation, these pretend brands ...
06.10.2021 S10E23 - Tombstone Tourists: The Growth of Cemetery Tourism This week, we explore cemetery tourism. Before the pandemic stopped travel in its tracks, graveyards were becoming tourist hotspots. Millions of people are choosing vacation spots based on the final resting places of famous people. And cemeteries are using marketing ...
06.03.2021 S10E22 - The Show Must Go On: Broadway Marketing This week, we head to Broadway. Every Broadway show is mounted with incredible risk and very few shows earn back their investments. But there are huge hits and the marketing behind these shows is often bold and outrageous. And sometimes, ...
05.27.2021 S10E21 - Too Many Turk Brodas: Trading Card Marketing This week, we trace the history of trading cards. For over 150 years, companies have used trading cards to entice customers to buy their products. From cigarette cards to bubble gum cards for Batman, sports teams and even the Gulf ...

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