← Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly
Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly
Fakevertising
00:27:21
The world of marketing has discovered there’s money to be made in creating fake ads.But, they’re not trying to fool you - they’re trying to entertain you. Companies are creating fake ads and…
Loading summary
Transcript40 lines
- [00:04]
Host 1
Hey, we've got some big news. For the first time ever, both Apple and Android users can subscribe to our shows. Introducing our new expanded podcast subscription called Apostrophe All Ears. For just the cost of a single cup of coffee every month, you get a lot of goodies ad free listening across our entire archive.
- [00:26]
Terry O'Reilly
Tsk tsk.
- [00:27]
Host 1
I won't judge early access to new episodes before anybody else hears them. You get bonus stories, deeper dives and more color. You get Ask Me Anything sessions that we'll have a lot of fun with. You get first jump at our live podcast recording events, which always sell out immediately. And here's another huge bonus. You get access to all of our other Apostrophe shows, including We Regret to Inform you and Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe and the Beatleology interviews. All ad free. All full of bonus fun.
- [01:01]
Terry O'Reilly
If you join In January, enjoy 20% off your first three months. Just head to the link in the description of this episode and follow the prompts.
- [01:19]
Sponsor Voice (Progressive Insurance)
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.
- [01:53]
Sponsor Voice (Grow Therapy)
Everywhere you turn, it's New Year, New Me. But Growth isn't a glow up trend, it's a practice. Grow Therapy helps you do the real work with licensed therapists who meet you where you are, not where anyone else says you should be. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. They connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the US offering both virtual and in person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can Cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments, you just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing. Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Visit GrowTherapy.com Acast today to get started. That's GrowthTherapy.com Acast Growth Acast availability and coverage by state and insurance plan.
- [03:17]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
Raise your hand if you want your nails to look perfect all the time. Me too. I'm Sarah Gibson Tuttle, the founder of Olive and June. And this is exactly why we created the Gel Mani system. We wanted to make it possible for everyone everywhere to give themselves a beautiful manicure at home with our tools and our gel polish that lasts up to 21 days. Each manicure with our system comes out to just $2. That's right, $2. No more. 60, 70, $80 salon chips that take hours. Now you can paint your nails on your time and love them more than ever. And by the way, when people ask you where you got your nails done, you're going to proudly brag that you did them yourself. And here's a little something extra. Head over to oliveandjune.com and get 20% off your first gel mani system with code DIY GEL20. That's code DIY GEL20 for 20% off your first mani system@oliveandjune.com DIY GEL20.
- [04:13]
Terry O'Reilly
This is an apostrophe podcast production.
- [04:23]
Host 1
We're going to show you our big new Studebaker.
- [04:26]
Terry O'Reilly
Start the car. From me. That's a spicy meatball.
- [04:35]
Sponsor Voice (Verizon)
Guadlov doesn't conquer. Alka sells her will.
- [04:39]
Guest/Participant
What a relief.
- [04:48]
Terry O'Reilly
You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. One day, a comedian named Jeff Wysocki had a kooky idea. He wanted to create fake, absolutely ridiculous products, but designed to look absolutely legitimate. And he wanted to secretly plant these fake products in real grocery and department stores just to watch the cashiers faces when people tried to buy them. His goal? To confront people with a little absurdity in their boring everyday lives. Wysocki had a marketing background and he put his creative powers to work. So for example, he put sauerkraut into a glass bottle and called it sauerkraut. The label said it contained bathroom aged sauerkraut and showed a photo of a shirtless man eating from a bowl. The label also said homemade, clean taste, enjoy anywhere. And Wysocki snuck it onto supermarket shelves. His inventions were definite surprising. One was a hanging package with a label that said a box I stole off someone's porch. Under that was a small vacuum sealed cardboard box from Amazon featuring someone's address on the mailing label. A yellow strip across the bottom of that package said could be expensive. The entire package looked Completely credible. Wysockski created various flavors of lip balm, including wet grass, bologna, shoe leather and meat. And he snuck them into drugstores. His ideas were definitely absurd. One was a box called I hope it's Corn that promised a 25% chance of corn. Another was a transparent ketchup bottle called Barely Any Ketchup. You could see there was less than an inch of ketchup at the bottom, and the label boasted less than one serving and 99% less than the leading brand. You can only imagine a shopper staring at that in a grocery store. Jeff Wysocki soon found himself creating these fake products as a full time job. He called his company Obvious Plant. He's been secretly planting these absurd and hilarious products on store shelves for years. Now you can follow him on Instagram by searching Obvious Plant, where He has over 765,000 followers. And you can purchase his crazy products on his website, where they can sell for hundreds of dollars. And many of them are sold out. Wysockski says he'll just keep making this stuff until the earth explodes. Proving one thing. There's money to be had in them fake products. The world of marketing also discovered there's money in them fake products. But instead of just trying to entertain, companies are creating fake ads and fake stores and even fake mistakes on purpose in order to gain attention. And if attention is the oxygen of marketing, fakery can definitely be the lungs. The trick is to appear absolutely legitimate while gently pulling your leg at the same time.
- [08:39]
Narrator/Commentator
You're under the influence.
- [08:51]
Terry O'Reilly
Recently in London, England, Maybelline staged a stunt that got millions talking. It placed a giant rubber eyelash onto the front window of a London subway train. When the train entered a certain subway stop, the train would pass by a Maybelline ad on the subway wall. And protruding from the ad was was a giant mascara wand. So as the subway train glided by the ad, the giant mascara wand would brush the giant eyelash on the front of the train, causing the eyelash to bounce up and down. The stunt created quite the stir online. The video was posted on Instagram and TikTok. It went viral immediately. In no time, there were 45 million views on Instagram, over 2 million likes. And soon the video went global. The press picked up on it and people posted saying it was a brilliant, innovative idea. But here's the thing. The stunt was a stunt. People in London rushed around the subway stops looking for the giant lashes and wands, but they couldn't find them. They couldn't find them because that video was Fake. An extremely well done fake. Maybelline created that entire video using computer technology. It didn't exist in the real world, just online. When people reached out to Maybelline to ask about the video, the cosmetics company didn't hide the fact the video was fake. They freely admitted it and people still loved it. You can see the video for yourself on YouTube by searching Maybelline Subway Mascara. That video attracted huge attention from Maybelline's sky high mascara. And that wasn't all it attracted. It was reported the video generated a 110% year over year growth in sales. Back in 1959, a new glue was introduced in India. It was called Fevicol. Over the years, the glue has become famous for its bonding ability. Its logo is two elephants in a tug of war trying to pull apart an object glued with Fevicol. Fevicol has become so famous in India that the brand name has become a generic word for adhesives. It now commands 70% of the glue market in India and is sold in 71 countries. Fevicol achieved this success not just by creating a good product. It created a famous brand consistently over the years. The ads were funny, simple and showed the immense sticking power of the glue, making them incredibly popular with the people of India. Recently, Fevicol did something very interesting. The glue company set up a fake pop up store in the middle of a busy Mumbai mall. It was called the Free Store Sign said every item was free if you can take it, which was intriguing. Over 80 items were on display, from lamps and bowls and vases to small kitchenware items. Nothing attracts people like the word free. But when a crowd of shoppers tried to take the free items off the shelves, they ran into a problem. They couldn't budge them. No matter how hard they grabbed or pulled, they couldn't yank a single item free. The objects were all stuck firmly to the shelves. After about 20 minutes of struggle, the Free store signage suddenly changed to say Fevicol, the ultimate adhesive. Once that was revealed, the shoppers all laughed. It was a clear demonstration of how well the glue worked. And the fake store was completely in keeping with the humorous Fevicol campaign that had been running for years. 80 items on the shelves, none taken. The long running campaign is also a tribute to the relationship between Fevicol and its advertising agency, Ogilvy. They have been working together since the 1970s, rare in the world of advertising. Clearly, the brand and the ad agency have an incredible bond. When we come back, Snickers makes a big mistake.
- [13:55]
Sponsor Voice (AT&T Business Wireless)
Not every sale happens at the register before AT&T business Wireless Checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sail or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.
- [14:19]
Sponsor Voice (Progressive Insurance)
Sometimes AT&T business Wireless Connecting changes everything. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible Financial Geniuses. Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.
- [14:47]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
Hi, it's Sarah. I'm the founder of Olive in June and can I tell you the one thing that always makes my day better? A fresh manicure. But who has the time or the money to go to the salon every week? That's why we created the Olive and June Gel Mani system. It gives you that same mani that you get at a salon for so much less. It comes with everything you need. A pro level lamp, salon grade tools, our damage free gel polish that lasts up to 21 days. All you do is prep, paint, cure and you're good to go. And the best part? It's super easy and so affordable. Each mani breaks down to $2. So let's skip that $80 salon appointment and get the salon quality look at home for so much less than on your schedule. Head to OliveAndJune.com DIYgel20 and use code DIYgel20 for 20% off your first Gel Mani system. That's OliveAnJune.com DIY Gel20 code DIY Gel20 for 20% off your first gel mani system.
- [15:56]
Terry O'Reilly
Snickers has done exceptionally good marketing over the past 15 years. Its worldwide tagline you're not you when youn're Hungry has inspired amusing campaigns in countries around the world. The tagline now has a staggering 80% recognition rate, which means 80% of the general public links the tagline to Snickers. Most brands only dream of those numbers. I went to see the Snickers Director of Marketing speak at a terrific marketing event called the Gathering in Banff, Alberta. He told us that when the youe're not yout and you're Hungry campaign was launched in 2010, it completely reversed Snickers declining sales, volume growing at twice the category rate. After only three months in the market, sales jumped by 376 million doll. The reason the youe're not you and you're hungry campaign works so well is because that idea can be told in so many different ways. For example, Snickers changed its packaging. At one point, instead of saying Snickers on the wrapping, the bars instead said grumpy or cranky or confused. In another instance, the word Snickers itself was misspelled. So funny. I've mentioned this before, but In Puerto Rico, 37 different radio stations did something that had never been done before. They started playing music they would normally never play one morning. So the rock station suddenly started playing salsa. The salsa station suddenly started playing heavy metal. The hip hop station started playing opera. It was chaos. The 3.2 million radio listeners were completely confused. Until, that is, Snickers cleared up the confusion by saying, we apologize for the inconvenience. The DJ is not himself when he's hungry. When he finishes eating his Snickers, we will be back with our regular programming. It was a huge, bold idea that brought the snickers message to 3.2 million people. One day in France not long ago, people buying Snickers bars had a rude surprise. When they bit into their Snickers bar, they discovered they were eating a Bounty chocolate bar instead. The packaging said Snickers, but instead of the peanuts, nougat and caramel, people found themselves eating a Bounty bar with coconut filling. For the next 24 hours, people all over France started posting about the mistake on social media. Because Mars owns both Bounty and Snickers, it was assumed there had been a production screw up with Bounty bars being put inside Snickers wrappers by mistake. The uproar from the public was quickly given the hashtag Snickersgate. People were posting comments like, whoa, I just had a Snickers and ended up with a Bounty. What the f is this? Another said, there's a guy in the Snickers factory right now that must be really feeling the heat. Snickersgate. And that's what everybody thought. 24 hours later, Snickers released a video to social media that showed a Snickers factory worker discovering the production mistake and rushing into the quality control room to give the quality control worker a real Snickers bar. And after he bites into the bar, he jumps up and realizes the mistake at Snickers. We're not us when we're hungry. It was a fake mistake. It was just Snickers having fun. The Mars company owns both Snickers and Bounty, so they were able to pull it all off. And it made sure the bars contained the same Allergens, so no one was exposed to unexpected health risks during the prank. But that fake mistake got a huge social media reaction. It got 18 million impressions, which is how many times the story appeared on people's screens. The public engaged with the story 275,000 times on social media, and 98% of those comments were positive. Triple the rate of engagement Snickers usually gets. The press unanimously loved the stunt too, saying it was Snickers most ambitious gag to date. The fake mistake then went viral. It's estimated that 65 million people heard about Snickers Gate around the world. One day, two young Asian men named Jev Maravilla and Christian Toledo were eating at their local McDonald's. As they were chatting, they noticed the posters on the walls. They all featured various McDonald's employees and customers, all smiling while enjoying hamburgers and fries, which were circled on the posters. But they also noticed that the posters didn't feature any Asian people. So they concocted a plan. They would smuggle in a fake poster featuring themselves into the McDonald's location and hang it up without anyone noticing. Jev managed to find an old McDonald's employee shirt at a local thrift shop. Then Jev and Christian took a photo of themselves in the same kind of pose as the other posters and edited it to match the other pictures in size and style and ordered it online. When it arrived, they carefully put the same kind of dotted circle around the fries Jeff was holding. It was a perfect imitation of all the other McDonald's posters. Now, the trick was to smuggle it into McDonald's. So in July, they slipped the large photo into the McDonald's and waited for the coast to clear. One hour later, they found themselves alone in the corner. So they put the poster up on the wall, where it went undetected for two full months. Then in September, Jev tweeted about the stunt along with a photo of the fake poster. That tweet was liked by nearly 1 million people and retweeted almost 600,000 times. He also posted a short video about the stunt on YouTube, where it was watched by thousands more. Not long after, Jev got a call from McDonald's. He immediately sensed trouble. But on that call, an executive from McDonald's told Jeff that they in fact loved the poster and invited Jev and Christian to an event at the restaurant. The restaurant was to be closed soon for renovations, but he asked Jev and Christian to come in and sign the poster, which was to be auctioned off to raise money for Ronald McDonald House. Soon News outlets were covering the story. That press caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres and she invited them to appear on her show. Jev and Christian couldn't believe this was all happening on the show. They told Ellen the story behind the fake poster. Ellen then told them that McDonald's was going to put them both in a marketing campaign and because they were going to be starring in a marketing campaign, McDonald's had to pay them. So she presented each of them with a check for $25,000. While acknowledging that the stunt was a lot of fun and the $50,000 was amazing, Jev made it clear there was a serious point to be made about Asian representation in society, whether in movies or television or fast food restaurants. The poster was fake, but the issue wasn't. When we come back Fashion Influencers Get Fooled.
- [24:41]
Sponsor Voice (AT&T Business Wireless)
Before we had AT&T business Wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn. An influencer even livestream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influence? It did get us 53 new followers though.
- [25:05]
Sponsor Voice (Progressive Insurance)
AT&T business Wireless Connecting Changes Everything this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching your insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
- [25:38]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
Who here loves when their nails are done perfectly? Me. I'm Sarah Gibson Tuttle and I started Olive in June because, let's be real, we all deserve to have gorgeous nails. But who wants to spend a fortune or half their day at the nail salon? That's why I created the Gel Mani system so you can have that salon quality gel manicure right at home. And guess what? The best part? Each mani only costs $2. Yep, you heard me. $2. No more 60, 70, $80 salon trips that eat up your day. Now you can paint your nails whenever you want, wherever you want. And trust me, you're going to be obsessed with your nails and everyone is going to ask you where you got them done. And here's a little something extra. Head over to OliveAndJune.com and get 20% off your first gel mani system with code DIY GEL20. That's code DIY GEL20 for 20% off your first mani system at OliveAndJune.com DIY GEL20.
- [26:45]
Terry O'Reilly
Back in 2017, the news stories about Payless shoes were good. The bargain shoe retailer had filed for bankruptcy, reportedly shuttering 700 stores. But it managed to re emerge from bankruptcy and continued doing business, but revenues were shrinking. The main problem was that shoppers didn't think Payless discount stores offered fashionable shoe wear. They linked discount with boring. So Payless decided to change that perception. And here's what they did. Payless decided to open a fake store featuring a fake luxury brand and hold a fake launch party and invite real social media influencers to that party. But first, they needed a location. Their advertising agency found a former Giorgio Armani store location in an upscale mall. The neighboring stores were Louis Vuitton, Barney's, and Tiffany's. Payless then hired an interior designer to create an authentic, luxurious atmosphere for the launch party. The fake store now needed a name, so the ad agency creative director went to Wikipedia to look up Italian surnames. He found one he liked Alessi, so he just added a capital P to the Paylessee, which was kind of funny. They created a fake Paylessie website and Instagram account because they knew the social media influencers would be checking them out before attending. They filled the store with the latest Payless shoes and boots, but covered the Payless brand name with stickers that said Paylessie in clean black font. Then they took shoes priced at 1999 and put a $200 price tag on them. Shoes that cost $39.99 were priced at $600, and some other shoes were even priced at an 1800% markup. Next, social media fashion influencers were invited to the launch party. They were told a store was opening featuring a new brand by Italian fashion designer Bruno Pelesi, and that the company was looking for some feedback. Over 60 fashionistas RSVP'd. As those influencers strolled through the store that night checking out the new merchandise, stylish salespeople asked them what they thought of the footwear, and wandering video cameras captured their responses. The fashionistas said the Palesi shoes were just stunning. They said, pelesi takes your shoe game up to the next level. One influencer gushed, saying, this Italian designer is amazing. Another said, the shoes were elegant and sophisticated. I can tell they were made with high quality materials.
- [29:56]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
I would pay 400. 500.
- [29:58]
Terry O'Reilly
Yeah, people are gonna Be like, where'd you get those? These experienced fashion influencers were so impressed. Many of them purchased shoes that night, spending as much as $645 for a pair of stilettos that normally would sell at Payless for $39.99. But when an influencer made a purchase, they were then taken backstage and told that the paylessi brand was fake.
- [30:24]
Guest/Participant
These are actually from Payless.
- [30:26]
Terry O'Reilly
Shut up. Are you serious? The social media influencers were given their money back and were allowed to keep the shoes they had chosen for free. They all admitted that Payless had fooled them absolutely and completely. The shock on their faces made for some powerful Payless commercials, which created buzz. Just in time for Christmas.
- [30:52]
Sponsor Voice (Grow Therapy)
We built.
- [30:53]
Guest/Participant
A fake luxury store in Los Angeles and filled it with Payless shoes. The guests at our grand opening party had no idea they're elegant, sophisticated. I just think it's so classy.
- [31:04]
Terry O'Reilly
And I could tell it was made with high quality material.
- [31:06]
Guest/Participant
These fashionistas actually paid 200, 400 and even $600 for Payless shoes. But you can get these same shoes at Payless for $19.99 or lower with our epic holiday deals. Why pay more when you can Payless?
- [31:20]
Terry O'Reilly
The prank exposed a very interesting point. Most people can't. Real luxury, upscale items are far more about perceived value than actual value. We judge value by association. When the Payless shoes were presented in a former Armani store in an upscale mall with stylish salespeople and upscale neighbors, those experienced influencers instantly transferred that luxury association to the shoes and didn't bat an eye at the inflated prices. It posed the question, if a shoe is stylishly designed but bargain priced, is it still fashionable? And that was the point Payless was making. It reminded shoppers that affordable shoes can be fashionable too. Some criticized the prank, saying it wouldn't attract upscale, wealthy customers. But that wasn't the goal. The goal was to attract regular people who wanted to find fashionable footwear but couldn't afford luxury. And if the styles fooled influencers who were paid to spot fashion trends, that was a very convincing reason to shop at Payless. The word fake is having a moment in our world these days. From fake news and misinformation to AI generated fake photos and videos, we are living in a post truth world. On the other hand, marketers are using fake ideas not to cheat you, but to generate press by making you smile or to make a point. The Paylessee prank says something very powerful about marketing. The influencers believed they were purchasing luxury footwear because they were fed an array of social and environmental cues. It showed how our shopping behavior can be influenced by factors that have nothing to do with the actual product itself. The fake Snickers mistake was perfectly in keeping with its amusing you're not you and your hungry campaign, but what an ambitious gag that was. Fevicol used a fake store to prove how remarkable its glue legitimately is. And the fake Maybelline ads were simply meant to entertain. But they also demonstrated that today advertisers can create eye popping videos using AI without the expense of production, location and film crews. It's becoming a whole new ad world and Hollywood has come knocking on comedian Jeff Wysoski's door, proving you can fake it and make it when you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Tear Stream Mobile Recording studio producer Debbie O'Reilly chief sound engineer Jeff Devine Research Shay Grindon Theme by Casey Pick, Jeremiah Pick and James Aten tunage provided by APM Music follow me at Terry Oinfluence this podcast is powered by Acast, Terry's top slogans of all time. Number 21 Wheaties, the breakfast of champions. See you next week.
- [35:27]
Sponsor Voice (Verizon)
In a world where January is supposed to be boring, one staple of the holiday refuses to end the great deals At Verizon, the joy just keeps on coming. Right now you can save on four new phones and four lines. Critics agree it's the deal that keeps on giving. Come into Verizon and save on four new phones and four lines on unlimited. Welcome additional terms. Apply seeverizon.com for details.
- [35:56]
Sponsor Voice (Progressive Insurance)
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.
- [36:29]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
Paramount is the new home of ufc. It isn't just combat, it's cinema.
- [36:36]
Terry O'Reilly
Oh my goodness. Unbelievable. Are you not entertained? UFC on Paramount.
- [36:42]
Sarah Gibson Tuttle
Streaming this January.
- [36:46]
Terry O'Reilly
ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Foreign.
- [36:55]
Narrator/Commentator
Influencer. A friend who read something somewhere. Your doctor. It can be hard to know where to get trusted health information. Tedhealth is a podcast that will help you focus on the stuff that you actually need to know to live your healthiest life. I'm Dr. Shoshana Ungerleiter, a practicing internist, and I share weekly TED talks from certified health experts that break down the questions you're always getting different answers to get the science backed ideas for a healthier you with TED Health. Wherever you get your podcasts, ACAST helps.
- [37:31]
Terry O'Reilly
Creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.