Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

I did a lot of commercials with Bob Newhart in the late 90s. He was one-in-a-million, a joy to work with, and he will be missed. And I want to tell you a very funny story that happened as a result of those commercials.

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Astrid Kirchherr holds a special place in the history of the Beatles. She took the famous Hamburg-era photos of the Beatles in their formative years, she inspired their “moptop” hairstyle, and she happened to fall in love with Stuart Sutcliffe, the fifth member of the Beatles. Her story is compelling, and her love of the Beatles, as friends, comes through in every word.

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Join Terry O’Reilly for a brand new Beatles series, where he interviews celebrities and collectors on their love of the Fab Four.

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This week, we answer listener questions.

We’ll talk about how bands create theme songs for TV shows and how much they get paid. 

We’ll go back in time and talk about that flirtatious couple from that famous Nescafe TV campaign. 

And we’ll explore why condom makers now market different sizes, when it used to be one-size-fits-all.

What’s goin’ on there?

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This week, it’s our annual Brand Envy episode.

Every year, I list four brands I’ve admired from a distance.

We’ll talk about a classic board game created by a Canadian couple.

An ice cream chain founded by another Canadian.

An iconic lighter that was named after a zipper.

And a woman who is dominating television these days.

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Every company dreams of doubling its profit.

It’s almost impossible to do.

Yet, some companies do it by tweaking one tiny thing.

We’ll talk about an industry that put three words on their packaging that doubled their profit.

A company that created a catchy jingle that doubled their revenue overnight.

And a business that changed one single word in a headline and their profit went up 100%.

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This week, we shoot for the moon.

Now that commercialized space travel has arrived, the world of marketing is setting its sights on the stars.

We’ll talk about ads on rocket ships, ads on spacesuits, and television commercials filmed on the International Space Station.

There are companies who want to employ hundreds of tiny satellites to create logos in the night sky.

Some companies even want to put ads on the moon.

And those ads might even be cheaper...

Occasionally, an old advertising campaign is brought back from the dead.

Even if it has been off the air for decades.

This week, we’ll discuss a recurring Coke commercial that has been called the most popular ad of all time.

A much-loved beer campaign that has been revived after 34 years.

And a controversial commercial that was yanked off the air in 1989, but was re-run again recently.

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This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode.

We read a lot of books to research Under The Influence. 

But there’s never enough room to include all the great stories we find.

So this episode is dedicated to those great stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. 

This year, our theme is bravery.

We’ll tell an amusing story about how Danny DeVito made a bold decision when he was auditioning for the sitcom Taxi.

We’ll salute Lucille Ball’s bravery...

Under the Influence fans know that at the very end of each episode there’s a Fun Fact – an interesting little tidbit related to the show. Well, this year we’re asking you, our listeners, to record that Fun Fact. All you need is a phone or computer. Just visit our Fun Fact Page, follow the prompts and have fun with it.

We choose two listeners every week – to be featured in the podcast and on CBC Radio.

Happy recording. Oh, and keep checking back. The latest Fun Fact is refreshed every week.