Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly
by Apostrophe Podcast Network · 438 episodes
SocietyCultureBusiness
Under the Influence gives listeners a rare backstage pass into the hallways, boardrooms and recording studios of the ad industry.Join host and adman Terry O’Reilly for fascinating (and humorous) stories that connect the dots between pop culture, marketing and human nature. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes
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25 min
Orchestrating Elections: Political Campaign Songs
In this episode from our archives, we take a look at one of the tools of political marketing – the campaign song.Politicians have used songs going all the way back to at least the…
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28 min
Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz: How Companies Double Their Profits
Every company dreams of doubling its profit.It’s almost impossible to do.Yet, some companies do it by tweaking one tiny thing.We’ll talk about an industry that put three words on t…
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27 min
Houston, We Have Pizza: Advertising in Outer Space
In this episode, we shoot for the moon.Now that commercialized space travel has arrived, the world of marketing is setting its sights on the stars.We’ll talk about ads on rocket sh…
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29 min
Die Another Day: Reviving Old Commercials
From our archives, a favourite...Occasionally, an old advertising campaign is brought back from the dead.Even if it has been off the air for decades.In this episode, we’ll discuss…
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28 min
Bookmarks
Because Terry LOVES books, we do an annual Bookmarks episode. This one is from 2024.There’s never enough room to include all the great stories we find in our research books.So this…
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27 min
The Gong Show: Ads That Could Never (Ever) Run Today
In this episode, we go back in advertising history and take a look at the ads and commercials that could never, ever, EVER run today.They are either so politically incorrect, so se…
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28 min
How Jerry Goodis Made an Advertisement a Beautiful Thing
Jerry Goodis was one of the most colourful characters in the history of Canadian advertising.He founded a legendary advertising agency and created some of Canada’s longest-running…
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27 min
Putting the Awe in Audio
Taking a look at the most creative audio ideas from around the world. Including a podcast for runners that only works if you’re actually running, a police recruitment campaign that…
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29 min
Cars Are The Stars: Automobile Brands In Hollywood
Another favourite from our archives...Almost every movie and television show needs cars, and auto companies are happy to supply them – because it helps sell a lot of cars.We’ll loo…
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27 min
Ham on Wry: All About Sandwich Board Advertising
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…
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27 min
Pants are on Fire: When Customers Lie to Marketers
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…
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28 min
Cheeky Advertising
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…
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27 min
Billionaire Tourism for the Super Wealthy
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-categ…
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28 min
When You're This Big, They Call You Mister
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, Captai…
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27 min
Seeing Is Believing: The Power of Demonstration Commercials - Part Two
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…
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27 min
Seeing Is Believing: The Power of Demonstration Commercials
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 “demonstra…
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28 min
Ask Terry 2026
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 w…
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28 min
Creativity is the Most Powerful Business Tool: Canadian Marketing Awards 2026
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 remarkab…
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28 min
Flexi Discs
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, soa…
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28 min
Joe Sedelmaier Tribute
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 direct…