Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S10E02 - Switch-Pitchers: When Spokespeople Change Brands

Episode Date: January 14, 2021

This week, we explore what happens when an established spokesperson switches brands. We’ll tell the story of how the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy ended up pitching Sprint, how “The Most Interesting Man in the World” went from Dos Equis to tequila and how a spokesperson for a hamburger chain got fired when she pitched spaghetti sauce. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. Your teeth look whiter than no nose You're not you when you're hungry You're a good hand with all teeth You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. Greg Harris began his major league pitching career in 1981. His first team was the New York Mets. He would become a solid journeyman, playing for eight teams over his 15-year career.

Harris was ambidextrous, which allowed him to be a switch hitter. But his claim to fame was rarer than that, because Greg Harris was also a switch pitcher. He began using both arms to pitch when he was playing for the Texas Rangers in 1986. It was a way to save the wear and tear on his right arm when throwing in batting practice and warm-ups. But Greg Harris had never pitched with both arms in a single game. Until September 28, 1995. He was playing for the Montreal Expos. The team was losing 9-3

against the Cincinnati Reds. Harris used a special six-finger custom-made glove. It had two thumbs, so it would work on either hand. That night in Montreal, he came out as a reliever at the top of the ninth

and retired the first batter with his right hand. But the crowd instantly noticed when Harris switched the glove to his right hand. They knew he was about to go into the record books for pitching with both arms

in a single game. And he's going to do it. Listen to this. The fans haven't had much to cheer about tonight. They've been waiting for Greg to do it. And Harris is putting the glove on the right hand. And it'll throw to Hal Morris left-handed. So he'll enter the record books tonight here in Montreal.

First time in this century a pitcher has done this. The first left pitch was to a lefty batter. Harris ended up walking him. He continued throwing left to the next Reds player who also batted left. First pitch was a strike. There's a strike. And a standing O at the big O in Montreal.

That batter was put out at first. For the last right-handed batter, Harris switched back to throwing with his right arm. On the first pitch, the batter hit a short bouncer right to Harris, who threw him out at first. It was a historic moment. He enters the record books. Congratulations, Greg.

Harris retired the very next night. He was the first switch pitcher in modern baseball history. Being able to make big switches also has an interesting history in the world of marketing. Because when well-known spokespeople suddenly switch to pitch another brand, it's a jarring moment. Some of those spokespeople were fired, then switched over to a competitor. One spokesperson made a famous commercial for a hamburger company, then was fired for making a commercial for a spaghetti sauce company. And yet another spokesperson was arrested. But each made a memorable switch pitch. If you were watching television back in January of 1984, you might remember this commercial.

It certainly is a big bun. It's a very big bun. Big fluffy bun. It's a very big bun. Big fluffy bun. It's a very big fluffy bun. Where's the beef? Some hamburger places give you a lot less beef on a lot of bun. Where's the beef? At Wendy's, we serve a hamburger we modestly call a single.

And Wendy's single has more beef than the Whopper or Big Mac. At Wendy's, you get more beef and less bun. Hey, where's the beef? The ad showed three older ladies looking at a hapless hamburger in a fast food restaurant. But the breakout star was the octogenarian who yelled, Where's the beef? Her name was Clara Peller. She was an 81-year-old retired manicurist.

The original line was to be, Where's all the beef? But Peller suffered from emphysema and had trouble getting through the line. So it was shortened to, where's the beef? And that was the magic. The commercial was a sensation, and where's the beef became the go-to line when something appeared shallow or unfulfilling. Vice Presidential candidate Walter Mondale even used it when debating opponent Gary Hart. When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad. Where's the beef? Clara Peller was only 4'10",

but her impact on pop culture was huge. And Wendy's couldn't be happier. Clara Peller's commercials boosted revenue 31% and profits soared. She was given a contract to do more Wendy's commercials, reportedly worth half a million dollars. The contract wasn't exclusive, so Peller was free to do other commercials,

including this one for Prego. I found it. Real beef. It's in there. In new Prego Plus I found it. Real beef. It's in there. In new Prego Plus spaghetti sauce with beef and onions. I really found it. Prego Plus with chunks of ground sirloin beef. Lots of beef.

I finally found it. It's spaghetti sauce you can really sink your fork into with that homemade Prego taste. Try all four delicious varieties including new Prego Plus with beef. Even though Clara Peller never says the word beef in that commercial, she says, I found it. And it was clear to everyone she was playing off her famous Wendy's catchphrase. It got a lot of attention for the spaghetti sauce. It also got the attention of the Wendy's folks,

who were not happy, and they terminated Peller's contract. A spokesperson for Wendy's said if Peller was finding the beef at Wendy's and in another product, it diluted their campaign and made it confusing for viewers. So Clara Peller and Wendy's parted ways.

The Where's the Beef campaign continued without its 81-year-old star and slowly fizzled out. Clara Peller passed away two years later in 1987. Gone but not forgotten, Where's the Beef was voted one of the top 10 slogans of the 20th century. The cell phone industry is one of the most highly competitive categories in the marketing world. In the U.S., that competition is extreme. Beginning in 2002, Verizon ran a TV campaign they called Test Man. Can you hear me now? How do you build America's largest wireless network? Can you hear me now? Good.

By never being satisfied. Can you hear me now? Good. Until no matter where you go... Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? ...your call goes through. That line, can you hear me now, became Verizon's catchphrase for the next nine years. It was an interesting marketing strategy. Many cell phone providers fight it out with pricing.

But Verizon chose to talk about signal quality. Their logic? If you couldn't make a call, it didn't matter how many low-cost minutes you have in a cell plan. The ad campaign caught on because Can You Hear Me Now? was a phrase all cell phone users could relate to. Within 24 months, Verizon grew its customer base by 10%, then another 15% the following year. Huge numbers in a brutally competitive category.

For nine years, actor Paul Marcorelli was the can-you-hear-me-now Verizon guy. He was reportedly making a quarter of a million dollars per year, but the contract had stipulations. He could not do any other commercials, he had to keep his identity quiet, and he was not to discuss the campaign. Repeated exposure on a long-running

national advertising campaign gave Paul Marcorelli a big dose of fame. He signed endless autographs in airports and posed for thousands of selfies. There were awkward moments of fame as well. At a wedding he attended, more people lined up for pictures with Marco Relli than they did with the bride.

Then there was the funeral of Marco Relli's grandmother. As her casket was being lowered into the ground, Marco Relli heard someone in attendance whisper, Can you hear me now? All of which is to say, Paul Marcorelli was fully, completely, and indelibly identified as the Verizon Can You Hear Me Now guy. So it was surprising to see him show up in a Sprint commercial.

After nine years, Marcorelli's contract with Verizon ended in 2011. He was then approached by Verizon's rival Sprint to try their service. Marco Relli was impressed, so Sprint asked him to star in a TV campaign titled Paul Switched. Hey, I'm Paul. And I used to ask if you could hear me now with Verizon.

Not anymore. I'm with Sprint now. Because guess what? It's 2016 and every network is great. In fact, Sprint's reliability is now within 1% of Verizon. And Sprint saves you 50% on most Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile rates. So I switched to Sprint. And millions more have too. Can you hear that? That Sprint commercial got a lot of attention because viewers instantly understood

the longtime Verizon spokesperson had switched to Sprint. In a fully saturated category like cell phones, almost all new customers have to be poached from competitors. And what better way to persuade people to switch than to get the other team's guy to switch on national television. The Sprint commercial with Mark Carelli was viewed over 14 million times. The CEO at the time said that Sprint had beat both AT&T and Verizon that quarter in terms of adding new customers. It was a bold campaign for the number four carrier.

Clearly, customers could hear Sprint now. And we'll be right back. You're listening to Season 10 of Under the Influence. If you're enjoying this episode, you might also like Jumping the Shark, Spokesperson Disasters, Season 8, Episode 1. You'll find it in our archives wherever you download your pods. He was 69 years old when he became an amusing spokesperson for Dos Equis Beer. His name is Jonathan Goldsmith.

You may know him better as the most interesting man in the world. In a past life, he was himself. If opportunity knocks and he's not home, opportunity waits. He gave his father the talk. He is the most interesting man in the world. I don't always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer those neckies. Stay thirsty, my friends.

The campaign first launched in 2007. The Most Interesting Man in the World was an immediate hit because the writing was so funny, the voiceover so hilariously droll, and Goldsmith's charming mix of Ernest Hemingway and James Bond was so perfect. He is the life of parties he has never attended. If he were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight off the strong urge to thank him.

Sharks have a week dedicated to him. He is the most interesting man in the world. Goldsmith originally landed the role after attending a cattle call audition with dozens of other actors half his age. So Goldsmith just shrugged it off, auditioned a script titled The Most Interesting Man in the World, and ad-libbed a funny line at the end saying,

And that's how I arm-wrestled Fidel Castro. That made the ad agency laugh, but they were concerned about Goldsmith's age. After all, beer is mostly consumed by young drinkers. Goldsmith's agent simply said to the agency, She had a point. The white-bearded Goldsmith got the job. The resulting Dos Equis campaign would make the small regional beer

one of the fastest-growing brands in the U.S. Sales tripled. Stay thirsty, my friends. Then, in 2016, Dos Equis announced they weren't going to stay with Jonathan Goldsmith. After nine years of success, someone at the beer company felt Goldsmith, now 77, was not only too old, he was getting more attention than the beer.

A younger, most interesting man in the world was to take his place. Goldsmith was disappointed, especially since the ads had done so well for Dos Equis. The beer company shot an elaborate commercial for Goldsmith's exit. In the ad, a large crowd of people from all over the world gather to watch the most interesting man in the world leave the world. They bid him goodbye as he boards a spaceship with a one-way ticket to Mars.

Nine months later, Jonathan Goldsmith showed up in another campaign, for a different alcohol product. Not a beer, but a tequila. The first ad showed Goldsmith sitting in a familiar leather chair, dressed in a familiar dark suit, bookended again by two beautiful women, referencing one of his familiar Dos Equis lines. I told you

I don't always drink beer. Estral tequila. It was a tightrope walk for Estral tequila, but it carefully co-opted as much of the Dos Equis baggage as it could while still observing all legal trademark requirements.

When spokespeople switch brands, especially if they switch to another brand in the same category, it gets a lot of attention. The media jumped on it, giving Estrella Tequila a ton of free press. For a feisty brand

with a limited budget, landing Goldsmith as a spokesperson was a major coup. Meanwhile, Dos Equis hit the air with their younger Most Interesting Man

in the World. It didn't go well. The brand slumped, sales slowed, and the Most Interesting Man in the World campaign, the campaign that won hundreds of awards and had tripled sales,

became one of the least interesting campaigns in the world and was finally shelved. But Jonathan Goldsmith seems to be doing okay. He wrote a book titled Stay Interesting. I don't always tell stories about my life, but when I do, they're true and amazing. Cheers, Jonathan. Peloton is a company that sells pricey exercise bikes. They come equipped with screens for virtual spin classes.

Bike owners can subscribe to monthly live or on-demand cycling classes streamed from the company's own fitness studio. Back in 2019, Peloton ran a commercial where a husband gives his wife an exercise bike for Christmas. Okay, you ready? Yes. Now. A Peloton?

Give it up for our first time riding. All right, first ride. I'm a little nervous, but excited. Let's do this. Five days in a row. You surprised? I am. She makes a commitment to ride the bike every day

and gets emotional when she thanks her husband one year later for giving her the bike. A year ago, I didn't realize how much this would change me. Thank you. This holiday, give the gift of Peloton.

That commercial ignited a huge backlash. Many thought it was tone-deaf and sexist for a husband to expect his wife to exercise and lose weight. Peloton got thousands of YouTube views every hour, but was getting five thumbs-down ratings for every thumbs-up. Then the company's share price tumbled, dropping 15%, essentially shaving

$1.5 billion from the company's market value. The ad inspired a number of merciless parodies. Okay, my first ride, I'm a little bit nervous, and rightly so because my husband got me a f***ing workout bike for Christmas, and that's rude. Let's go! Peloton was surprised at the blowback, but stood by the commercial. The company said people were misinterpreting the ad, but the bad press continued. Then, actor Ryan Reynolds and his company Aviation Gin saw the ad and had an idea.

Ryan Reynolds is one of the owners of Aviation Gin. His company reached out to the actress in the Peloton ad, Monica Ruiz, and said they had an idea that might take the air out of the negative situation. They wanted Ruiz to star in an aviation gin commercial. Within 72 hours, this commercial hit YouTube. It begins with Ruiz staring blankly at the camera for over 12 full seconds, as if shell-shocked by the response to the Peloton ad. Then the camera pulls back to reveal

she's sitting at a bar with two supportive friends. They have martinis in front of them. This gin is really smooth. Yeah. We can get you another one, if you'd like. You're safe here. To new beginnings. To new beginnings. To new beginnings.

The three of them take a sip of their drinks. Ruiz, on the other hand, downs her entire martini in one gulp. You look great, by the way. The parody was a huge viral hit. It generated reams of free press

for aviation gin because viewers knew it was Monica Ruiz from the Peloton ad. Reynolds calls this fast-vertising, taking quick advantage of a hot media moment. The ad has over 7 million views as of this writing. And by the way, when Ryan Reynolds posted the commercial

to his over 50 million social media followers, he added the caption, Exercise bike not included. New year, new me. Season is here and honestly, we're already over it. Enter Felix, the healthcare company helping Canadians take a different approach to weight loss this year. Weight loss is more than just diet and exercise.

It can be about tackling genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix gets it. They connect you with licensed healthcare practitioners online who'll create a personalized treatment plan that pairs your healthy lifestyle with a little help and a little extra support. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A.

Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power.

Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. He was born Offer Shlomi in 1964. Growing up in Brooklyn, he was mesmerized by a series of commercials in the 70s for an electronics retailer named Crazy Eddie. Hold the mistletoe, because it's a Crazy Eddie Christmas blowout flick. Crazy Eddie's got everything you could possibly need for Christmas, and it's all on sale now. TVs, VCRs, stereo systems, telephones,

telephone answering machines, anything and everything in home entertainment and lots of home appliances, too. Remember, we are not undersold. We will not be undersold. We cannot be undersold, and we mean it. Offer Shlomi changed his name to Vince Offer in the mid-1980s.

At 17, he left high school to head for L.A. He wanted to make short comedy films. To fund those films, Vince did live demonstrations of kitchen appliances at flea markets. He was good at it and could gather a crowd. One day, he decided to make an infomercial for one of his movies.

He bought advertising time on Comedy Central from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. and booked a few theaters to show his film. He secretly hoped a movie company would see his film and distribute it. He got no offers from Hollywood, but the infomercial sold quite a few tickets to his movie. That's when it hit him.

He could make money with infomercials and wouldn't have to please anyone but himself. So he took another product he had sold successfully at flea markets, called a ShamWow, and filmed an infomercial. Here's some cola. Wine, coffee, cola, pet stains. Not only is the damage going to be on top,

there's your mildew. That is going to smell. Look at this. Put it on the spill, turn it over without even putting any pressure. 50% of the cola right there. You following me, camera guy? The ShamWow infomercial exploded. Where most infomercials were boring and dull, Vince Offer became a pop culture phenomenon and a rich one. He bought the ShamWow cloths wholesale at three cloths for 50 cents, then sold them in packs of eight for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

He shipped millions. Then came the slap shop. This thing, this tuna, looks boring. Stop having a boring tuna. Stop having a boring life. Add this tuna, put it here like this. Now you're going to have a nice tuna salad. Look at this. You're going to have an exciting life now.

Vince says the secret to his infomercials was to be very vanilla with a touch of the inappropriate. You're going to love my nuts. Watch this. Almonds, walnuts. Comes with a cover. So you can do everything in the cover. All right? Or you can do it on the board.

Whatever you'd like. So easy. One finger. If I could do it with one finger, you guys could do it with your whole hand. Because Vince owns his own products, he could be as inappropriate as he wanted to be. Then, on February 7, 2009, Vince got a little too inappropriate. He got into a physical altercation with an alleged prostitute in a Miami hotel room.

The mugshots weren't pretty. The pair was arrested for aggravated battery, but charges were eventually dropped. Vince said he took full responsibility for the incident, then disappeared from TV screens for three years. When Vince Offer finally resurfaced in 2012, it was in a new infomercial for a washable lint roller called The Sticky. The commercial had the usual vanilla

with more than a touch of the inappropriate. And ladies, you always wanted to stick it to your husband. Now you can. Works on all fabrics, from wool to velvet. Problem with that shedding pussy? Pick up cat hairs from clothes. But here's where it got interesting. In our other stories today,

a spokesperson switched brands and raised eyebrows. But with Vince Offer, he raised eyebrows just by switching products. In the sticky commercial, he made fun of his arrest products. In the Sticky commercial, he made fun of his arrest by posing for a fake mugshot. Sticky makes you look your best. Even for those unforgettable moments.

He stood in front of a mugshot backdrop and held a police signboard that said Dade County, February 7th Offer, Vince Doc 061-903. It may have been the first time in history a spokesperson referenced his arrest in a TV commercial. Only Vince Offer could leverage a questionable upside in a sticky situation. When switch pitcher Greg Harris threw with both arms in a single game, it garnered the

most attention in his 15-year career. His six-fingered glove is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In all our stories today, when a spokesperson switched and pitched for a different brand, it too attracted a lot of attention. Sometimes that attention came at a cost. Jonathan Goldsmith lost a great gig promoting Dos Equis, but landed softly in a bottle of tequila. Paul Marcarelli lost his Verizon job, but was hurt again when he switched to rival Sprint.

Monica Ruiz was able to deflate some of the Peloton controversy with a little help from Ryan Reynolds and some gin. And even though Clara Peller had a non-exclusive contract with Wendy's, she lost her job when she did a commercial for a spaghetti sauce. Then there's Vince Offer. His embarrassing mugshot didn't stop him from incorporating it into a new infomercial when he switched to pitching a new product. There's always a risk with a spokesperson.

Sometimes they get more attention than the product, and sometimes they show up in a competitor's ad. Some end up in the hall of fame, and some end up in the hall of shame when you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrestrial Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Keith Ullman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre.

Research, Allison Pinches. See you next week. Do not puncture or incinerate. Do not remove tag. Do not look at laser with remaining eye Offer only valid in Whitefish, Ontario