This week, it’s our annual Ask Terry episode where we answer listener questions. We’ll delve into why creative advertising agencies have such boring names, what has changed most - and least - since the Mad Men era and why the wrong people are put into marketing departments so often. It's been a fun 10th season. Thanks for tuning in.

Under the Influence from CBC Radio

S10E25 - Ask Terry 2021

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 have been around for decades.

S10E24 - Can’t Get Enough of the Wonderful Duff: Fake Hollywood Brands

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 destinations based on the final resting places of famous people. And cemeteries are using marketing to attract those tourists.

S10E23 - Tombstone Tourists: The Growth of Cemetery Tourism

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, the marketing is just plain fun.

S10E22 - The Show Must Go On: Broadway 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 War, trading cards are big business.

S10E21 - Too Many Turk Brodas: Trading Card Marketing

This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode, where we tell the fascinating stories from our research that didn’t fit into the regular season. Including a little-known backstory of the 1972 Canada/Russia hockey series and a moving story about another hockey game that was cut short by tragedy.

S10E20 - Bookmarks 2021

This week, we profile the remarkable career of, arguably, the most successful woman in advertising - Mary Wells. She was a woman of firsts - the first woman to found and run a major advertising agency, the first female CEO to take a company public and the first woman to intimidate the boys club of Madison Avenue. And she did it all in the Mad Men days.

S10E18 - There’s Something About Mary: Mad Woman Mary Wells

This week, we explore the use of Nostalgia in Advertising. For decades, advertisers have tapped collective memories in commercials, hoping those warm feelings wash over their products. From resurrecting Wayne’s World for Uber Eats commercials to Macaulay Culkin revisiting Home Alone for Google, nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool.

S10E17 - Son of Crocodile Dundee: Nostalgia Advertising

This week, we tell crazy stories from the world of advertising. High pressure, big money and impossible deadlines make for some hilarious situations. Like a TV shoot where a hot air balloon towing a new car went missing in the wind and a cat food company that insisted the ad agency eat the cat food before they create the ads.

S10E16 - I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing: Surviving The Ad Biz

This week, we dive into the world of Fan Clubs and how they're huge marketing tools for celebrities. We’ll track some of the earliest fan clubs then compare them to the fan clubs in the digital era. We’ll also explore the big shift in power that swung from celebrities over to their fans.

S10E15 - Who Will Buy My Memories: Fan Club Marketing

This week, we talk about companies and products that turn 50 years old this year. Back in 1971, some of the best-selling products were created that are still best-sellers today. There were also a number of famous advertising campaigns launched that year. Join us and see if you remember them.

S10E14 - One Toke Over The Line: 50-Year Marketing Milestones

This week, we look at televised award shows and how they are very effective marketing for movies, Broadway plays and recording artists. We’ll explore whether Oscar nominations sell more tickets than Oscar wins, how Grammys can make a career and how Tony awards can rescue a play overnight.

S10E13 - Red Carpet Marketing: The Business of Award Shows

This week, we listen to the most Creative Radio advertising from around the world. It’s the toughest medium to write for - but it’s also the most creatively freeing. We’ll hear commercials for a hair removal product, a fast-food series created for these confusing times and a student audio idea that attracted Taylor Swift.

S10E12 - Air Quotes: Creative Radio 2021

This week, in an encore episode, we explore famous products named after their inventors. Some products are so cemented in our minds we forget those names once belonged to people. Shrapnel was invented by Henry Shrapnel, nachos were invented by Nachos Anaya and the leotard was invented by a Jules Leotard. We’ll even look at some inventors who wish their names had been forgotten…

S10E11 - Brands Are People, Too: Products Named After Inventors (Encore)

This week it’s our annual Brand Envy episode. This season, we look at four unique companies. One completely changed a sport forever. One became the best-selling toy of all time. Another has influenced the music business since 1894. And one had a heavenly idea. All achieved something that had never been done before.

S10E10 - Brand Envy 2021

Under The Influence gives you a rare backstage pass into the hallways, boardrooms and recording studios of the ad industry. Join host and adman Terry O’Reilly for fascinating stories that connect the dots between pop culture, marketing and human nature.

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Under the Influence from CBC Radio

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