Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S9E26 - Ask Terry 2020

Episode Date: June 25, 2020

Well, this week it’s our annual show where we answer listener questions. Like - why the most popular Super Bowl commercial chose to replace their lead actor, why Gatorade’s famous Be Like Mike campaign called Michael Jordan “Mike” when no one ever called him that before and we’ll answer the age-old question - why are there so many bad ads?  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. BetMGM, authorized gaming partner of the NBA, has your back all season long. From tip-off to the final buzzer, you're always taken care of with the sportsbook Born in Vegas. That's a feeling you can only get with BetMGM.

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You're so king in it. You're so king in it. You're so king in it. You're so king in it. You're so king in it. You're so king in it. Your teeth look whiter than no nose. You're not you when you're hungry. You're a good hand with all things. You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. Welcome to our last episode of the 2020 season. It's that time already. While preparing this final episode, I started to think about other final episodes of famous TV shows. A great final episode is an art form.

To be able to wrap up a long-running TV series in a satisfying way is never easy. Wouldn't be interesting to know how early in the run the show creator begins thinking about the final episode. In the case of Mad Men, creator Matthew Weiner took lead actor John Hamm for a walk and explained the entire arc of the series to him before they had even shot the very first episode. He even explained the final episode to Hamm. So Weiner had it all in his head before frame one was even shot.

I was thinking, if you're up for it, it might be fun to try to guess the name of the TV show from just a description of the final episode. So, tune up your memory banks and see if you can guess the following TV series. Ready? Here we go. In the final episode of this sitcom,

a man knocks on the bar door, but the bartender says, Sorry, we're closed. That was the final scene in the final episode of... Cheers. It was titled One for the Road,

and it was the 271st episode of the show's 11th and final season, airing in May of 1993. Okay, next. In the final episode of this series, it's New Year's Eve, 1979. The cast members all get together in a familiar basement, then walk upstairs to count down to 1980. That sitcom was...

That 70s Show. It had to end before the 1980s. The last episode aired at the end of the show's eighth season in May of 2018. Next, one of my favorite final episodes of all time has the two lead characters in bed when the husband wakes up from a nightmare and tells his wife he just had a dream that he owned a small

inn in Vermont. That show was The Newhart Show. In one of the funniest and cleverest final episodes, Newhart is in bed with his the funniest and cleverest final episodes, Newhart is in bed with his wife, but as we discover, it's Suzanne Plachette, his wife from his previous sitcom in the 70s.

We realize that the entire eight seasons of 1980's Newhart Show was just a nightmare. It was Bob Newhart's real-life wife who came up with the idea one night at a party. 30 million people tuned in. Okay, how's your score so far? Here we go. In the final episode of this next series, a family meets at a restaurant for dinner.

The other patrons in the restaurant all look menacingly familiar from other episodes. Journey's Don't Stop Believin' plays over the scene. It's the finale to one of my favorite shows ever, The Sopranos. The episode was titled Made in America and was the 21st episode

of the final season six. It aired in June of 2007. Hard to believe it was 13 years ago. In the final episode of our final series today, a man is at a yoga retreat and dreams up the famous I'd like to buy the world a Coke commercial. It was way back in 2015. Do you remember it?

Yep. That would be the aforementioned finale of Mad Men, titled Person to Person Season 7, Episode 14. The final episode creator Matthew Weiner had already figured out long before the first episode of the series was even filmed.

As we do every year, we turn our final episode of the season over to you. You send in some very interesting questions, and I've chosen six that I've never covered before. They range from why Canadians don't see U.S. Super Bowl ads, to why Gatorade called Michael Jordan Mike in a famous campaign, to a question about one of the most sexist advertising campaigns of all time. Appropriately, that's going to take some 2020 hindsight. We received many questions this year via social media and email, and they were all excellent, and I had to do some serious research to answer some of them. So, let's begin today on Instagram, at Aiden Photos asked, Could you do an under-the-influence show about just the ads you have made or been part of? Well, you know what, that would be fun, sure. We will do that for sure

next season. Sandy Lem asks an interesting question. Why don't Canadians get to see the hyped U.S. commercials on the Super Bowl broadcast? That's a good question. As an ad guy, I get asked this a lot. Just like the Grammys or the Academy Awards,

the rights to the Super Bowl are purchased by an American broadcast network. The cost is steep. While the NFL does not disclose the value of its contract with TV networks to broadcast regular season football games, it's reported that CBS, Fox, and NBC will pay around $3 billion a year collectively to do so, for a total of around $27 billion for the period 2013 to 2022.

Each network gets the Super Bowl game to themselves three times over that period. Last year, a 30-second commercial cost $5.2 million. CBS broadcast the game and made just under half a billion dollars on ad revenue, which, after expenses, is still a nice profit. Now, CBS sells those broadcast rights to other networks around the world. In Canada, for argument's sake, let's say it's the CBC. The CBC would pay a high price for those rights.

Then, the CBC sales force would sell commercial slots to Canadian advertisers. So when the Super Bowl broadcast pauses for a commercial break, Canadians experience what's called SIM sub, or simultaneous substitution. All the American commercials

are substituted with Canadian ads. It's a way for a Canadian network to secure the exclusive rights to the Super Bowl broadcast and offer Canadian advertisers exclusive access to the Canadian Super Bowl audience. It also keeps Canadian advertising dollars in the Canadian market. Plus, American advertisers only pay for and expect an American

audience. It's not a conspiracy to deprive Canadians from seeing U.S. Super Bowl commercials. It's not personal, Sonny. It's business. On Instagram at alexanderarts.ca asks, Why did M&M's change the actress in their ad about M&M's chocolate bars? Was the first blonde woman too aggressive or not hitting the correct market?

Okay, well, first let's listen to the original commercial. It takes place in a car where a mother is driving and there is some pandemonium in the back seat. Ow! Alright guys, come on. Get your foot out! Get your foot off of him. Quit it! Hey, watch it.

Hey, stop. Ow. I'm not doing anything. Quit it. Okay, do I have to break you guys apart? He started it. Stop it. You stop.

Stop it. Guys, come on. Stop touching me. Okay, that I have to break you guys apart? He started it. Stop it. You stop. Stop it. Guys, come on. Stop touching me. Okay, that's it. If you don't stop, I will eat all of you alive right now. I prefer the break us apart option. Introducing the M&M's Chocolate Bar. That was actually a 2019 Super Bowl commercial for Eminem's new chocolate bar.

The blonde woman driving is Hollywood actor Christina Applegate. That commercial, by the way, was judged to be the most popular ad in the 2019 Super Bowl. Shortly after the big game, the commercial was back on the air, but with a different actor. You don't stop. I'm going to eat all of you alive right now. I suspect the reason the actor was changed had nothing to do with Christina Applegate being too aggressive or the commercial not hitting the correct market. I think it had to do with her contract.

I'm sure Christina Applegate was paid a lot to be in that commercial, and I'm pretty sure her contract was limited to the Super Bowl and maybe a short run up to the game in previews. So, in order for M&M's to continue running the commercial, they had to replace her with another actor as per the contract, which I'm sure was filmed at the same time. If you think about it, celebrity Super Bowl commercials rarely run for an entire year. It's just too expensive. On Twitter, at Ernie McKay asks, Wasn't there an airline, national I think,

that once featured their stewardesses with the come-hither line, Fly Me? Yep, it's hard to imagine, Ernie, but it's true. National Airlines once ran a Fly Me campaign that began in 1971. The first print ad showed a photo of a woman with the headline, I'm Cheryl, fly me. Then the campaign moved to television. Everything you've heard about us Miami girls is true. We're always on the move.

I'm Judy, and I was born to fly. Fly me to Houston. National has non-stop DC 10s every day. Or fly me to New Orleans on the only DC-10s. You can fly me morning, afternoon, or night. Just say when. I'm Judy, and I was born to fly. Fly me! Fly Judy. Fly National. The campaign was developed by Bill Free at the F. William Free advertising firm.

When the Fly Me commercials hit the air, they were immediately criticized. The National Organization for Women denounced the campaign for its depiction of women as sex objects and said the advertising encouraged passengers to make sexual advances. Women demonstrated outside the advertising agency's offices with signs reading, I'm Bill. Fire me. As the New York Times said, the Fly Me campaign came at a time when attitudes about women were changing dramatically, straddling the era between stewardesses and flight attendants.

Yet even with that pushback in the era of women's liberation, National Airlines had a 20% increase in revenue in the first half of 1972 when the rest of the industry only had a 9% uptick. With that, National asked for more ads. I'm Diane. I've got 747s to Miami. Fly me. I'm Terry. I've got great connections in Miami, all over the sunshine states of America. Fly me. I'm Marisa. I've got nonstop flights to Miami every day. Fly me. When commercial aviation began to take off after the war, airlines created what were called charm farms to train flight attendants. Women were taught how to exercise, how to walk in high heels, and how to

style their hair and makeup. There were also weight regulations, and flight attendants were routinely subjected to weigh-ins. Airlines looked for young, slender, unmarried white women, and even positioned the job as a way of acquiring skills for marriage, learning how to make a man comfortable, how to serve a scotch on the rocks, and how to handle dinner conversation. To ensure flight attendants stayed young, airlines in the 1950s instituted mandatory retirement between the age of 32 and 35.

National wasn't the only airline to employ sexist advertising. Continental's slogan at the time was, we move our tails for you. And Southwest had ads showing three flight attendants in hot pants with the headline, mix business with pleasure. The coffee, tea, or me sexualization of flight attendants led to lewd books, magazines, and movies.

Jane does it for kicks. Debbie does it for love. Margie does it for money. And Barbara does it for fun. They're the naughty stewardesses, and they're flying your way now. Eventually, flight attendants organized and found a lawyer willing to take their complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

They filed 14 complaints, then multiple lawsuits. These flight attendants eventually remade the face of the airline industry in many ways that are still felt today. And they did it through their sustained struggle in the courts industry in many ways that are still felt today. And they did it through their sustained struggle in the courts and in the press, which then eventually influenced advertising. And we'll be right back. 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.

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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. on our Master Episode List. television are so bad. Why is that? Is it intentional to be annoying or embarrassing? Is this an actual strategy in advertising? Well, I get this question almost every single year, and I get why. Most advertising is bad. It just is. But bad advertising is never a strategy. It's never intentional. There are so many reasons for bad ads. It could be a mediocre advertising agency. It could be a client who doesn't allow any real creativity. It could be a good idea that was whittled down in research and the nitpicking of focus groups.

It could be the idea had to pass through too many layers of a company, too many hands and fingers got on it. But there's another reason I see that is relatively recent. I see a lot of non-actors in commercials. That trend started after the last recession. Many companies no longer want to pay union rates for experienced actors, so they opt for cheap non-actors. When you see a commercial where a person delivers a stiff line,

or an ad where the dialogue is just plain bad and amateurish, that is often why. I'm not talking about non-union actors. I'm talking about non-actors. Friends or employees enlisted by companies to deliver lines and commercials just to save money. It's painful. It hurts the entire industry because it fuels the annoyance factor. And that ain't good. On Instagram, at NotABrewingCompany asks, My question is about Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaq is a multi-millionaire, but retired, and shall we say, past his celebrity prime, yet is still seen endorsing things on TV. What is the rationale for companies to utilize vintage celebrities? Hmm, good question. Shaq hung up his size 23 sneakers

almost 10 years ago, but he is still in demand as a celebrity spokesperson. As a matter of fact, it's estimated Shaq makes $25 to $30 million per year from ads. Welcome to the Carnival 30-minute tour. With strength, the strength of the new Icy Hot Bag Patch.

There's so much to like about this Buick LaCrosse. Getting an online car insurance quote from my buddy, the General, is a slam dunk. At Ring, we have over 1 million happy customers. And today, I brought one to help me install some more. Let's get to work, Jamie. Let's do this. Let's make these neighborhoods safe. Shaq has endorsed over 50 products so far during his retirement.

There is a reason why he is so popular with advertisers. He has a high Q score. Q scores have been used by advertisers for over 50 years to judge the popularity of a celebrity. A large group of people are surveyed and asked two questions. The first is, are you familiar with the celebrity? If the answer is yes, then they are asked to rate how popular the celebrity is. Poor, fair, good, very good, or a favorite. To calculate the Q score,

the familiarity score is multiplied by the popularity score. Most celebrities register an average 29% Q score. Shaquille O'Neal has a 72% Q score, and he tops over 80% with sports fans. That puts him in the company of another retired basketball player named Michael Jordan. Celebrities have to check off a lot of boxes to be desirable

to advertisers. They have to be identifiable, likable, have big personalities, cross gender, racial, and generational lines, and be scandal-free. That's why Shaq is still so popular with advertisers. According to his divorce proceedings in 2009, Shaq's living expenses are $875,000 per month.

And that's one reason why advertisers are so popular with Shaq. life goes. New father, new routines, 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. Speaking of vintage basketball greats, Nancy Diver asks this on Facebook. I've always wondered your thoughts on the Gatorade campaign, I Want to Be Like Mike, featuring Michael Jordan. It always bothered me because no one ever referred to Jordan as Mike. Was it a successful campaign? I can't think of any other advertising that made such an obvious attempt to refer to someone by a name they so clearly are unassociated with.

Well, Nancy, let me tell you a story. I worked on some of the Gatorade campaign back in the Michael Jordan days. The Be Like Mike idea was created by a writer named Bernie Pitzel at a Chicago advertising agency that had the Gatorade account. So I asked him how it came about. Back in 1992, Bernie was asked to come up with an idea for the new Gatorade campaign with spokesman Michael Jordan. One day, as Bernie was trying to think of an idea, his son happened to be watching the Disney movie, The Jungle Book.

Then the song, I Wanna Be Like You, came on with the lyrics, Ooby-Doo, I wanna be like you, I wanna walk like you, talk like you. When he heard the lyric, Bernie said, The idea was to run amazing footage of Jordan while playing the Disney song over it, ending with the line, Be like Mike and the Gatorade logo. Negotiating with Disney was not fun. Not only did Disney ask for what Bernie calls an ungodly price, but Disney also stipulated Gatorade could not use the line,

be like Mike, which of course was the whole idea. That's when the ad agency said bye-bye to Disney. Then everyone turned to Bernie and said, now what are we going to do? So, Bernie went off to work in a restaurant in the middle of the day. It was quiet, there weren't many customers around, and he sat there noodling on the white paper tablecloth. Then, he started to write some lyrics on that tablecloth.

He wrote, Sometimes I dream that he is me. You've got to see, that's how I dream to be. I dream I move, I dream I groove, like Mike. If I could be like Mike, I want to be like Mike. Then Bernie ripped out that section of the tablecloth and used the restaurant's fax machine to send the tablecloth lyrics to three different jingle production companies.

And one of those companies came back with a very catchy melody. When Bernie presented this Be Like Mike idea to his agency, the account director said, You know he's called Michael, not Mike. Bernie replied, Yeah, but the first one who calls him Mike wins. The final decision, of course, was up to Michael Jordan and his agent. They had no problem with it, and soon after, this commercial hit the air. Sometimes I dream that he is me Got to say that's how I dream to be

I dream I move I dream I groove Like Mike If I could be like Mike I wanna be like Mike At a press conference when the commercial was unveiled, Jordan was asked if he had a problem being called Mike. He said,

For $18 million, you can call me whatever you want. Bernie Pitzel says, in hindsight, it was a stroke of luck the Disney deal didn't work out because it would never have become part of pop culture the way the Be Like Mike song has, and it would never have resonated for so long, including when Michael Jordan was given the Presidential Medal of Honor by President Obama.

From the courts in Wilmington, Chapel Hill, and Chicago to the owner's suite he occupies today, his life and example have inspired millions of Americans to strive to be like Mike. Although created almost 30 years ago, Gatorade re-aired a digitally remastered version of Be Like Mike for its 50th anniversary celebration. For the 25th anniversary of the commercial itself,

Gatorade and Air Jordan collaborated on a Be Like Mike collection that included shoes, clothing, and accessories. And in the recent and very excellent ESPN documentary titled Last Dance, about the 97-98 Chicago Bulls season, Gatorade aired an updated version of the commercial with modern basketball players. All told, Be Like Mike was one of the most successful Gatorade campaigns of all time. So, there you go, Nancy. Be like Mike. Be like Mike. Be like Mike. Thanks for all the great questions, and thank you to our listeners for all the wonderful support you give our show.

We truly appreciate it. This is the end of the ninth season of Under the Influence and our 15th season on CBC. And we never take that for granted. I'd like to take a moment now to thank our tireless under the influence team who work their hearts out for you every week this season was brought to you by our incredible producer who manages all the things that happen in the tear stream mobile recording studio debbie o'reilly the man who makes us sound good our sound engineer keith oman those two wandering minstrels of our melody. Composers Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Our very inventive digital content producer.

Sydney O'Reilly. Our remarkably resourceful researchers. Allison Pinches, Abby Forsythe, Jillian Gora, Patrick James Aslan, and Beverly Mason. Our groovy music director and graphic designer. Callie Rae O'Reilly. And thanks to the long-time CBC support provided by... Have a safe and happy summer. We'll meet you right back here next January. I'm Terry O'Reilly. But wait, that's not all. A big thank you to our fun, nearly anonymous announcer

who can make mirth with a single line. Me, Jamie Watson. Oh my, am I the last thing people hear this season? Well, I didn't know that that was going to happen. I'm flattered, of course. I just have a few other things to say. Firstly, I'd like...