Terry O'Reilly (0:02)

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 Holiday, and Canada's own Alanis Morissette. It's jagged little Rejections this year on We Regret to inform you. Hope you'll join us. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mint mobile.com your old or broken phone can let you down when you need it most. Perfect. But at Verizon, trade in any old phone from our top brands and get the most for it. Up to $2,000 in value for an amazing new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence and a new line on my plan and iPad and Apple Watch Series 10. That's like a three for one. And you can get it on any plan at Verizon. Trade in your old phone for a brand new iPhone 16 Pro, iPad and Apple Watch. The other guys won't give you that. Visit verizon.com today. Additional terms apply. Service plan required for Apple Watch and iPad up to 2000 based on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply. 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 new Studebaker mama. That's a spicy meatball. What love doesn't conquer. Alka Seltzer will. What a relief you're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. Thanksgiving is a very interesting day of the year. In 1957, the Governor General of Canada, Vincent Massey issued a proclamation stating that Thanksgiving was to be observed on the second Monday in October. In the U.S. thanksgiving is celebrated later, specifically the fourth Thursday in November. The biggest reason our Thanksgiving is earlier than the American one is simple. The Canadian harvest happens earlier. It's interesting to note that the original pilgrim Thanksgiving in the 1600s began as a day of fasting, ironic as it is now the day many of us consume the most calories of the year. Back in 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote Mary had a Little Lamb, began a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the states. She spent 17 years writing letters to presidents and other politicians advocating for the day. Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, choosing a date connected to the annual harvest. Lincoln also hoped the official holiday would help unite the nation after the Civil War. Some historians say the very first Thanksgiving in North America actually happened in 1579. After the safe landing of Martin Frobisher's fleet in Newfoundland. President Franklin D. Roosevelt actually changed the date of Thanksgiving in the US he moved it up a week. Roosevelt wanted to extend the holiday shopping season and stimulate the economy. Retailers were concerned the critical shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas was too short. Not everybody was happy with Franklin Roosevelt's date change and referred to it sarcastically as Franksgiving. So in 1941, Congress finally passed a resolution making the date of Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November. So many rituals have a direct connection to marketing and commerce. Today, Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year. Over 40% of Canadians hit the road and 80 million Americans traveled during that time. By the way, turkey wasn't a part of Thanksgiving dinners for over 200 years. It was mostly venison, seafood, and the odd duck or goose. But again, Sarah Josepha Hale, who campaigned so hard for the holiday, also wrote extensively about Thanksgiving and always featured turkey as the center of her ideal Thanksgiving Day meal. It eventually caught. Plus, a turkey could feed a whole family. We've mentioned this before, but the Butterball Turkey Hotline receives over 100,000 calls during Thanksgiving. The hotline started as a marketing gimmick 44 years ago, but has grown into a seasonal lifeline for panicky home chefs. When the turkey comes out of the freezer, it is the busiest day of the year for those turkey wizards. You're probably wondering why I'm talking about Thanksgiving at this time of the year. Well, today we look at the busiest days of the year for a variety of industries and services, from restaurants to emergency rooms to pizza delivery to plumbers. And as you'll soon see Thanksgiving has an outsized presence in today's show. And it's kind of surprising. You're under the influence. Cast your mind back back to 1994. June 17, 1994, to be exact. O.J. simpson was supposed to turn himself into the LA Police Department. By 11am that day, murder charges had been filed. The arraignment was to be scheduled for that afternoon. By noon, O.J. had not shown up. At 1:50pm the LAPD declared O.J. simpson a fugitive. At 5:51 Simpson made a cell phone call from a white Ford Bronco. The call was traced to a freeway in Orange County. At 5:56pm the California Highway Patrol began pursuit. Now here we are on the 91 Freeway, 40 miles an hour, broad daylight. Police have set up a rolling roadblock. In a sense, they're trying to clear the highway around Simpson for the next 90 minutes. What unfolded was something viewers had never seen before. It was a low speed car chase on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles as Simpson's white Ford Bronco was being followed by over a dozen police cars. Later, at his Brentwood home, O.J. simpson was taken into custody at 8:47pm that low speed car chase was watched live by a reported 90. To put that in context, it rivaled the super bowl for TV ratings. Because it was dinner time on the west coast. And later on the east coast, people sat glued to their televisions. And because nobody wanted to miss a moment of this bizarre event, no one went out for dinner. And millions didn't want to make dinner. So they ordered pizza that day. June 17, 1994, ended up being the busiest day in Domino's Pizza history. Strange things happen when strange things happen. Speaking of pizza, here's a multiple choice question for you. What is the busiest day of the year for pizza deliveries? New Year's Eve, Halloween, or Super Bowl Sunday? The answer is Halloween. Parents all over North America are busy that night, taking little trick or treaters out around the neighborhood and greeting ghosts and goblins at the front door. So many parents opt for a quick and easy dinner and pizza orders surge. Have you ever wondered what the busiest day of the year is for plumbers? Probably not, but I think about this stuff all the time. The answer is kind of surprising. In the US it's the Friday after Thanksgiving. In November, it's called Black Friday. But plumbers there call it Brown Friday. Here's the really good news. It's not for the reason you're thinking right now. The reason plumbers call it Brown Friday is Because millions of people clog their kitchen sinks with turkey grease, vegetable skins, rice and other food items on that day. And calls to plumbers explode. Well, sir, one day I was cooking chicken for some folks going on a boat ride, and I decided to try a little change in my chicken recipe to see what they'd think. So instead of using just the 10 herbs and spices I'd always used, I decided to add the 11th ingredient. Don't you see? Well, the minute I tasted that chicken, I knew I'd made the best fried chicken that had ever been cooked. That's Colonel Sanders you're listening to. As you know, he made his 11 herbs and spices finger lickin good. But did you know that KFC has a busiest day of the year? And that day is Mother's Day? Kind of surprising. According to Data provided by Yum Brands, the company that owns KFC, the chicken joint sells 50% more chicken on Mother's Day than any other day of the year. And apparently it's not even close. While Mother's Day is the third biggest retail holiday, it's number one with a bucket at kfc. There are several reasons for the rush of moms at kfc. First of all, KFC markets heavily to moms on Facebook in the four days leading up to Mother's Day. It also targets dads who are looking for Mother's Day ideas. And KFC restaurants offer a convenient and affordable option for a lot of families. Hilariously, KFC recently gave away free copies of a romance novel aimed at women titled Tender Wings of Desire. The harlequin like cover showed a buff Colonel Sanders being embraced by a woman with a chicken drumstick in her hand. Alarming. A YouTube video was created with a shirtless hunk reading from the novella. This Mother's Day let Colonel Sanders take care of dinner and mom's fantasies by giving her tender wings of desire. Sometimes it seemed as though Madeline and Colonel Sanders had been made to love each other. And they tried to do so at every given opportunity. Hello. And she knew in that exact moment what it meant to feel love that gives a whole new meaning to legs, breasts and thighs. Speaking of unusual KFC moments, Christmas Eve is the busiest day of the year for KFC in Japan. As a matter of fact, December 24th is 10 times busier than any other day of the year for KFC. And it's been that way since the 1970s. Here's how it happened. Back in the 60s, Christmas was initially celebrated there as a day for children with cakes and treats. Then one day, a foreign visitor to Tokyo walked into a KFC store and said he couldn't find a turkey, so he had no choice but to celebrate Christmas with Kentucky Fried Chicken. A KFC executive overheard the conversation and wondered if it could become a Christmas tradition. So the next season, KFC advertised its first Christmas campaign along with the slogan Kentucky for Christmas. The campaign was a hit, and Kentucky for Christmas is a tradition that lives on to this day and every December, statues of Colonel Sanders outside the KFC locations are decorated in Santa attire, and KFC buckets come with festive designs. People pre order and make reservations as early as October because come December 24, it is KFC, Japan's busiest day of the year. When we come back, the steamiest day of the year for dating apps. G'day America. It's Tony and Ryan from the Tony and Ryan Podcast from Down Under. This episode is sponsored by Boost Mobile, the newest 5G network in the country. These guys are no longer the prepaid wireless company you might remember. They've invested billions into building their own 5G towers across America, transforming the carrier into America's fourth major network alongside the other big dogs. Yep, they're challenging the competitors by working harder and smarter, like this amazing new network they've literally built. They have blazing fast 5G and plans for all the latest devices. Visit your nearest Boost Mobile store or find them online@boostmobile.com Race the Rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax. Dating apps are extremely popular these days. And did you know there is a busiest day of the year for apps like Tinder and Hinge? It's true. Here's a hint. It's not Valentine's Day. The day in question actually has a name. It's called Dating Sunday. According to reports, this landmark day in the dating world always lands on the first Sunday in January. Take the Christmas holidays Throw in a little holiday loneliness and you've got the perfect recipe for pent up desire. Dating apps routinely experience a surge on Dating Sunday. It's been called the super bowl of online dating. Last year, hinge reported a 27% increase in likes sent on this day and a 29% rise in messages sent on Tinder. User likes which indicate that you want to match with someone were 15% higher on the first Sunday in January than the rest of the year. There's a reason for all those Cupid arrows, according to Hinge's love and connection expert. Now there's an interesting business card. The New Year marks a shift from one chapter to the next and offers people the chance to reboot. It's the time of the year that brings hope, promise for renewal, and resolutions to meet someone new. The rise in app use stays relatively consistent until mid February, as January 1st to Valentine's Day is considered peak season for dating apps. Tinder said. During that six week period, 486 bios are edited per minute and 298 million more likes are sent than the rest of the year. But nothing beats Dating Sunday. Speaking of dating and finding your soulmate or overnight mate, there is one day of the year where the most sex happens. I'll give you a hint. It's different for everyone, but the same for everyone. If you guessed birthday sex, you are correct. In a poll conducted with over 5,000 people, a whopping 79% admitted to having birthday sex. Happy Birthday to you. Birthday sex outperformed every other day of the year. My birthday is in July, which is a long, long way away. Coming in hot. In second place was Valentine's Day at 73%. Anniversaries and vacations came in next, followed interestingly by makeup sex after a heated argument. Happy Birthday, My love to you. Dating apps sometimes lead to marriages. The kn, a website dedicated to all things wedding, did a survey recently. The busiest day of the year for weddings is the third Saturday of September. By a long shot. My sister in law, Laura, is a licensed wedding officiant. Many of the weddings she officiates happen outdoors or lakeside. Just as the Knot says, the third Saturday in September is by far her busiest day of the year. She says she could easily marry 30 couples on that day if time permitted. The third Saturday of September is kind of a perfect day for an outdoor wedding. It's still warm enough for nice wedding attire. The bugs are gone and it doesn't conflict with any long weekends. Plus the sun sets quite late, ideal for lots of good photos The Knot says the other four busiest days for weddings are all the Saturdays in October. So if you're planning a wedding, know that those are the busiest dates for securing a wedding venue. By the way, the number one wedding song according to the Knot is Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley. The King still reigns. With all those marriages going on, it can only mean one thing. A visit from the stork. There is a fertility tracking app called Kindara. The app analyzes 1.5 million bits of data users collected about their sexual activity. From that data, it determined that aside from birthdays, the most active time for making whoopee is around New Year's. The app also determined that a higher percentage of babies are born on September 9 than any other date. It's simple math to prove to prove how popular September is. Of the 10 most common birthdays, nine of them occur in September. The only other date on that list is July 7, which happens to be my birthday. Weird. So if your kid seems to share a birthday with half of her classmates, you're not imagining things. You just had a very happy new year. Speaking of being on fire, when we come back, the busiest day of the year for fire departments. Your old or broken phone can let you down when you need it most. But at Verizon, trade in any old phone from our top brands and get the most for it. Up to $2,000 in value for an amazing new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence and a new line on my plan and iPad and apple watch series 10. That's like a three for one. And you can get it on any plan at Verizon. Trade in your old phone for a brand new iPhone 16 Pro, iPad, and Apple Watch. The other guys won't give you that. Visit verizon.com today. Additional terms apply. Service plan required for Apple Watch and iPad. Up to $2,000. Value based on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Picture this. You're halfway through a DIY car fix, tools scattered everywhere, and boom. You realize you're missing a part. It's okay because, you know, whatever it is, it's on ebay. They've got everything. Brakes, headlights, cold air intakes. Whatever you need. And it's guaranteed to fit. Which means no more crossing your fingers and hoping you ordered the right thing. All the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. Ebay. Things people love. Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results terms and conditions appreciate Even Fire Departments have a Busiest Day of the Year in Canada For a long time, the busiest fire day of the year was Halloween. Lots of stoves left unattended as trick or treaters knock on the door and some tricks turned out to be hotter than expected. In the us, Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires. It has three times the daily average. Unattended stoves were far and away the leading contributor to cooking fires. Shockingly, cooking causes half of all home fires, 42% of home fire injuries, and 20% of all home fire deaths. Speaking of Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, which has a lot of mentions in this episode today the festive family event has a big day on social media because Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year on Instagram. Which makes sense as Instagram has a food photo obsession and it's a time for families to gather, so there's a lot of picture taking going on. The busiest day of the year for Airbnb in Canada and the US is also yep, Thanksgiving. Many travelers either visit family or take a family trip during Thanksgiving. Christmas is the second busiest day of the year for Airbnb, followed by New Year's Eve. When it comes to Uber and taxicabs, the busiest days of the year don't line up with Airbnb. Looking at the list, I would say alcohol has a lot to do with hailing a ride. The busiest day of the year for Uber and taxis is, you guessed it, New Year's Day, which would be anytime after the countdown at midnight. Makes sense. People have been partying and imbibing and don't want to drink and drive. That's why it's always so hard to hail a cab or an Uber on New Year's. It's the busiest day of the year for the industry. In the us the second busiest time of the year for rides is Super Bowl Sunday. Again, I suspect alcohol has something to do with that. St Patrick's Day is also on the list for both countries for obvious reasons. Interestingly, when it comes to hailing a ride, Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve are at the bottom of the list. Emergency rooms are always busy. Thankfully, many ERs give you a wait time approximation on their websites so you know what you're in for. And if it's not urgent, you can time your visit to one of the least busy times. So what is the busiest day of the year for emergency rooms? Some ERs say it's the first regular Monday after Christmas. Other ERs say it's boxing Day. A lot of people think Christmas Day is the busiest day of the year in emergency rooms, but it's actually the quietest day of the year. As a rule, it's the calm before the storm, and Boxing Day is the storm. There are a number of reasons for this. First, many people who suddenly need to see a doctor will put it off until the day after Christmas. Second, families get together with elderly relatives who they may not have seen for a while. And if there's something wrong with Grandma, the younger family members might not realize it until she visits on Christmas Day. Lastly, a lot of doctors offices walk in clinics and urgent care clinics are closed on Christmas Day, so the emergency room is the only option. The busiest day for veterinarians is very different from ER doctors. Again, we return to our recurring theme of Thanksgiving. It appears that pets, especially dogs, get into a lot of food that is prepared or left over on that day. So the day after Thanksgiving is often the busiest day of the year for vets. Turkey bones can create splinters that can puncture gastrointestinal tracts. Ham bones are just as dangerous and can result in a $3,000 emergency surgery bill. And according to vets, it's not just poultry bones that are problematic. Turkey skin and ham are too high in fat for dogs to properly digest. Onions and garlic cause anemia, nutmeg can cause central nervous system damage, and alcohol is not good for dogs. Regardless of what your dog tells you, one of the most valued skills in marketing is the ability to spot patterns. Most marketing is based on that information. Patterns allow for planning, and understanding what leads to those patterns is endlessly interesting. Plumbers are busiest the day after Thanksgiving. Who knew? But plumbers know and plan accordingly. More pizzas are delivered on Halloween than on Super Bowl Sunday. Who knew? But pizza companies know and prepare accordingly. Mother's Day is the busiest day for kfc. Who knew? But it makes sense because Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for all restaurants, so KFC markets accordingly. Patterns illuminate behavior. Behavior informs marketing decisions, and marketers plan accordingly. And in a few instances, marketing dictates behavior, as Roosevelt proved when he moved the date of Thanksgiving to prolong the shopping season. I have spent 44 years studying marketing, and I'm still captivated by it because at the end of the day, it is the study of human nature. When you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastri mobile recording studio. Our busiest day of the year is usually January 6th, the day we return to air producer Debbie O'Reilly, Chief Sound Engineer Jeff Devine under the Influence Theme by Casey Pick, Jeremiah Pick and James Ayton. Tunes provided by APM Music and let's Be Social. Follow me at Terry oinfluence this podcast is powered by Acast. If you want to 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 Vishal Varshini from Vancouver, bc. Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in Canada except in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, pei, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Your old or broken phone can let you down when you need it most. Perfect. But at Verizon Trade in any old phone from our top brands and get the most for it. Up to $2,000 in value for an amazing new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence and a new line on my plan and iPad and Apple Watch Series 10. That's like a three for one and you can get it on any plan at Verizon. Trade in your old phone for a brand new iPhone 16 Pro, iPad and Apple Watch. The other guys won't give you that. Visit verizon.com today. Additional terms Apply Service Plan required for Apple Watch and iPad up to $2,000 value based on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Mmm I love ravioli. Since when do you speak Italian? Since we partnered with SAP Concur. Their integrated travel and expense platform and breakthrough solutions with AI gave me time back to dive into our financial future. We expand into Europe in 20202027 so I'm getting ready. Well, you can predict the future. I can predict you'll like that message. What message? Oh hey, we all got bonuses you can save for college now. I don't have kids. You don't say SAP Concur helps your business move forward faster. Learn more@concur.com support for this podcast and the following message is brought to you by E Trade for Morgan Stanley. With E Trade you can dive into the market with easy to use tools, zero dollar commissions and a wide range of investments. And now there's even more to love. Get access to industry leading research and insights from Morgan Stanley to help guide your decisions. Open an account and get up to $1,000 or more with a qualifying deposit. Get started today@etrade.com terms and other fees apply. Investing involves risks. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC Member SIPIC etrade is a business of Morgan Stanley. If you wear glasses, you know how hard it is to find the perfect pair. But step into a Warby Parker store and you'll see it doesn't have to be. Not only will you find a great selection of frames, you'll also meet helpful advisors and friendly optometrists. Yep, many Warby Parker locations also offer eye exams. So the next time you need glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses or a new prescription, you know where to look. To find a Warby Parker store near you or to book an eye exam, head over to warbyparker.com retail.