Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

This week, we look at a strange phenomenon happening in Canada. Well-established brands are suddenly leaving the country. Kleenex is leaving after nearly 100 years. Skippy Peanut Butter has skipped the country after nearly 90 years. And KFC actually held a funeral for their terrible-tasting French fries. What’s happening up here? Find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

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

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