Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

December 8th is the 45th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. In this very revealing interview, I talk with Earl Slick, guitarist on Double Fantasy. Earl talks about recording John’s final album, Lennon’s sense of humour, and how Earl found out about John’s murder.

This week, we look at copycat brands.Even though they walk a razor’s edge legally, copycat brands seem to pop up all over the world.You may like Walmart here, but there’s a Wumart in China.You may like North Face apparel, but did you know there was a South Butt brand?And, we’ll tell the story of a copycat cookie that overtook the original to become the best-selling cookie in the world.

So many things in our world are influenced by marketing. This week, we look at various aspects of our lives influenced by marketing. – but you wouldn’t know it. It’s marketing hiding in plain sight. Like the concept of jaywalking – born of marketing.How marketing created the 10,000-steps-a-day health goal.And how marketing was the inspiration for one of the most popular TV series that everyone is talking about right now.

For over 100 years, “free” has been one of the most powerful words in the marketing world.And believe it or not, companies love freebies as much as their customers do. Because giving away free products generates a lot of goodwill. And goodwill generates free press.We’ll talk about a ketchup company who gave a man a free boat.A hotel who gave a couple 18 years of free stays because they had nookie in one of their rooms.And we’ll tell the story of how one company helped a teenager with huge feet – by giving him a pair of size 23 shoes. 

This week, we take a look at four brands that have found a way to survive for decades. One company has been entertaining crowds with wax for 200 years. One restaurant has been topping their ice cream cones with a unique swirl for over 80 years. Another company teamed up with a certain debonaire spy 60 years ago. And a fourth brand has made a fortune blowing bubbles for over 75 years. Their stories are fascinating.

Marketing contests can be tricky business. On one hand, contests can be designed to help companies achieve certain business goals. On the other hand, companies can lose control over them pretty quickly. This week, we look at some of the most interesting – and hilarious – marketing contests. Including one about a city that held a contest to name a new building – and the public voted overwhelmingly to name it after a past mayor named Harry Baals. True story.

From our Season 12 Archives,Billboards are one of the biggest creative challenges in the marketing world.They need to be seven words or less.They need to contain an idea.And they need to communicate quickly as people speed by. This week on Under The Influence, we look at the most creative billboards from around the world.We’ll talk about a car maker that used tiny billboards to get inside their competitor’s vehicles.How one airline used a billboard that could detect planes passing overhead.And we’ll tell you the hilarious story of a billboard stunt gone wrong that involves a giant… muffin.

Another favourite from our Season 12 Archives.This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode.I read a lot of books to research Under The Influence. But every season, there isn’t enough room to include all the great stories I find.So this episode is dedicated to those stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. But are so good, they are worth telling. We’ll tell an amazing story about the book Goodnight Moon. We’ll tell you why David Bowie seemed to have two different-coloured eyes. We’ll talk about why inspiration is 90% perspiration and the inside story of the historic music score from the movie Jaws.

From our Season 12 Archives... another favourite.You’ve probably seen those Red Bull Mini Coopers driving around town with the giant Red Bull can on their roofs. This week on Under The Influence, we look at the wild and wacky world of marketing mobiles. They’ve actually been around for over 100 years. We’ll crack open the story behind the Planters Peanut Nutmobiles. We’ll take to the skies to tell you an amazing story behind the famous Goodyear blimps. And we’ll tell the story of the famous Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles.