Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S10E10 - Brand Envy 2021

Episode Date: March 11, 2021

This week, it’s our annual Brand Envy episode. This season, we look at four unique companies. One completely changed a sport forever. One became the best-selling toy of all time. Another has influenced the music business since 1894. And one had a heavenly idea. All achieved something that had never been done before. 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. We'll see you next time. new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. This is an apostrophe podcast production. You're not you when you're hungry.

You're in good hands with all things. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. One of the most powerful arrows in the advertising quiver is envy. The itch of keeping up with the Joneses moves a lot of merchandise in this world. The phrase Keeping Up with the Joneses is often attributed to a certain cartoon strip that began way back in 1913. It was created by Arthur Momand. He landed a job at the New York World newspaper in 1905,

which was owned by Joseph Pulitzer. Momand was only 18 at the New York World newspaper in 1905, which was owned by Joseph Pulitzer. Mo Mand was only 18 at the time, but the editor there liked his style and started him at $6 a week. For the next eight years, Mo Mand created art for every section of the newspaper and was soon earning $30 a week. Then one day, Mo Mand came up with a comic strip called

Keeping Up With The Joneses. The strip featured the McGinnis family, husband Aloysius, wife Clarice, daughter Julie, and housekeeper Bella Donna. They were social climbers, consumed with keeping up with their next-door neighbors,

the Joneses. The central point of the comic was to poke fun at the silliness of envy. In A Brilliant Stroke, we never see the Joneses. We only see the crazy antics the McGinnis family are willing to go to just to compete. While the Daily Comic ran in newspapers all over the U.S. and Canada from 1913 to 1938, it is not well remembered. But the phrase, Keeping Up With The Joneses, has outlived both artist Arthur Momand and his comic strip.

As a matter of fact, you can still see its influence on the title of the reality TV show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. That well-known phrase, Keeping Up with the Joneses, also led to one of my favorite Volkswagen TV commercials of the 60s. It begins with a shot of two nearly identical houses side by side on a typical neighborhood street. Mr. Jones and Mr. Krampler were neighbors.

They each had $3,000. With his money, Mr. Jones bought himself a $3,000 car. With his money, Mr. Krempler bought himself a new refrigerator, a new range, a new washer, a new dryer, a record player, two new television sets, and a brand new Volkswagen. Now Mr. Jones is faced with that age-old problem, keeping up with the Kremplers. Even reverse envy can be amusing.

Welcome to our annual Brand Envy episode. Today we'll talk about four organizations that achieved something that had never been done before. One completely changed a sport forever. One became the best-selling toy of all time. Another has influenced the music business since 1894. And one simply had a heavenly idea. In each instance, their absolute uniqueness gives me a case of brand envy. You're under the influence.

The very first person to ever tackle Rubik's Cube back in 1974 took a full month to finally solve it. He didn't know if it could ever be done. His name was Erno Rubik. Erno Rubik was the inventor of Rubik's Cube. He was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944. As a young boy, Rubik liked to draw and sculpt. Years later,

he studied architecture and became obsessed with geometric designs. He eventually became a professor and taught a class called Descriptive Geometry, where he encouraged students to use two-dimensional images

to solve three-dimensional problems. When Erno Rubik was 29, he was in his bedroom tinkering. He has described his bedroom as looking like the, quote, inside of a child's pocket. It was littered with crayons, strings, sticks,

various odds and ends, and lots of cubes. One day, he tried connecting eight wooden cubes together so they could move around and exchange places. And it promptly fell apart.

After several experiments, he figured out a unique design that contained an interesting paradox. It was a solid object that was also fluid. Rubik decided to add 54 colorful stickers to the cube, with each side sporting a different color, yellow, red, blue, orange, white, and green. That way, the movement of the pieces was visible and trackable.

Then Rubik kept twisting the cube until he realized something. There was no way back. Uh-oh. He had twisted it so much, the colors were now all mixed up. He had no clue how to restore it to its original state. One month later, Rubik finally solved it.

Realizing the cube could be restored to its original state, he submitted an application to the Hungarian Patent Office for a, quote, spatial logic toy, called the Magic Cube. In the beginning, it was difficult to find a manufacturer willing to produce it because it didn't look like a toy. Rubik was told no one would want to play with it. Then, in 1977,

one plastic toy company finally agreed to produce 5,000 magic cubes. Then they went on sale in Hungarian toy shops. Two years later, 300,000 magic cubes had been sold. But Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain, and exports were strictly controlled. So Erno Rubik decided to take his creation to international toy fairs. Again, there wasn't much interest abroad. Until one

day at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1980, a marketer named Tom Kramer spotted the Magic Cube. He thought it was fascinating. He struck a deal to bring it to America. A company called Ideal Toy was given the contract, but insisted on changing the name first.

They suggested Rubik's Cube. That was a strategic decision. Because Rubik's name was so unique, it could be trademarked. The Ideal Company brought Erno Rubik over to America to demonstrate his cube at the New York Toy Fair in 1980. They needed stores to get excited about it. Rubik wasn't the most charismatic salesperson. He was a shy professor with a limited command of English.

But Ideal needed him there for one very specific reason. He was the only one who could actually solve the Rubik's Cube live in front of the toy buyers. You could say that demonstration kind of worked. Within just three years, 100 million Rubik's Cubes were sold with the help

of this commercial. There's never been a puzzle quite like Rubik's Cube, and America may never be the same. A medical journal has written about a unique phenomenon, Rubik's thumb. A museum recognized it as a work of art. Rubik's Cube became a worldwide craze. The Museum of Modern Art selected Rubik's Cube

for its permanent collection. The first Rubik's Cube World Championship was held in Hungary in 1982. The winner solved the puzzle in just 22.9 seconds. Soon, Rubik's Cube became part of pop culture. Ooh, a Rubik's Cube. Let's all work it together. Okay, start with diagonal colors. Use your main finger on the yellow side and your other finger on the orange side and turn it. Today, nearly 50 years after its invention, Rubik's Cube is still a huge seller.

Over 450 million have been sold, making it the best-selling toy in history. And the pandemic has boosted sales. The current speed record for solving Rubik's Cube is just 3.47 seconds, which is mind-boggling, considering there are 43 quintillion possible combinations, but only one successful one. And just last year, the famous cube was purchased for $50 million by the Canadian company Spin Master Toys. It is a unique and remarkable brand.

Even in this computer-driven digital age, Rubik's Cube is projected to sell 20 million units this year alone. When you talk about the best-selling songs from any week, any year, any decade, or any century, there is one main go-to source, the Billboard music charts. The very first issue of Billboard magazine was published in Cincinnati way back in 1894. And here's what you may not know about this famous magazine. It was called Billboard for a reason. Because it was created to cover the Billboard advertising industry. As a matter of fact, the cover of the first issue of Billboard advertising magazine featured a matter of fact, the cover of the first issue of Billboard Advertising Magazine featured a picture of a Chicago advertising executive who specialized in outdoor billboards. The magazine was founded by a pair of printing salesmen to report on industry news

and as a way to keep in touch with their major advertising clients. In June of 1896, the first sign of entertainment coverage snuck onto the magazine's pages. There was a new fair section, which reported on carnival circuses and fairs, as those attractions were big buyers of billboard ads. Then one year later, the magazine's name was changed

from Billboard Advertising to The Billboard, a name that would stick until 1961. While the first two pages still covered the Billboard ad biz in 1902, there was now 14 pages of entertainment industry gossip, deaths, bankruptcies, openings and closings, robberies, and train wrecks. The first national music chart appeared in July of 1940. It ranked the country's top ten best-selling retail records in three categories, pop, rhythm and blues, and country and western.

It was called the Hit Parade. The number one record on that first chart was by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra. The song was I'll Never Smile Again. The singer was a kid named Frank Sinatra. That song, by the way, was written by Canadian Ruth Lowe. She wrote it while grieving over the unexpected death of her husband. I'll Never Smile Again stayed at the top of the Billboard chart for 12 weeks. By the 1950s, the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart was created,

followed by the Billboard Hot 100 Song chart. Both became industry standards. Amazingly, it took until 1961 for the magazine to concentrate solely on music, spinning off the carnival and fair coverage into a separate publication. Soon, Billboard magazine became known as the Music Business Bible. While it was always a trade magazine, it became popular with the general public when the widely syndicated radio show American Top 40 hit the air.

This is Casey Kasem in Hollywood, and in the next three hours, we'll count down the 40 most popular hits in the United States this week, hot off the record charts of Billboard magazine for the week ending July the 11th, 1970. Today, Billboard is still regarded as the foremost music authority. It is now read in 100 countries, Billboard.com attracts over 2.5 million unique visitors every month, the Billboard Music Awards is one of television's most popular annual events, and Billboard's charts are still the measuring stick for every recording artist. And we'll be right back.

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to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. You're listening to Season 10 of Under the Influence. If you're enjoying this episode, you might also like Brand Envy 2019, Season 8, Episode 21. You'll find it in our annual Brand Envy episode

are companies that have lasted, this is the story of a comeback. At the corner of Barton and Wellington streets in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, a man named Emil Koneski opened a shop back in 1915. Known as Pops Koneski, he began as a harness maker. But the shop found its true mission one day in 1924 when the manager of the NHL team the Hamilton Tigers walked in with a request.

He wanted to know if Koneski could create something new for his goaltender who was on a losing streak. At that time, goalies were using narrow cricket pads. They were thin and didn't provide much protection. So Koneski got to work. Soon, history was made on the second floor of his small Hamilton shop. Because Pops Kineski created the first goalie pads. Kineski goalie pads were unique.

They were made of tan, creamed horsehide, cotton sheeting, and a moisture-resistant quick-drying fiber. There was no rule saying pads couldn't be wider, so Pops made his pads 12 inches wide and added two rolls to the outside edges. The unique design

also controlled rebounds better. Look at any photograph from the early days of the NHL through to the late 70s, and the Koneski goalie pads are instantly recognizable. Amazingly, each original Kineski pad weighed 17 pounds each. Before long, pro goalies were coming into the store to buy pads off the shelf, and the requests for custom pads poured in.

All Kineski pads were handmade on the second floor of the shop. Only 300 pairs were produced every year. Many customers were turned away. As you may know, netminders are famously superstitious, and Pops Kineski was often asked to sew a good luck charm into the pads. Many goalies asked for a rabbit's foot. The company also made blockers, catcher's gloves, belly pads and more. For the next 50 years, the Koneski brand was the go-to choice of Hall of Famers

like Johnny Bauer, Terry Sawchuck, Glenn Hall and Gump Worsley. Pops Koneski worked every day until he was 86 years old. When he passed away at the age of 97, his two sons took over the business in 1974. They kept churning out Koneski goalie equipment with the same care as their father. But when newer, lighter materials emerged and rival firms got into the pad-making game, Kineski started to lose market share. The last Kineski goalie pads were made in 1992. The store survived by evolving into a sporting equipment retailer.

The shop remained a Hamilton fixture until finally closing its doors in 2015. The famous building at Barton and Wellington was torn down not long after. But an NHL rule change would eventually bring it back to life. One of the original employees had purchased the Kineski family shares. He wanted to keep the legacy alive, so he partnered with an equipment designer to reopen the doors of Kineski's. This time, those doors happened to be in London, Ontario.

Not long after, the NHL made a rule change. All netminders had to shrink their equipment. The new regulation stated equipment had to be proportionate to the size of the goaltender. Prior to this change, goalie equipment had become enormous. A 190-pound goalie was indistinguishable from a 240-pound goalie. Equipment stopped being about protecting goalies and became about smothering every inch of the available net opening. The NHL still wanted to protect goalies, but also wanted to encourage more goal scoring and athletic ability.

To achieve that, the equipment had to shrink. The chest pads goalies wore also had to shrink. Most manufacturers simply shrank pre-existing designs. The resulting pads were stiff and uncomfortable. So Konesky stuck a toe in the door and started making chest protectors designed specifically to suit the new regulations. When Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby

stepped onto the ice wearing a Kineski chess pad in 2018, it was the first time a piece of Kineski equipment had been in an NHL game since 1992. Soon, other goaltenders like Mike Smith, Craig Anderson, and Roberto Luongo all started wearing Kineski chess pads. More goalies followed suit. The new owners hope goalies will adopt more of their signature equipment so the storied Kineski brand

will continue to thrive. As the great Johnny Bauer once said, the reason his body survived such a long career was because of Kineski pads. Bet MGM career was because of Koneski pads. you can only get with BetMGM. And no matter your team, your favorite skater, or your style, there's something every NHL fan is going to love about BetMGM.

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I remember going to see them when I was a kid. As a hockey team, they were a very unique brand. They were called the Flying Fathers. The team was started way back in 1963 in North Bay, Ontario. A priest there by the name of Father Brian McKee, who I would later come to know as a priest in my hometown of Sudbury, Ontario, was quite the athlete in his younger years. He excelled at football and was even offered a position with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. But McKee opted for a life in the priesthood.

While serving in North Bay, one of McKee's altar boys suffered a blinding eye injury playing hockey. The boy's mother was a single parent who didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the medical attention her son required. That's when Father McKee had an idea. He decided to organize a hockey fundraiser. He called up other priests he knew played hockey for fun and organized a game against another local team. To the fans' utter amazement, the Flying Fathers, as the team was called,

beat the other team 7-3. Father McKee gave the family the $5,000 in proceeds. When a youth organization couldn't afford the rental fee for a hall where they hoped to hold Friday night dances, Father McKee organized another fundraiser game against a team of local broadcasters. The Flying Fathers had to get permission from the area bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie for that second game. The bishop wasn't happy about the idea. As writer Roy McGregor put it so beautifully, priests were supposed to take confession,

not penalties. But the priests managed to get that reluctant blessing and the fundraiser was so popular, over 5,000 people showed up for the game. While the Flying Fathers

were surprisingly good, they also worked up some very funny on-ice antics. They would flood the rink with holy water before the game. They would hear confession behind the nets. Absolution would be good for five years or 50,000 sins, whichever came first. When a player from the opposition scored,

he was given a special baptism, which always ended with a pie in the face. Various players could be spotted taking a nip of holy wine from a flask. But I clearly remember the best joke of all.

Sometime during the game, a nun would come flying off the bench. She was in a full nun's habit with black robes flowing, and boy, could she skate. She would make dazzling rushes down the ice, she would throw shocking hip checks, and skate circles around the opposition with ease. Her name was Sister Mary Shooter. In reality, it was Father Les Costello in drag, if I may be so bold. Father Costello was an incredible hockey player and the star of the Flying Fathers.

He had won two Memorial Cups as a junior and a Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs in 1948 before giving it all up for the priesthood at the age of 22. In their heyday, the Flying Fathers would play 25 charity games a year. They raised millions for charity and played across Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Hollywood even came knocking one year. Francis Ford Coppola wanted to produce a film on the fabulous Flying Fathers. When he suggested a little sex in the film, the team turned him down.

The Flying Fathers weren't in it for the fame or the glory. They were in it for the fun and to help the less fortunate. I think their theme song sums it up best. We play the game of hockey to prove to everyone that you can still have religion and can still have some fun. We always try to pull a stunt to score the winning goals, and even when we lose the game, we still have won some souls. There are thousands and thousands of companies and organizations in the world. Many are successful, many have been around a long time, and many more just chug along.

But then there are the special ones. Like Kinesky's, a modest company located on a street corner in Hamilton, Ontario, a company that quietly changed the game of hockey for all time. As one writer put it so perfectly, Kineski is the square root of all goalie pads. Then there's Rubik's Cube, created to teach students how to solve geometry problems that colorful cube, created by a shy professor,

would go on to become the best-selling toy in history. In my books, a great brand has staying power. And because it is utterly unique, it survives the ebbs and flows of the economy, it weathers the heel nips of new competitors, and it becomes the go-to choice in its category. That would describe Billboard magazine, the keeper of the charts since the 1940s. And who knew its very name came from its roots in the Billboard advertising business? Then there are the Flying Fathers,

an absolutely unique idea. For nearly 50 years, they entertained crowds around the world, raising millions of dollars for charities and the less fortunate, making people smile all the while. Every one of these amazing brands shares at least one thing in common. They were each built on an idea that had never been done before, proving it takes more than a wing and a prayer to succeed. They were each built on an idea that had never been done before, proving it takes more than a wing and a prayer to succeed 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 Oman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Research, Abby Forsythe. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Terry O Influence. See you next week. For indoor or outdoor use only, hard hat and safety goggles are recommended. For maximum enjoyment, read the instructions.

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