Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S4E25 - Ask Terry 2015

Episode Date: June 21, 2015

This is the final episode of our 10th season on CBC. And to celebrate, we turn the show over to you. That means Terry will be answering listener questions. He’ll talk about why he chose advertising as a profession, how political marketing differs from product marketing, whether the jingle is definitely dead, why some bad commercials actually work, and how he would advertise marijuana if it ever became legal. The questions are fun, insightful and amusing. 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. From the Under the Influence digital box set, this episode is from Season 4, 2015. You're so king in it. Scores of it in an instant. Your teeth look whiter than noon, noon, noon. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. Hollywood has brought us many famous lines over the years.

Like, I'm gonna make him an offer we can't refuse, from The Godfather. And, here's looking at you, kid, from Casablanca. But there are just as many memorable movie lines that were actually questions. Take one of my favorite movies, The Graduate. In a scene where Dustin Hoffman's character, Benjamin Braddock, suddenly finds himself alone with the much older Mrs. Robinson, Benjamin asks the central question of the movie. Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me.

Aren't you? By the way, Robert Redford had originally auditioned for the role of Benjamin Braddock. Director Mike Nichols didn't think Redford had the appropriate underdog qualities. He asked Redford if he had ever struck out with a girl. Redford said, What do you mean?

To which Nichols replied, Exactly. Hoffman got the role. The song Mrs. Robinson was originally called Mrs. Roosevelt, which is why it has political lyrics. Another great movie question comes from the film Taxi Driver. It's a short but loaded question. You talking to me? You talking to me?

Robert De Niro actually got his cab license and drove taxi in New York 12 hours a day, four days a week, while preparing for the movie. Screenwriter Paul Schrader wrote the script in five days, while he was a delivery man for a chain of chicken restaurants. Clint Eastwood became a gigantic movie star when he asked this famous question. It is often misquoted as, do you feel lucky, punk? But the real question was actually... You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk? Originally, Dirty Harry was to be entitled Dead Right,

and the movie was, in fact, written for John Wayne, who turned it down and questioned that decision ever after. Welcome to the final show of the season. It's an episode dedicated to questions. Each year, we ask our wonderful listeners to send in any marketing or advertising questions they may have. And we receive the most responses ever in our 10 years on the air. So thank you.

Your questions are fun, insightful, and amusing. And I'll do the best I can to answer them. You feeling lucky, punk? You talking to me? You're under the influence. I thought we'd begin today by taking a look at the Under the Influence Twitter page. Keith, let's hear the first question. Here's a good one to start with. Michael Bryanton asks, so what made you get into advertising in the first place?

Romper Room. I always do what's right. I never do anything wrong. I'm a romper room doobie, Let me explain. Back in 1963, I was on Romper Room, and I was a good doobie. After a show one day, a TV director asked my mom if it was okay to put me into a commercial for a local bakery. She said yes. I made my first TV commercial at the age of four, and it aired for years across northern Ontario. I suspect that had a big impact on me at a formative age. Growing up, I remember loving commercials as much as I loved TV shows. When it came time to go to university, I knew I wanted to be in broadcast somehow,

so I chose Ryerson's Radio and Television Arts program. And every Wednesday morning, we would have a lecture class where a successful person from the media field would come in and talk to us. We had various radio personalities, TV producers, and documentary makers drop by. I remember one special morning when the friendly giant himself came in

to talk about producing children's programming. We had all grown up with him and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. But when the ad people came in and talked about solving business problems with creativity, shooting TV commercials in interesting locations, working with famous actors, dreaming up campaign ideas, and working on sound and music in recording studios, well, I just sat there transfixed. I saw my future.

So, when I got out of Ryerson, I sent out 60 resumes to 60 advertising agencies and promptly got back 61 rejection letters. True story. One company didn't want me so bad, they rejected me twice. Eventually, a small radio station in Burlington, Ontario hired me to write radio commercials, and I was on my way. Here's a related question that came in from our Under the Influence Facebook page.

It's from Mary Kirby. She asks, Was there a time in your career where you thought about getting out of the business? Hi, Mary. I have to tell you that I have loved my career in advertising. I love the puzzle of marketing. I like helping smart marketers build their businesses and relish the challenge of creating commercials

people didn't hate. Plus, a job in advertising is different every single day. I told one of my daughters recently that I can honestly say I have never looked at the clock once in my 30-plus year career. I have never, ever been bored. The pressure is enormous, the deadlines will kill you, and I had hair when I started in this business, but I've loved every minute of it. So the answer, Mary, is no. I never questioned my choice.

What's the next question, Keith? On Twitter, Edward Cook asks, what is your favorite ad campaign that you worked on? Hmm, I have a lot of favorites, but one of my all-time faves was for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. They needed a radio campaign to try and attract a younger audience. There was just something keeping that new audience from attending the live performances. So when I analyzed myself and wondered aloud why I didn't go to the TSO,

I came to the conclusion that I was intimidated by the world of classical music. With that in mind, I wrote a series of radio commercials to tell listeners not to be afraid of the TSO. Here's one of those ads. Someone in this city right now is facing a fear they can't seem to overcome. Fear of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Take Walter S. of Toronto. I'm afraid I'll mispronounce Wagner or Shostakovich. Shostakovich. Him too. Don't let this stop you from seeing the TSO. And if you do mispronounce a composer's name, you'll only have to pay a small monetary fine. We're kidding. We don't do that anymore. Call the Roy Thompson Hall box office for tickets. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

You should only be afraid you'll miss it. A fun campaign. And it generated more online sales in the first six months than the TSO had done in the entire previous year. So, what's next, Keith? Joseph Mark Oulet asks this on Facebook. Have you ever done any marketing for public officials, and how does it compare with marketing a product? Ah, yes I have, Joseph. I've done work on several federal election campaigns.

There are many similarities between marketing a political party and marketing a product. And I say that not to demean politicians, but there are fundamental advertising strategies at work. Like a product, a party and its candidates need to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The campaign should be a reflection of their unique views for the country. The campaign should address the biggest issues, ad by ad, building a solid case

that the party has the right vision for the country. And the party leader is prime minister material. There are two secrets to political marketing. First, you have to frame the ballot question. That is the overriding question designed to linger in the air when people are in the voting booth. When President Ronald Reagan asked voters in 1981 if they were better off four years ago than they were now.

That question lingered in the voting booths like a cologne, and the majority of voters put an X beside his name. The second thing political campaigns have to do is get out the vote. Very few people are actually undecided, and it's pretty difficult to get voters to switch parties. What often wins elections is the ability to convince your supporters to actually get out and vote. But the biggest way political advertising differs from product advertising is that a large bulk of it is negative.

It bashes the competition. I never liked that strategy and never enjoyed doing it when asked. Listener Barbara Barty says it seems the jingle is gone and has been replaced by pop music and commercials. She asks, is the jingle dead? The jingle is dead, Barbara. I would say it went on life support in the late 80s and died in the early 90s. Based on the fact my company was asked to do jingles right up to that time, then the requests stopped. A new generation of ad people thought jingles were old-fashioned and uncool. But because

music is a big part of commercials, they turned instead to licensing existing pop tracks, or contracting non-commercial sounding indie artists. For most of us, the only way we remember how many days there are in April is by singing a certain ditty, proving that jingles are memorable and have remarkable staying power. I think the pendulum will swing back one day. Meanwhile, here's a quick montage of some classics. You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent. Why do more Canadians shop at Dominion than at any other store? Why, it's mainly because of the meat. I am stuck on band-aid brand, his band-aid's stuck on me. I am stuck on band-aid brand, cause germs don't stick on me.

Alka-Seltzer, plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is. You deserve a break today. We're close by by right on your way at McDonald's When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last? Do you suck them very slowly or crunch them very fast?

Eat the candy and milk chocolate but tell me when I ask When you eat your Smarties do you eat the red ones last? That's it It's time for cake And I ask, when you eat your Smarties, do you eat the Redwoods last? Foxes. Photography. You'll be smiling. Foxes.

Oh, you'll be laughing. Photography. Bring back those memories that we share. Hey, you're looking good. Sleep Country, Canada. Boss, I'm a mattress anywhere else. See what Sleep Country Canada. Bazaar, mattress, anywhere else. See what Sleep Country did there? They're framing the ballot question.

And we'll be right back. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether

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Go to terryoreilly.ca for a master episode list. Jake Taylor tweets to say he listens to sports on radio and is noticing a lot of trade unions suddenly advertising. His question, are they trying to market to the public or is it to promote their professions and make their members proud? That's an interesting observation, Jake. It's true. Many trade unions are advertising lately. These days, unions are facing a perception problem. They are sometimes seen as an outdated notion in the 21st century, and the general public often doesn't see the value of organized labor.

When transit unions strike or teachers walk off the job, commuters and students are left stranded, and it doesn't endear them to the public. So, unions need to change their image. They need to communicate the value of unions to both the government and the public. Plus, many unions need the public as customers. Think building trades. They have a lot of non-union competitors,

and unions have to persuade people Think building trades. They have a lot of non-union competitors, and unions have to persuade people why choosing organized labor is the better choice. In other words, unions are rebranding. Whiskey Sour asks on Facebook, Really enjoyed the Mad Men series and wondering if things are done in a similar way today, particularly in Canada. Well, Whiskey Sour, you are aptly named to ask that question. Because the drinking you see on Mad Men is highly, highly underrated. I'm kidding. First, yes, Mad Men is pretty accurate

when it comes to depicting the ad process. Ad people do get together in a room and come up with various ideas. There are basically three separate departments in ad agencies. The account service department develops advertising strategies and does most of the communicating with clients.

On Mad Men, that would be Pete Campbell and Roger Sterling. By the way, most of the account people I worked with were way nicer than Pete Campbell and equally as funny as Roger Sterling. Then there is the creative department. Creative teams made up of a copywriter and an art director are paid to dream up commercial ideas. On Mad Men, that would be Don

Draper and Peggy Olsen. Then there is the media department, who analyze media options, develop media strategies, and purchase the commercial time on behalf of clients. On Mad Men, that would be Harry Crane. When it came to Don Draper, completely. My prediction was that he was going to go back to New York, give the best presentation of his life to Coca-Cola, then open the window in the boardroom while everyone was clapping, and jump out. Which would have mirrored the opening credit sequence we saw every week.

As it turns out, I was only half right. Back to Twitter. Michael Fredericks asks if you've heard of Rhett and Link's local commercial series. And his question is, what makes a bad commercial so good? First, let's listen to a Rhett and Link TV commercial for a local plumbing company. By the way, every time you hear someone say Reckon and Reckon will take a crack at your plumbing problems, know that they are showing a plumber bending over. The moon's out early, if you know what I mean. Leaky faucet? Toilet stoppage? Pipe problems?

Call Reckon and Reckon Plumbing. They'll take a crack at it. 877-I-RECKON My pipes are leaking. I reckon we'll take a crack at it. 877-I-RECKON My toilet won't flush. I reckon we'll take a crack at it. 877-I-RECKON Reckon and Reckon earn my business with their top-notch service.

And I save too much dollars. I reckon we'll take a crack at it. 877-I-RECORD. There is an aspect of advertising that no one can really explain. And that's when a terrible amateur commercial sells a ton of product. It drives professional ad people crazy. These commercials will be badly written, poorly shot, usually in bad taste, and for some reason, they catch on.

I once told a story on this show about a commercial I was involved with many years ago for Piedor wine. The copy I had written got revised so many times, it reduced the commercial to what I thought was garbage. Eventually, this lame commercial goes on the air and Piedor sells out. They can't make the stuff fast enough to keep up with the demand. It still remains a mystery to me.

The Rhett and Link commercials, and you can find a lot of them on YouTube, do have a charm. They are so bad, but Rhett and Link have a sense of humor. There's an implied wink there. They're kind of skewering the genre of bad commercials. But there are many other bad commercials that have no sense of humor.

Nobody is winking at anybody. And some of those bad commercials work. I can't tell you why. Maybe there's an inherent anti-salesmanship factor going on. The fact it's not slick is its power. Or maybe the public thinks they're bad at making commercials, but probably good at plumbing. And many times, bad commercials are for low-priced products or services, and the low quality says discount price. Welcome to Bobby Denning Furniture, Appliance, Auction and Realty and Lawn Equipment and Scooters. But judging by the number of

commercials Rhett and Link have on YouTube alone, they're doing okay. In case nobody's told you, weight loss goes beyond the old just eat less and move more narrative. And that's where Felix comes in. Felix is redefining weight loss for canadians with a smarter more personalized approach to help you crush your health goals this year losing weight is about more than diet and exercise it can also be about our genetics hormones metabolism felix connects you with online licensed health care practitioners who understand that everybody is different and can pair your healthy lifestyle with the right support to reach your goals. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A.

Lawrence Deswidge tweeted this question. What are the most successful Canadian advertising campaigns that spread to the U.S. or globally? Well, one of my favorite made-in-Canada ideas was for Budweiser beer. As you may know, the longtime slogan for the brand was The King of Beers. A number of years ago, Canadian ad man Dan Powich came up with a perfect image.

He simply took a beer cap and put it upside down on the top of a Budweiser bottle. It looked just like a crown, perfect for the king of beers. That image has been used by Budweiser across North America to this day. In 2004, Powitch's agency, then called Downtown Partners, also created the only Canadian-made TV commercial ever to top the USA Today Day After Super Bowl ad ratings. It was a hilarious Bud Light commercial called Good Dog. It also won a prestigious bronze lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in France that same year.

Aaron Billard tweeted this question. What's the first advertisement that changed the way you thought about the world around you? Hmm. I would have to say it was the Smokey the Bear commercials. I remember them vividly from childhood, where a deep-voiced bear would warn us how carelessness could affect nature so dramatically. It's made me paranoid of lighting fires or being casual with matches to this day. You have so many reasons to protect your forests. Remember,

only you can prevent forest fires. Smokey the Bear, by the way, was developed in 1944. That's what I call staying power. Amazing.

What's the next question, Keith? Brand Canada asks an interesting question. What is your favorite album art? Interesting. Album art is definitely a form of marketing. Well, my favorites would be from the pre-CD era,

when an album was big. Some of my favorites include Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Sniffin' the Tears' Fickle Heart, Joe Jackson's Look Sharp, The Who's Tommy, The Rolling Stones' Fickle Heart, Joe Jackson's Look Sharp, The Who's Tommy, The Rolling Stone's Sticky Fingers, Supertramp's Crime of the Century cover,

Nirvana's Nevermind, and, of course, The Beatles' Abbey Road. There's a fun story behind that one. The band was going to call the album Everest after their recording engineer's favorite brand of cigarettes. The plan was to hire a private plane and fly to Mount Everest for a photo. But the band was too lazy to make the long journey. So McCartney said,

why don't we just cross the street outside the studio? From the biggest effort came the least amount of effort, and one of the most classic, and copied, album covers ever. Here's an interesting one. Mike DeVilliers says, Imagine that Trudeau follows through on legalizing marijuana. What would an advertising campaign look like? Well, there's an interesting question. And one ad agencies will probably have to grapple with one day very soon. Well, if it's medical marijuana, the ads would have to be clinical in their presentation. And a few such ads have already run in the U.S.

MarijuanaDoctors.com is the only service that connects patients with real doctors for medical marijuana recommendations. Simple, confidential, safe. Visit MarijuanaDoctors.com. But if marijuana was legalized, that means it would be brand advertising against brand, like cars or competing dishwashing liquids. There would be slogans, claims of potency, and spokespeople.

Or maybe, Barbara Barty, there might even be a jingle. Bob's Bud, it's 4-20 for heaven's sake. It's high time to wake and bake Come to Bob's Bud, you can't go wrong Just come on down and pull out your bone It ain't no hassle and it ain't no sweat Just relax and don't you fret Bob's Bud is the best brand

Just knock on the door and we'll hand you the ganja Bob's Bud Just knock on the door and we'll hand you the ganja. Bob's Bud. Why do I do be anywhere else? Or maybe not. I want to take this moment to thank you, our listeners. You not only send great comments and suggestions, but amazing articles and links, which I love

and always read. Thank you for being so kind. We make the show for you, so your input is always welcome and appreciated here. The questions we answered today are no exception. But, of one thing, there is no question, and that is

how amazing the people are behind the scenes at Under the Influence. And being that this is our last show of the season, I'd like to tell you who those people are who work their hearts out for you every week. Our incredible sound engineer is Keith Oman, who has worked on every single episode with me since day one, ten years ago. Our theme music was written by the amazing Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre, two of Canada's best composers.

Then, there's the O'Reilly department. Our show was produced by Debbie O'Reilly. She keeps the entire show on the rails and I can't stress that enough. Debbie is the unsung hero of Under the Influence. If you've ever gone to our website for a second screen experience and followed along with the script

and all the videos and photos, and if you never have, what are you waiting for? All that rich visual content is managed by our social media director, Sydney O'Reilly. All audio editing for our Sirius Satellite broadcasts is definitely handled by Callie Ray O'Reilly. Thank you to all the wonderful folks at Pirate who help us with the show

every week. A big bouquet goes out to the amazing Barb Dickey and all the folks at CBC who have given us unwavering support since day one. See you next year. I'm Terry O'Reilly. Hi, Terry.

It's your father. How come you didn't answer my question? Um, do you wear clothes when you listen to our show? If so, have we got a t-shirt for you. Go to terryoreilly.ca slash shop. See you next week. New year, new me. Season is here and honestly, we're already over it.

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