This week, we explore superheroes in advertising. Superman was the archetype of the modern superhero and he was the archetype for how superheroes were used in ads. From Supe promoting Kellogg’s commercials in the 1950s to Batman hawking savings bonds to Batgirl advocating equal pay for equal work, stoic superheroes became the ultimate spokes-characters.

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This week, we look at the most famous movie posters of all time. The movie poster is the beginning of the story - often the first piece of marketing created for a new film. We’ll look at how posters are designed and we’ll analyze how the best posters of all time influenced ticket buyers.

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This week, we learn about famous female brand icons. In a marketing world full of Mr. Cleans, Ronald McDonalds and Mr. Whipples, there are female brand characters that were just as successful - and some even lasted longer. Join us as we draw a direct line from Josephine the Plumber and Madge the Manicurist to Flo from Progressive.

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This week, we explore what happens when an established spokesperson switches brands. We’ll tell the story of how the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy ended up pitching Sprint, how “The Most Interesting Man in the World” went from Dos Equis to tequila and how a spokesperson for a hamburger chain got fired when she pitched spaghetti sauce.

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This week, we explore how this new era of racial reckoning is affecting the world of marketing. Several of the leading brands have their roots in racial stereotypes, like Aunt Jemima - which took its imagery from the slave era. Some brands, like Eskimo Pies, have announced they are now re-naming their products and acknowledging their old names were offensive to indigenous people. We’ll also look at sports teams and their long history of controversy with team names.

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

This week we’re talking about the Mandela Effect. It is defined as “collective false memory.” That means many of us remember things incorrectly and we all remember them incorrectly the same way. From famous movie lines to song lyrics to details of traumatic events and even to famous commercials, we all think our memories are time-stamped videos of our lives. But they are not.

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This week, we explore the branding of diseases. Over the course of history, diseases have been named after people and countries with devastating effects. Names have stigmatized entire regions, decimated industries and have even caused diplomatic crises. And countries have weaponized diseases for political purposes. As with all branding, words matter.

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This week, it’s our annual Bookmarks episode - where we tell fascinating stories from our research that didn't make it into the regular season. We’ll talk about a book that maintains if you build a better mousetrap, the world will NOT beat a path to your door. And we’ll tell a story from a biography of Bruce Lee that proves sometimes the only way to sell a product is to increase its price. Throw on your reading glasses and join us for Bookmarks 2020. 

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