Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - Seizing The Moment

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

This week, we look at how the marketing industry seizes pop culture moments.We’ll talk about a website that got national attention by making a bold prediction about a TV show.How A1 Steak Sauce caught the funniest – and luckiest break.And how Pepsi grabbed a hilarious opportunity by following pizza delivery drivers. --------Looking for where to find a discount on the Saily data plan?Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code TERRY at checkout. Download Saily app or go tohttps://saily.com/terry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi there, Sydney O'Reilly here. We regret to inform you that the Rejection podcast is back for its sixth season, and Terry and I have some fun episodes to share with you this year. We'll be telling the stories of Yellowstone, Josh Allen, Bill Hader, Monty Python, Billie Holliday, and Canada's own Alanis Morissette. It's jagged little rejections this year, and we regret to inform you. Hope you'll join us.

I used to say, I just feel stuck. Stuck where I don't want to be. Stuck trying to get to where I really need to be. But then I discovered lifelong learning. Learning that gave me the skills to move up, move beyond, gain that edge, drive my curiosity, prepare me for what is inevitably next. The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Lifelong learning to stay forever unstuck. forever unstuck.

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. A VP at HBO said no one would ever watch Yellowstone. Stephen King was rejected by 30 publishers. Charles Schultz was told he'd never make a living scribbling and Missy Elliott was dropped by her label. The stories of famous names, their lesser-known rejections, and the insights those rejections provide. We regret to inform you the Rejection Podcast. Listen to Season 6 wherever you get your podcasts. Here's a question. How can you support Canada while you sleep?

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Douglas Mattress, Canada's best mattress. This is an Apostrophe podcast production. We're going to show you our big news to the baker. AHHHHH! Mamma Mia, that's a spicy meatball! What love doesn't conquer, alka sells her will. What a relief! You're under the influence of Terry O'Reilly. Back in 2023, the television series' succession was all the rage. The story of a wealthy dysfunctional family who controlled the world's largest right-wing

media network transfixed viewers, with parallels to the Murdoch family and the Fox network playing out as a real-life backdrop during the election run-up. At the time, I thought it was interesting that a company called Nameberry.com spotted an opportunity. Nameberry.com is a baby naming site, helping parents choose names and shares the meanings behind those names. In succession, founder Logan Roy has four children,

three of which are all jockeying for position to inherit and control the way star Roy Comedia empire. The siblings betray each other, cheat each other, and display a stunning lack of morals at every turn. There's a spoiler alert coming up, so if you haven't seen Succession, this might be a good time for a quick bathroom break. Good.

As viewers were all guessing which of the three Roy siblings would eventually win control in the final episode of succession, Nameberry.com came out of nowhere and posted a bold prediction. Nameberry had a hunch that the characters' names might actually reveal the show's ending. Typically, TV writers use common surnames for their characters, but Nameberry noticed something interesting about the names on succession. For example, daughter Siobhan's nickname Shiv also refers to a knife, and the surname Roy literally means king. But the most unusual surname belonged to Shiv's husband, whose character name was Tom Wams

Gans. It's a very rare German surname. Wams means big punch and Gans means goose in German. So the name could be interpreted as goose with the big belly. But NameBerry.com saw a bigger clue. William Wams Gans was a baseball player for the Cleveland Indians during the 1920 World Series. Wams Gans is famous for just one thing and one thing only. He completed the only unassisted triple play

in the history of the World Series. He took out three players at once single-handedly. So the editor-in-chief at Nameberry posted a video speculating that Tom Wamsgans, the brother-in-law in the Roy family, the seemingly weak and often forgotten player in the family drama, might actually take out the other three siblings to come out on top of the Royco Media Empire. It was a very unexpected long-shot prediction and guess what? Spoiler alert. Nameberry.com was absolutely right.

It was an interesting move on Nameberry's part. It made a bold prediction, not knowing if it was right, but by doing so, seized a moment in pop culture. It was a calculated risk, but their prediction drove 500,000 views across Twitter and TikTok, earned free mentions in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and even got mentions in Major League Baseball games. Nameberry had found a perfect intersection between its brand, all about names, and pop culture, all about succession, and created a highly

shareable video. I had never heard of NameBerry.com prior to that prediction, but it had seized an opportunity and by doing so, seized marketing gold. The world of marketing is particularly good at seizing pop culture moments. Adweek magazine calls the tactic contagious content, but it's not easy to do. Advertisers have to spot the right opportunity, make sure it fits with their brand, and move at lightning speed to make it happen. And when brands can do that, it's a marketing home run. Seizing a pop culture moment is not easy. An advertiser and its advertising agency have to be quick and nimble because time is of

the essence. Sometimes the window of opportunity is just 48 hours. Not all brands are set up for the task, especially big brands, because bureaucracy often gets in the way. But for those brands that can move fast, the rewards are big. Not long ago, Trump's new education secretary, Linda McMahon, was being interviewed about the use of new technology in schools and she said this I think it was a letter or report that I heard this morning I wish I could remember the source but that there is a school system that's going to start

Making sure that first graders or even pre-k's have a one teaching You know every year starting you know that far down in the grades. She, of course, was referring to AI, not A1. In case you thought it was just a slip of the tongue, McMahon mentioned it again a few moments later. Wasn't all that long ago that it's we're going to have internet in our schools. Whoop! Now, okay, let's see A1 and how can that be helpful? It didn't take long for A1 Steak Sauce to jump on the opportunity.

In a hilarious response to the mention of first graders and pre-Ks, A1 uploaded a post to Instagram showing a big bottle of A1 Steak Sauce with the line, agree, best to start them early. The caption said, you heard her, every school should have access to A1. I'm sure the steak sauce never thought it would ever have

a hot cultural moment in the spotlight, but they moved quickly and attracted press around the world. As one commentator said, when it comes to education, there is so much at stake. The Four Nations Cup was an international hockey tournament held in February of 2025. It was a temporary change from the usual all-star game. NHL players joined teams from their native countries, Canada, the US, Finland and Sweden. The tournament was played just as heightened political tensions were taking place between Canada and the US.

As fate would have it, the final game came down to Canada vs. the United States. At the end of three periods, the game was tied 2-2. That's when superstar Conor McDavid scored the winning goal in overtime, with Canada winning 3-2. In the celebration of McDavid's heroics, McDonald's saw an opportunity. At a McDonald's location in Edmonton, as McDavid is the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, and at a McDonald's restaurant in Newmarket, Ontario, McDavid's hometown, McDonald's completely rebranded for one full week. Instead of McDonald's on the big golden arches sign, it now said McDavid's.

And it wasn't just on the golden arches sign. Everywhere on the building's exteriors, wherever it used to say McDonald's, it now said McDavid's. There was a special menu too. For a limited time, customers could enjoy a Big Mac David burger and a small order of fries at a special price of 97 cents, a nod to McDavid's jersey number. With Canada's win all over the news, McDonald's hitched a ride. Can I just get a small McFlurry? I'm sorry, our ice cream is down.

It's a cliché at this point that McDonald's ice cream machines are often broken. And rival Wendy's has often grabbed those malfunction opportunities to do a little trolling. There is an independent website called mcbroken.com. It discovered an ingenious way to figure out if the McDonald's ice cream machines were down using data collection. The website taps into McDonald's apps and if the app won't allow an ice cream

to be added to the order, that means the machine is down and it triggers a red dot at that McDonald's location on the McBroken.com virtual map. So Wendy's partnered with McBroken.com to spot malfunctioning McDonald's ice cream machines. Then, Wendy's rolled up to those locations with a frosty food truck to give out its own ice cream desserts. Signs on the truck said frosty fix and on the back it said honk if you like reliable desserts and Wendy's sold their frosties for a buck.

It was a cheeky idea and you just know the folks at the Golden Arches were not happy. But as one customer put it, Wendy's was simply fixing McDonald's problem. Pepsi seized an amusing opportunity lately. The soda giant has a marketing program called Better with Pepsi, asserting that the spices and citrus flavors unique to Pepsi makes it ideal for food pairing. So, Pepsi seized an opportunity to convince people to pair pizza with Pepsi, or in other words, pizza tastes better when chased with a Pepsi. So, it decided to send Pepsi chase cars out

to follow pizza delivery drivers around and show up on people's doorsteps, along with the pizza delivery person, to give away free Pepsi. Much to the hilarious frustration of the pizza delivery people. In a video Pepsi posted on YouTube, of the pizza delivery people. In a video Pepsi posted on YouTube, we see pizza delivery cars being tailed by a sleek blue Pepsi chase car.

In the first scene, we see a typical pizza delivery guy walking up to a door with a pizza. He presses the doorbell. Then suddenly, a Pepsi person runs up behind him with a case of Pepsi scaring the heck out of the doorbell. Then suddenly, a Pepsi person runs up behind him with a case of Pepsi, scaring the heck out of the pizza guy. Hilarious. In another moment, they both show up on another doorstep. Pizza guy! Stop the guy!

Can you back off? Yeah. Too funny. And in another scene, a pizza delivery guy and the Pepsi guy are standing on a doorstep, and the Pepsi guy casually says, 30 minutes or less? That was more like a f*** up.

It just gets funnier and funnier. In another moment, the pizza and Pepsi are delivered, and we see a front door closing. The Pepsi guy turns to the pizza guy and says, Are they always naked? Pepsi Guy says, You'd be surprised. The Pepsi Chase Car Campaign took a little heat on social media for chasing pizza delivery vehicles,

but it's all done in fun and is hilarious to watch. Search Pepsi Chase Cars on YouTube. Sometimes an opportunity appears in the weather report. This past winter was a long cold one, and there was a ton of snow in many cities across the country. That's when Dairy Queen saw a fun way to generate some press. So in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Collingwood, Whistler and Calgary, Dairy Queen went out hunting for big round snow banks. When they found a fresh one, they stuck a seven foot tall red DQ spoon into the snow bank

and scattered giant smarties around it, turning that snowbank into a giant DQ blizzard. Dairy Queen partnered with the Weather Network to forecast when the next blizzard would touch down. And passersby who spotted the DQ blizzard banks could scan a special QR code on the spoon for a chance to win free DQ blizzards for a year. It wasn't just a fun Instagrammable idea, it was a smart idea as the ice cream company found a way to stay top of mind during its slowest season. When we come back, the presidential election creates some interesting marketing opportunities. Traveling in Europe is such a unique experience for us Canadians.

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For a limited time, listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $45 off plus free shipping on their best-selling Carver Mat Frame. That's aura, A-U-R-A, frames.com. Use promo code INFLUENCE and support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Advertisers often play off news headlines to seize the moment. With all the Canada-U.S. tensions happening, Moosehead Beer grabbed an opportunity recently.

It offered what it called the Presidential Pack. It was a giant green wooden crate containing 1,461 cans of moosehead beer. As the brewery said, it was just enough loggers to get through a full presidential term. Too funny. The cost? $3,490. And it sold out. Donald Trump's second White House win definitely caused a lot of storm and drang on both sides of the border.

So on election night, CALM, the mindfulness and meditation app, ran a commercial on CNN and ABC. It didn't have a single line of dialogue. It was just 30 seconds of pure silence that aired during the live election coverage. A silent commercial would be a risk for almost any other brand, but Calm wanted the country to calm down and take a breath. Words on the screen simply said, We bought this ad space to give you 30 seconds of silence.

Yep, just silence. You're welcome. It was an interesting timely idea, because amidst all the acrimony, it was aimed at both sides of the political divide. It was inclusive of everybody and was non-partisan. As a result, haters and backlash were noticeably absent. The message was also completely in keeping with Calm's brand to get everybody to relax and take a deep breath.

Calm seized the moment, proving you don't have to be loud to generate a lot of free press. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] I'm sure everybody remembers the famous I Am Canadian commercial that Molson Canadian put out 25 years ago. It was a landmark celebration of being Canadian. Hey, I'm not a lumberjack or a fur trader. I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dog sled.

And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Susie from Canada, although I'm certain they're really, really nice. I have a prime minister, not a president. Well, the recent Canada-U.S. relations prompted the people behind the original commercial to get together again to create an updated version. Hey, I know it's in our nature to cut a guy some slack, give him the benefit of the doubt, like maybe he was confused or just joking or just maybe really needed a double-double. But this isn't that guy.

These aren't those people, and those are not the Rockies. They make a lot of mistakes. They mistake our modesty for meekness, our kindness for consent, our nation for another star on their flag, and our love of a hot cheesy poutine with their love of a hot cheesy Putin. They think they can bully us, threaten us, and push us around, but they do not know us. That artificially drawn line they keep talking about, not artificial, and it's not on a map. It's right here. The video made the point that Canada would not be the 51st of anything.

My name is Jeff and we are Canadian! Thank you. The new We Are Canadian message generated a lot of press in Canada, the US and as far away as England. The world of sports gives advertisers many opportunities to seize the headlines. Washington capital superstar Alex Ovechkin made history recently. He broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time career record of 894 goals, a record once thought to be untouchable. Ovechkin scored goal number 895 against New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin.

That gave Budweiser an idea. Ovechkin had scored on 183 goaltenders in his career. That left just 28 other goalies who had never allowed a goal while facing him. had scored on 183 goaltenders in his career. That left just 28 other goalies who had never allowed a goal while facing him. So Budweiser decided to celebrate those 28 goalies by sending each of them a special can of non-alcoholic Budweiser Zero. Bud called it the King of Zero campaign. Zero goals, zero alcohol. The can came in a specially designed case

personalized with each goalie's jersey number and the number of shots they faced from Ovechkin. A Budweiser Zero poster was created that said, the greatest goal scorer of all time couldn't score on these Kings of Zero. It listed all 28 goalies, tallying up 199 shots against with zero goals scored. Ilya Sorokin, the goalie who allowed the 895th goal, just missed making the list. It was the only goal Ovechkin had ever scored against him. Don't go away. We'll be right back. Speaking of beer, Coors Light seized a moment recently. During an NFL football game against the New York Jets last October, Pittsburgh Steelers

quarterback Russell Wilson was heard calling out his signals at the line of scrimmage. But the broadcast microphones picked up an unusual set of signals. I got no Coors Light. Go Coors Light. I got no Coors Light. I got no Coors Light. I got no Coors Light. Yep, Wilson called out Coors Light, Coors Light, which was thought to have signaled corners for Coors and left for light. Sneaky. Well, Coors Light heard it loud and clear. Together with Canadian advertising agency Rethink, a television commercial was immediately

re-edited to add this sign-off. Coors Light! Coors Light! Coors posted a photo of a can on social media that had the words Coors Light repeated twice on the label, and special Coors Light Coors Light posters and digital billboards were quickly whipped up for the upcoming Monday night football game between the Steelers and the Giants.

Coors Light had no relationship with quarterback Wilson or the Pittsburgh Steelers, and rival Bud Light sponsors the team. It was a bold opportunity that Coors Light quickly grabbed by keeping its backfield in motion. Coors Light seized another opportunity, only this time it was on the baseball diamond. LA Angels phenom Shohei Otani, who is being called one of the greatest baseball players in history, swung for the fences last August in a game against the New York Mets.

In the very first inning, O'Tonnie launched a missile down the right field line. There's one driven to right, down the line toward the corner, that is foul. It was a foul ball, but it hit a digital sign that was advertising Coors Light. Put a little indentation into the can of Coors Light. The ball damaged the panel above the letter C

in the word Coors, leaving a perfectly square black hole. Within 48 hours, Coors Light, together with Ad Agency Rethink, created a special commemorative Coors can that had the same black square missing above the word Coors, just like on the digital sign at the Met City Field Stadium. Not only did Coors rush out those special cans, but it also broke all its advertising. Coors modified its ads to place a black broken square above the word

Coors on all its print ads, billboards and posters. And when Shohei Otani returned to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, dozens of digital billboards right around the stadium sported the same black square above the word Coors, together with the line, Coors hits the spot. The idea went viral, gaining press all over the country and was talked about in every MLB game that week. Fans even drew black squares on their Coors Light t-shirts. It was especially impressive because Coors Light is not even the official beer of Major League Baseball. Budweiser is. And Shohei Otani wasn't a Coors Light sponsored athlete. All the special commemorative Coors Light cans sold out in 24 hours at a cost of $17 each. If you missed out, you could find a few listed on eBay,

going for as much as $170 US per can. Even the broken billboard panel became famous and was auctioned off to collectors for $7,000. Then something unexpected happened. Coors Light became the most requested beer in Japan, Otani's home country, and Coors ended up selling cans in Japan for the first time ever. The entire campaign generated millions of dollars of free press and cost Coors Light zero sponsorship dollars, and zero athlete endorsement dollars. Seizing that moment was a marketing home run.

Marketing research has shown that advertising based on quick, culturally-based content outperforms regular content. That research also stated that seizing media opportunities triples the public's intent to purchase that brand and doubles the amount of people who search for information on that brand. But seizing cultural moments has to be pulled off just right. An advertiser has to spot an opportunity,

it then has to move incredibly fast to grab the moment while it's still fresh in the minds of the public. 48 hours later that moment is ancient history. The idea also has to fit the brand's personality. If A1 Steak Sauce had told everyone to take a breather during election night, it would have been a head-scratcher. But that notion fell right into the sweet spot of the Calm app. And McDonald's switching to McDavid's was a fun McOpportunity that McDonald's McGrabbed.

And when brands get it right, contagious content can lead to staggering results. NameBerry.com got over 500,000 views with its succession prediction. They may never get that again. Which proves that if you can pull off a Wams Gans, you just might knock off all your competitors when you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the TearStream mobile recording studio. Producer Debbie O'Reilly, Chief Sound Engineer Jeff Devine, under the

influence theme by Casey Pick, Jeremiah Pick, and James Aitin. Tunes provided by APM Music. Follow me at Terry O Influence. This podcast is powered by Acast. See you next week. Fun fact! Hi, this is Ladelle from Vancouver, BC. The succession character Logan Roy was originally written to be from Quebec, but the writers eventually changed his nationality to Scottish. I used to say, I just feel stuck. But then I discovered lifelong learning. It gave me the skills to move up, gain an edge, and prepare for what's next.

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Lifelong learning to stay forever unstuck. ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Ever heard a story so wild you just had to know if it was true? I'm Alexis Steele from Degrassi and on Steele My Story we put celebrity guests to the test. Join me and comedian Ian Fisher as we play a hilarious game of true or stolen story. Our guests share two stories, one from their own life and one they shall we say borrowed. Can you guess which one really happened to them? Subscribe to Steal My Story on the Sonar

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