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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.

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This week we look at horror in advertising.

We’ll talk about why the Red Cross produced a horror commercial for blood donations. How Nike had a horror commercial yanked off the air. And a water company that actually cast its product as the villain in a 45-minute horror film.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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, we’ll examine how effective they are, we’ll talk about some of the funniest ones we’ve seen, and a few epic church sign fails.

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If you want to listen to this show about advertising ad-free, subscribe here.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.

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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.

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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 Milton, will tell you the backstories behind those stories.

I have a story, too. The first time I met Stuart.

Enjoy. 

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