• Hitting The Road With Marketing Mobiles
    Oct 18 2025

    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.



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

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    29 mins
  • Johnny Wants The Jet: The Loopy World of Loop Holes
    Oct 11 2025


    There are some very interesting loopholes in the world of marketing.

    Because businesses are always looking for an upper hand in a competitive category, loopholes can offer legal advantages.

    A loophole can help a company overcome barriers in the marketplace.

    Sometimes, the way a product is marketed can give customers a loophole they can take advantage of.

    And sometimes a 20-year-old kid can spot a loophole that panics a giant corporation.


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

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    28 mins
  • Touch The Pickle: Marketing Gender Equality
    Oct 4 2025

    If you searched the question:

    “What player has won the most Wimbledon singles titles,” Google will tell you it’s Roger Federer with 8 wins.

    But that’s incorrect. Martina Navratilova has 9.

    This week, we look at remarkable ideas that promote gender equality.

    Including an idea called Correct the Internet.com

    And one that challenged menstruation taboos with a program called “Touch the pickle.”



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

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    28 mins
  • Nashville Songwriter Gary Burr Pens A Novel About A Fictional Beatles Reunion
    Oct 2 2025

    The Beatlology Interviews (Season 2, Episode 1)


    What if John Lennon had never died in 1980. What if George Harrison was still with us? What would it have taken to convince the Beatles to give one more major concert? In “Reunion: A Rock ’N Roll Fairy Tale” author Gary Burr tackles all those questions in a very entertaining novel. By the way, Gary has also played on nine Ringo Starr albums. He’s got some great inside stories.

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

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    52 mins
  • Allure of Bad-Ass Advertising: Anti Heroes
    Sep 27 2025

    20th century movies and TV shows were dominated by the traditional “hero.”

    With high morals and an ethical code of honour.

    The 21st century has a different take.

    Today, we cheer the anti-hero. Like the Sopranos, Dexter and Breaking Bad.

    Anti-heroes are liberated from that line in the sand that holds the rest of us back. They do things we are afraid to do. And do it unapologetically.

    And if advertising is the great mirror to pop culture, it just may explain the emergence of anti-hero brands – who dare you to like them.

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

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    28 mins
  • Tools for the Family Jewels: Gender Bending Brands
    Sep 20 2025

    From our Season 12 Archives...


    This week, we look at companies that have spent decades advertising to only one gender - then suddenly decide to approach the opposite sex. L’Oreal is now marketing makeup to men. Scotch distillers are now targeting women. And lingerie companies are now designing intimates for men. It’s a brand new, gender-bending world.



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

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    27 mins
  • Hard Days & Golden Knights: The World of Brand Twins
    Sep 13 2025

    From our Season 12 Archives.


    Even though brand names are often protected by trademarks and copyrights, it’s remarkable how many times companies end up with the same names.

    And they either get along – or they sue each other into oblivion.

    This week, we look at “Brand Twins.”

    We’ll talk about when Guns N’ Roses sued Guns and Rosé.

    We’ll explain why there used to be the Saskatchewan Roughriders AND the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.


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

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    28 mins
  • You Can Check In, But You Can't Check Out: Branded Hotel Rooms
    Sep 6 2025

    From our Season 12 Archives, one of our favourites.


    This week, we talk about hotel marketing.

    Specifically, how some hotels attract guests by advertising specific rooms.

    Some of those rooms are decorated like TV shows, some are inspired by movies, and some hotels advertise the fact something famous – or infamous - happened in their rooms.



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

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    28 mins