From the Under The Influence Archives, one of our favourites....

Take a walk down any busy main street, and you’ll probably see one of the oldest forms of advertising:

The sandwich board.

They have been around for over 200 years.

Cities try and ban them.

Storekeepers love them.

They can make you smile.

They can make you angry.

They can attract a lot of attention.

They are the pop-up ads of the physical world.

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From The Under The Influence Archives...

Customers often lie to companies in surveys, polls and focus groups.

Yet advertisers rely on that flawed and false feedback to market brands and create advertising campaigns.

So what are advertisers to do?

One solution is Google.

What we type into the Google search window is like a truth serum. We all pour our most intimate, honest questions into that search box.

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A favourite episode from our Archives....

80% of all advertising is ignored.

That’s why some advertisers employ cheeky advertising.

It’s usually bold – outrageous – and sometimes even rude – but always with a playful undertone.

We’ll talk about a fruit company that printed an open letter to the Pope.

An airline campaign that told you to “keep it in your pants.”

And a product that claims your grandparents had more sex than you.

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An encore episode from the Under The Influence Archives. A very interesting favourite.

Most tourism marketing aims at the largest audience possible.

This week, we look at a sub-category aimed at the smallest audience possible:

Billionaire Tourism.

The super wealthy get bored easily.

That means luxury tour planners dream up extreme vacation ideas.

From outer space, to the bottom of the ocean, to secretly getting the key to the Sistine Chapel, it’s a whole new pricey world.

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From the Under The Influence Archives. One of our favourites.

There are some time-honored honorifics in the world of marketing.

“Honorifics” are titles like Mr., Mrs., Doctor, Captain or Colonel. 

Like Colonel Sanders, Dr. Scholl’s, Mr. Clean and Mrs. Butterworth’s.

They’re usually leaders in their category.

Is it because those products are the best?

Or – is it because those brand names give the products a sense of respect and authority.

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An encore episode of Under The Influence.... one of our favourites.

Last week, we talked about the best historic demonstration commercials of all time. This week, we feature some of the most recent.

Like an air freshener commercial that tricked blindfolded people into thinking a filthy toilet smelled like flowers.

And a stunt where an ad agency put $3 million dollars between the glass in a bus shelter, unguarded on the street - to demonstrate a point.

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An encore episode of Under The Influence.... one of our favourites.

This week, I ask a dozen of the top creative directors in the advertising business to tell me the best “demonstration commercials” they have ever seen.

Because there is nothing more powerful than a dramatic product demonstration.

We’ll talk about a famous Krazy Glue commercial.

And a Volvo ad where the ad writer risked his life to demonstrate a point.

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This week, we open the show up to our listeners, and answer your very interesting questions.

Ever wonder why gas station prices always include decimal points? Well, we’ll tell you why.

We’ll listen to some memorable commercials starring kids, and play “Where are they now.”

And we’ll talk about a famous luxury brand that is owned by a charity. And it will surprise you.

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This week, we look at the level of advertising creativity north of the border.

We’ll talk about a campaign that used real “sleep talking” to sell mattresses.

We’ll explore a remarkable idea that transformed the annual migration of penguins into a protest march.

And we’ll look at a campaign that convinced people to donate to a cause that started 45 years ago, but had faded from memory.

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This week, we look at a humble marketing tool.

The Flexi Disc.

These razor-thin, flexible vinyl records had poor sound quality, but they helped sell cars, hit songs, chewing gum, soap operas and even Beatle records.

And in one case, a family won a million dollars with a flexi, and it nearly destroyed them.

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This week, we pay tribute to one of the greatest commercial directors in the ad business.

You may not know the late Joe Sedelmaier by name, but you certainly know his work.

He directed the famous “Fast Talking Man” ad for FedEx and a landmark commercial for Wendy’s that contained the line “Where’s the beef?”

I did several commercials with Sedelmaier, and he kicked me off the set of my own commercial once. 

It’s a great story.

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