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This week, it’s our annual Ask Terry episode – where I answer listener questions. This year, someone wants to know which advertising category does the worst advertising, which celebrities were the most fun to work with and why the roads in car commercials are always so darn wet. You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at some of the biggest arch rivalries in the marketing business. We’ll tell a story about how Burger King figured out a way to offer Whoppers at McDonald’s, how Wendy’s threw a mixtape at their rivals and how the CEO of a pizza company set fire to a cease & desist letter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week it’s our annual Bookmarks episode – where we tell the great stories that didn’t fit into our regular episodes. Including a story about Frankenstein, one about the waffle iron that inspired Nike and a very funny story about a presidential campaign billboard that mistakenly featured the wrong candidate. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, I tell the stories of four of my favourite brands. One holds the record for the most Oscar wins, one was a kid’s animated show produced by a church, another became one of the best-selling toys of all time and one found a way to cut through late-night TV. And all lasted for decades. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, the topic is rule breakers. It takes a courageous advertiser to flout the rules. The results can either be a goldmine or a landmine. We’ll talk about a burger chain that dared show moldy food in its advertising and a rule-breaking stunt involving the NRA that you won’t soon forget. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at boring products. There is a truism in the marketing world - boring sells. And in some of the biggest categories, boring products are the runaway best-sellers. Why do we overwhelmingly choose white cars, gray wall paint and beige carpets? And what does that say about us? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In case you missed it, the team behind Under The Influence started a podcast network. We wanted to bring you a bonus episode this week from one of our other podcasts titled, "We Regret To Inform You: The Rejection Podcast." This episode is about how the Rubik's Cube faced endless rejection as a toy - before finally finding success. Now over 450 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold. It's a story full of twists and turns. If you like what you hear, there are over 40 episodes to dive into. Enjoy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at how books are advertised and marketed. Over 2.2 million new books are published every year - so how do books get noticed? One bookstore uses movies to sell books, another gets prison inmates to write book reviews and one grocery store breaks all the rules by putting books in the vegetable section. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at the history of animated commercials. One of the very first hit the air in 1941 - for “crinkle-proof ties.” Next came Reddy Kilowatt, to quell the public’s fear of electricity in the home. Then Esso’s Put a Tiger in Your Tank tangled with Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger - and that’s when the fur started to fly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, I ask my advertising colleagues for their most outrageous ad stories. The advertising business is a big money, high stress industry. And so much can go sideways. Sometimes film shoots go horribly wrong, sometimes clients make the most ridiculous demands, sometimes celebrities refuse to say their lines and sometimes even a James Bond campaign can go up in flames. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Under The Influence, we tell the surprising origin stories of some famous products and brands. Because sometimes, backstories have backstories. We’ll tell a surprising tale about Coca Cola and the Civil War. We’ll delve into the bootlegger background of NASCAR. And we’ll tell the story of how the Lamborghini supercar began with a tractor… and an insult. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at cities and towns that are actually named after companies. We’ll talk about one town named after a shoe company, one named for a chocolate bar and another town that’s even named after a dish soap.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

To celebrate Canada Reads on CBC this week, here is the first chapter of Terry's latest book, "My Best Mistake". Enjoy! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at the most outrageous Hollywood Publicity Stunts. The crazier the stunt, the better. From sneaking a full-grown lion into a hotel room, to convincing women to throw panties at Tom Jones to spending $8 million dollars on a single stunt for a movie - wild publicity stunts were catnip to the press. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, it’s Part Two of our “Don’t Do It Advertising” episode. Last week we looked at ads that asked you NOT to do something. This week, it’s ads that ask you NOT to do something, but really want you to DO something. It’s reverse-psychology at work. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at a category of advertising that doesn’t try to sell you something. As a matter of fact, tries to get you to STOP doing something. Like littering. And smoking. And drinking & driving. And spilling secrets. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at the reasons why successful companies suddenly change their names. Sometimes those name changes are for legal reasons, sometimes it’s because the old name has too much negative baggage, sometimes it’s to boost a stock price and sometimes a name changes because of a tornado. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we look at powerful hospital marketing. Hospitals need marketing to generate much-needed donations. We’ll look at how one hospital uses celebrities, how another uses riveting patient stories and how one hospital threw away the rulebook and created advertising that looks like Nike commercials. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, we dive into the Super Bowl. The broadcast not only attracts the biggest viewing audience of the year, it is one of the biggest marketing machines. It affects beer companies and supermarkets and even record sales of the halftime performers. And we’ll also revisit some of the most outrageous Super Bowl moments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we tell the story of one of the most colourful characters in the history of Canadian advertising - Jerry Goodis. He founded a legendary advertising agency and created some of Canada’s longest-running ad campaigns. And while doing that, he attacked the ad industry for producing terrible ads. He was loved and hated but couldn’t be ignored. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.