Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - Two Minutes For Looking So Good: Star Athlete Endorsements

Episode Date: April 5, 2025

This week, we’ll tell the stories behind some of the most famous – and infamous – sports star endorsements of all time. We’ll talk about a Rocket Richard commercial that spawned a catchphrase that nearly every Boomer can recite. We’ll look at a powerful Nike commercial Serena Williams did about women in sports. And we’ll talk about what it took to put quarterback Joe Namath in pantyhose. 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.

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You can listen to this episode ad-free on Amazon Music. This is an Apostrophe podcast production. We're going to show you our big news to the Baker. What love doesn't conquer, Alka Seltzer will. What a relief! You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. The 1996 movie Jerry Maguire spawned several classic lines. You had me at hello, help me help you. And maybe the most famous line from the film is on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best movie quotes of all time.

Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, is an ambitious sports agent. One day, the young son of a client asks Jerry, what do you stand for? That question prompts Maguire to re-evaluate his career, and he writes a 25-page mission statement to his company, saying they should take on less clients and create a better, more caring relationship with them.

The memo is leaked to the press and Jerry's company stands behind his revolutionary manifesto publicly then summarily fires him. As Jerry Maguire quickly scrambles to convince his clients to stick with him, they all abandon him except for one football player named Rod Tidwell. He's willing to stay with Jerry if Jerry can. Show me the money. The movie was written and directed by Cameron Crowe, who had originally written the lead role for Tom Hanks.

But it took Crowe so long to write the screenplay that by the time it was finished, Hanks was too old to play the part. When Crowe then said he wanted Tom Cruise for the lead role, he was told Cruise would never play a loser. As it turns out, Cruise was desperate to play a character who was down and out. Cameron Crowe really did write out the full 25 page mission statement that gets McGuire fired, even though it never gets fully read on screen.

That manifesto was inspired by a real life incident when film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg wrote a similar 28 page tirade telling the Walt Disney Company they should return to storytelling and move away from empty movie spectacles. Interestingly, Reebok struck up a product placement deal with the Jerry Maguire movie for $1.5 million.

Reebok provided merchandise, flooded the marketplace with movie tie-ins, and produced advertising promoting the upcoming film. In return, Cuba Gooding's character, Rod Tidwell, was to appear in a Reebok commercial which would run during the end credits, which Reebok produced and paid for. When the movie came out,

the Reebok commercial wasn't in the film. As a matter of fact, Rod Tidwell at one point says, "'F Reebok.'" Cameron Crowe felt the commercial didn't fit creatively with the movie. Furious, Reebok sued for breach of contract, demanding $10 million, and through the movie's main line,

"'Show me the money, back at the Hollywood studio. You can understand Reebok's position. It had spent $1.5 million promoting a movie that said, F Reebok. As the shoe company said in court, it was almost as if the line had been scripted by Nike. At the end of the day, Reebok and the studio negotiated a settlement

and the commercial was subsequently reinstated for the movie's television airings and was added as a special feature on the DVD. ["The New York Times"] While sports agents like Jerry Maguire handle many elements of an athlete's career, landing endorsement deals is among the most lucrative. Most star athletes make a lot more money endorsing products than they do on the field, the court, or the ice. Today, we'll tell the stories behind some of the most

interesting sports star commercials. Because when big money is dangled, most athletes say, you had me at hello. influence. During the Second World War, an American agent named Julius Amos, who worked for the predecessor of the CIA, was stationed in Greece. Amos suffered from a dandruff problem and mentioned it to his Greek barber. That barber gave him a bottle of clear liquid to apply to his scalp every day. Two weeks later, Amos not only noticed that his dandruff had disappeared, but his gray hair was slowly turning dark again.

When Amos got back to the States, he set up a company called Worldwide Rights and acquired the product from his barber. To honor that Greek barber, Amos called the product Grecian Formula. Amos then tried to market the product as a woman's hair dye, but it never took off. So Amos looked for another company to market the product. That's when he met Ivan Kuhm. Kuhm had worked for advertising agency Young and Rubicam in New York and then later worked for an over-the-counter pharmaceutical firm.

Taking his marketing and pharma knowledge, Kuhm started his own company to sell personal care products. His first big hit was acne cream. He knew all teenagers wanted clear skin, so he named it Clearasil. Coombe advertised it on the show all teenagers watched in 1960, American Bandstand.

When you have pimples, you need a medication developed specifically for this problem. Not a general purpose skin cream that might be good for chapped skin or sunburn. Not simple wiping pads that merely cleanse the surface. You need the active medications prescribed by leading skin specialists. And that is Clarisil. With that huge success, Coom looked for other products he could promote.

That's when he met Julius Amos. Instead of marketing Grecian formula hair dye to women, Kuhn wanted to advertise it to men. It was a radical decision, as not many grooming products were aimed at men at that time. So Kuhn relaunched the product in 1961 as Grecian Formula 16. And for the next 40 years, it held 70% of the men's hair dye category. That's when one particular front of the net.

More to the whack-added Maurice Richard right in front of the net. Maurice Richard was a hockey icon. The captain of the Montreal Canadiens, he played from 1942 to 1960. Richard was the first to score 50 goals in 50 games, a record that stood for 36 years. He was the first to score eight points in one game, first to reach 500 career goals, he played in 13 All-Star games, and helped the Canadians win eight Stanley Cups. The Rocket was simply hockey royalty.

In 1983, the retired and slightly graying Rocket Richard starred in a classic commercial for Grecian formula. When it comes to feeling young, a lot of it's up here. Three years ago, Maurice Richard said goodbye gray hair. Hello, Grecian formula 16. It was so easy, remember? Grecian is as easy to use as water, works for any color hair. The change was so gradual and looked so natural, no one even noticed. Today I still leave a touch of gray. Your wife likes it.

Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good. Look as young as you feel with Grecian Formula 16 Liquid or Cream. That line, two minutes for looking so good, became a catchphrase that lives on to this day. One day, an ad writer named Peggy King had to come up with a commercial idea for her client Beauty Mist Pantyhose. While watching Monday Night Football one evening, she heard Howard Cosell say that star quarterback Joe Namath's legs had taken a lot of punishment. Then it hit her. Why not put a man in pantyhose? If Beauty

Mist can make a man's legs look great, imagine what they could do for women. The first celebrity Peggy King approached was Burt Reynolds. He had just posed nude in Playgirl magazine and he had good legs. But Reynolds wanted $1 million. So the next celebrity the ad agency went after was Joe Namath. Namath was the Football League star quarterback and he rocketed to fame when he made the famous guarantee that his team, the heavy underdog New York Jets, would win Super Bowl III.

Shockingly, they did, beating the powerful Baltimore Colts in one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Namath was named the Super Bowl MVP, and his fame exploded. Namath was good-looking, had a great sense of humor, and was loaded with charisma. He became the toast of the town. But the question remained, would Joe Namath, Broadway Joe Namath, quarterback for the New York Jets, superstar male athlete, actually donned

pantyhose for a commercial. When his lawyer presented the pantyhose commercial idea to Namath, Namath just laughed. He thought it was hilarious and he thought it was a good payday. He signed the deal for $100,000, or the equivalent of $680,000 in today's dollars. On the way to the shoot that morning, Namath's lawyer was afraid to tell Joe just one more detail. It was his duty to inform Namath

that he had to shave his legs for the commercial. When he finally got up the nerve, Namath just burst out laughing. He said, I shave my legs all the time. Turned out Namath shaved his legs before every game in order to tape his knees and ankles. When he got to the sound stage, Namath just laughed as he slipped on the panty hose and the rest is history. This commercial will prove to the women of America that beauty miss pantyhose can make any legs look like a million dollars the commercial begins at a pair of bare feet and Slowly pans up two legs in silky pantyhose

Then it's revealed those legs belong to big Joe Namath I don't wear pantyhose, but a beauty mist can make my legs look good. Imagine what they'll do for yours. Somehow everything looks better through beauty mist. Especially your leg. Namath had called his mother in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, to give her a heads up that he would be wearing pantyhose in a commercial. She gasped, but then laughed when she finally saw it.

The Jets public relations office said Joe got a lot of ribbing from other players, but he couldn't care less. His confidence was part of his appeal. Here's the best part. During the 1977 season, the temperature was bone-chilling. So the jet's equipment manager came up with the idea to have the team wear pantyhose under their uniforms to keep warm. He sent his wife out to buy extra-large pantyhose for the entire team.

The next thing you know, it wasn't just Joe sporting nylons. When we come back, Layla Ali goes a few rounds with her famous father. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning, which beats even the 27th best feeling, saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling, winning, in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino, where winning is undefeated.

19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connexontario.ca. Please play responsive. When Adidas was launching its Impossible is Nothing campaign in 2004, it looked for great stories to build commercials around. Adidas also had a long history with superstar athletes and wanted to tip its hat to its history while building a bridge to present-day athletes.

Enter Layla Ali. The daughter of Muhammad Ali, Layila had a story to tell. Her father was the icon of icons, voted the most important athlete of the 20th century. He also wore Adidas in the ring during most of his fights, including his famous Rumble in the Jungle bout against George Foreman. Leila didn't even see a women's boxing match until she was 17 years old. She didn't even know women's boxing existed. But as soon as she saw it, she wanted to do it.

Layla Ali won the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA titles in the super middleweight division as well as the IWBF light heavyweight belt with a perfect 24-0 record with 21 knockouts. But before all that success, she had never participated in sports, she wasn't an athlete and she was 30 pounds overweight. But there was another stumbling block. Her father. Ali told her that boxing was not for women. He said it's too hard.

It's a man's sport. He said the whole world would be watching and what if you get knocked down? Layla said, I'm going to get back up, just like you did. The idea for the Adidas commercial was to show Layla Ali boxing her famous father. It took two months to put the film together, as it combined footage from four of Muhammad Ali's most famous fights and inserted Layla into the action. The new footage of Layla had to be downgraded to match the gritty quality of her father's footage from the 60s and 70s when cameras weren't as sophisticated.

Then Layla had to duplicate the moves of Ali's opponents perfectly to the millisecond so that they both moved together seamlessly. Every little tweak required 20 hours of computer rendering. As the commercial begins, we see Muhammad Ali enter the ring wearing his classic white robe. Then Layla begins a voiceover tribute to her father. Impossible is an effect. It's an opinion.

Then his opponent enters the ring in a black robe. It's Layla Ali. Like when they said it'd be impossible to beat Sonny Liston. He's too powerful. Too experienced. The bell is rung and the two begin bobbing and weaving. Or when they said don't take the fight in Zaire. He's too young, too strong.

He's going to destroy Ali. Layla throws three quick jabs, and Muhammad quickly slips them all. So when my father looks impossible in the eye and defeats him again and again, what do you think I'm going to do when they say women shouldn't box? At that moment, Layla Ali lands a big punch that sends Muhammad Ali back into the ropes.

Yeah, that's right. Rumble, young girl, rumble. Muhammad looks surprised and winks. Layla smiles back. Parting words on the screen, impossible is nothing. Adidas. After Layla Ali won her titles, her father apologized to her saying,

I'm sorry, you can fight. Women can fight. Within two weeks, the Adidas commercial had five million views. By the way, the Impossible is nothing manifesto that said impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion, has been attributed to Muhammad Ali over the years, but he never said it. It was written by an ad writer named Amy Leto Shavy. Rumble. Back in 1989, an athlete named Bo Jackson did something that had never been done before. He became an All-Star in two different Major League sports. At the time, Jackson was playing for the Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball and the

Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL. Also during that time, Nike was about to launch its first cross-training shoe. Nike, famous for working with star athletes, thought Bo Jackson would be the perfect spokesperson for a cross-trainer since he crossed two professional sports at once. cross trainer since he crossed two professional sports at once. Nike's advertising agency, Widen and Kennedy, was given the task of coming up with a launch commercial. The lead writer on the Nike advertising was Jim Rizwald.

So Rizwald and his team held a brainstorming meeting at a local bar to toss around ideas. But they came up empty, until somebody commented that Bo was an unusual first name. So the table began yelling out names of other famous Bo's. Bo Derek, Bo Brummel, Little Bo Peep, and rock pioneer Bo Diddley. Hearing Diddley's name made Rizwold sit up straight. Right away, he jotted down the line, Bow, you don't know Diddley.

That night, Rizwold imagined the whole commercial in a dream. The next morning, he wrote it down, then shared it at the office. Everyone loved it. The commercial begins with words on the screen that say, Cross Training by Bo Jackson, Music by Bo Diddley. The commercial shows Bo Jackson excelling at all kinds of different sports, as various sports legends comment on his remarkable abilities. Like Kirk Gibson,

Bo knows baseball, and Jim Everett, Bo knows football, and Michael Gibson... Bo knows baseball....and Jim Everett. Bo knows football. ...Michael Jordan. Bo knows basketball, too. ...and McEnroe. Bo knows tennis? Then we see Bo playing hockey, and Gretzky simply says... No.

At the end of the commercial, Bo Jackson is suddenly onstage with Bo Diddley, and Jackson tries a guitar solo., and Jackson tries a guitar solo. ["Bo Diddley's Song"] Then Bo Diddley says... Bo, you don't know Diddley. The commercial was set to debut during the All-Star Game in July of 89.

In the announcer booth that night was Vin Scully and President Ronald Reagan. Just as Reagan was marveling at Jackson's multi-sport prowess, Jackson hit a monster leadoff home run. And look at that one! Bo Jackson says hello! The Bo Knows commercial aired in the middle of the fourth inning. Bo let off the bottom of the fourth with a line drive single. Then he added an RBI and a stolen bass that night.

Jackson was named the All-Star MVP. It was almost like Bo Jackson had a sense of what was at stake for the campaign Nike had built around him. Because if Bo had struck out all four times, it would have drained the excitement right out of the campaign. By the way, the reason Gretzky only has a one-word moment is because Jim Rizwaal didn't think Gretzky was a good actor. So he told Gretzky to just say, no. It's Gretzky's best acting moment. That Bo-No's campaign knocked Reebok out of the number one spot, and Nike eventually captured 80% of the cross-training shoe market, going from $40 million in sales to $400 million.

Bo showed Nike the money. When we return, Richard Williams dreams big. best feeling saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Daily Jackpots, a chance to win with every spinner and a guaranteed winner by 11 p.m. every day. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca. Select games only. Guarantee void of platform or game managers occur. Guarantee requires play by at least one customer until jackpot is awarded or 11 p.m. Eastern. Research and supply. See full terms at canada.casinoanDuo.com. Please play responsibly. One day Richard Williams was changing channels on his TV and came across the end of a tennis match. The sponsor was presenting the winning female player with a check for $40,000. The commentator said, 40 grand for four days work, not bad.

Williams couldn't believe it was possible to earn $40,000 in just four days, let alone for a female athlete. The next day, Williams walked into a sports store near his home in Compton, California. He said he wanted to buy 300 used tennis balls, an instructional tennis video, and a book on tennis. He said he wanted to teach his two daughters how to become tennis superstars. When the store owners asked him how old his daughters were, Williams said, Oh, my daughters aren't born yet. The owners laughed out loud.

You're laughing now, said Richard Williams, but one day you'll look back and remember this. And no, I wasn't kidding. It was a crazy dream. And he wasn't kidding. It was a crazy dream and he wasn't kidding. Richard Williams, against all odds, taught and coached his daughters Venus and Serena to become world champions. In the starch white world of professional tennis, the Williams sisters put up with the jeers, took on all comers, created their own personal styles, and worked their way to the top of the game.

In 2019, Nike was launching the newest commercial in its campaign titled, Dream Crazier. It shone a spotlight on female athletes who have broken barriers and tackled the gender bias women face in sports and in life. The commercial showed athletes like gymnast Simone Biles, Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammond, and soccer star Megan Rapinoe achieving incredible victories.

Voiceover courtesy of Serena Williams. If we show emotion, we're called dramatic. If we dream of equal opportunity, we're delusional. When we're too good, there's something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we're hysterical or rational or just being crazy. But a woman running a marathon was crazy. Officials tried to pull her off the course. A woman boxing was crazy.

A woman dunking, coaching an NBA team, competing in a hijab, or winning 23 Grand Slams, having a baby, and then coming back for more? Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, and crazy. So if they want to call you crazy, fine. Show them what crazy can do. Parting words on the screen say, it's only crazy until you do it. The commercial launched during the Academy Awards. Many viewers said it was the best moment of the Oscars.

Within a week, it had 6 million views on YouTube and 24 million on Twitter. It's amazing what a crazy dream can do. You can worship rock stars, but you want to be a sports star. We all marvel at the accomplishments of star athletes like Maurice Richard and Serena Williams, who seemed to bend time and space to their will. That's why their images are so bankable. Athletes have endorsed products not just for decades, but centuries. Even gladiators endorsed wine and olive oil

back in the Roman Colosseum days. In many ways, Joe Namath moved sports into the modern era, and the endorsement industrial complex fuse was lit in the 1970s. Football made Namath a star, but his product endorsements made him a superstar. According to Forbes, Michael Jordan made $90 million in salary and $2.4 billion in career endorsements. He reportedly earns $250 million a year from Nike, which is a sweet deal for the shoe company as it made $7 billion from the Jordan brand in 2024 alone. And Jordan brand revenue has doubled since 2020. A movie star is a hero for two hours, but a superstar athlete can be a hero for life. That's

why their agents say, show me the money, 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. Research, Angus Mary. Under the influence theme by Casey Pick, Jeremiah Pick, and James Aitin. Tunes provided by APM Music. And let's be social.

Follow me at TerryOInfluence. This podcast is powered by Acast. Come read next week's fun fact. Just go to apostrophepodcasts.ca and follow the prompts. It's easy. See you next week. Fun fact. Hi, this is Diane from Prince George, British Columbia.

Rocket Richard's younger brother, the Pocket Rocket, won 11 Stanley Cups, the most in NHL history. Here's a question. How can you support Canada while you sleep? Well, you can do it by sleeping on a Douglas mattress, the mattress designed and manufactured right here in Canada. Douglas mattresses start at just $599 and come with a free comfort sleep bundle which includes two memory foam pillows, a waterproof mattress protector and an entire cotton sheet set.

And how's this for risk-free Canadian convenience? You can enjoy a Douglas mattress for a 365-night in-home trial. You don't love it. Douglas will pick up the mattress for free, donate it to a local charity and refund you in full. No hassle, no risk. Douglas has been named Canada's best mattress by Canadian Living and is loved by 250,000 sound sleepers like me. Don't wait!

Visit Douglas.ca slash under the influence to claim this exclusive offer for Canadian listeners with free shipping. Sleep better knowing your mattress is made in Canada. Douglas Mattress, Canada's best mattress. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling. Winning, which beats even the 27th best feeling saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do. Enjoy the number one feeling.

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It's not our way to boast, but Canadians are standing strong from coast to coast to coast to protect Canadian jobs and support Canadian businesses for this country that only us command. Shop as if your country depends on it. Keep your money in Canada for Canada.