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    Coming up this week: Now Splinter-Free: How Marketing Broke Taboos

    by Under The Influence

    This week, we explore how some of society's biggest taboos were broken by marketers. We’ll look at why toilet paper was a hush-hush product in the 19th century, which publication was the first ever to print an ad on its front page and how Lysol was originally advertised…as contraception. Some taboos were broken years ago, some more recently than you may realize. Hope you’ll join us.

    Posted: Jun 06, 2017 10:18 AM ET
    Last Updated: Jun 07, 2017 9:41 AM ET     read comments audio

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  • Thursday June 01, 2017

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  • Thursday May 25, 2017

    Deadmau5

    The Crazy World of Trademarks (An Encore Broadcast)

    This week, we explore the crazy world of Trademarks. The key to success in marketing is to stand out from the crowd. One of the best ways to do that is with trademarks. Brands try to create logos or slogans or design features that they can protect legally, giving them unique marketing tools. In this episode, we'll look at a lawsuit between Disney and a music performer over a mouse trademark, we'll listen to how companies trademark sounds, we'll talk about a ring announcer who earned over $400 million from trademarking a single sentence and how shock rocker Marilyn Manson saved his career by trademarking his name. Hope you'll join us.™

    Posted: May 25, 2017 12:00 AM ET
    Last Updated: May 25, 2017 8:50 AM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
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  • Thursday May 18, 2017

    Albert Lasker

    The Most Interesting Adman in the World: The Story of Albert Lasker

    This week, we tell the story of the most interesting adman in the world - Albert Lasker. Lasker had a hand in influencing professional baseball, Planned Parenthood, North American breakfast and not one, but two presidential elections. And he just happened to change the world of advertising in the process.

    Posted: May 18, 2017 9:39 PM ET
    Last Updated: May 23, 2017 7:40 AM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
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  • Thursday May 11, 2017

    Friendly Giant

    Brand Envy: #Canada150

    This week, it’s our annual episode where we explore brands I admire. And in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, this year’s brands are all Canadian. We’ll look at what may be the most successful global retailer Canada’s ever built, a television pioneer worshipped and revered by generations of Canadians and a world-class brand that operates out of the smallest village in New Brunswick. We’ve certainly bred some amazing brands up here in the Great White North. Happy birthday, Canada.

    Posted: May 11, 2017 10:49 AM ET
    Last Updated: May 13, 2017 11:50 AM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
    Full Episode

  • Thursday May 04, 2017

    Pepsi ad

    Grab Your Wallet: When Brands Go Political

    This week, we explore how brands are becoming political for the first time in history. We’ll look at what happens when major retailers decide to “Dump Trump”, the controversial Super Bowl ad that challenged an immigration policy and crashed the Internet and how even Pepsi could drop the political ball. Years ago, most advertisers would have never dreamed of offending anyone with a pulse and a wallet. But all that is changing.

    Posted: May 04, 2017 6:02 PM ET
    Last Updated: May 06, 2017 2:00 PM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
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  • Thursday April 27, 2017

    Ford

    When Madison Avenue Met Broadway: The World of Industrial Musicals (An Encore Broadcast)

    This week, we explore the little known and surprising world of Industrial Musicals. In an unexpected collision of Madison Avenue and Broadway, companies in the '50s began staging full-fledged musicals in an effort to inspire their employees, parade new product lines and boost morale. We'll look at one company that tripled the production costs of My Fair Lady to inspire its sales team, another that unknowingly funded one of the most iconic novels of our time, and the handful of companies that still practice the art of Industrial Musicals today. Nothing inspires a marketing department quite like choreographed tap dancing.

    Posted: Apr 27, 2017 12:00 AM ET
    Last Updated: Apr 26, 2017 11:13 PM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
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  • Thursday April 20, 2017

    Barbie

    Guys and Dolls: Gender Marketing, Part II

    This week, it’s part two of our Gender Marketing show. In this episode, we’ll look at how companies that have historically marketed to one gender switch gears to target another. We’ll analyze how Harley Davidson got women on two wheels, why a 13-year-old girl convinced Hasbro to make an Easy Bake Oven for boys and how Barbie targeted…dads. By and large, most products are gender-neutral. It's just the marketing that's not.

    Posted: Apr 20, 2017 10:12 PM ET
    Last Updated: Apr 20, 2017 11:40 AM ET     audio
    Listen 27:32
    Full Episode
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