Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
Hey, you could be listening to next
0:02
week's episode right now. Subscribers
0:05
to But Wait, There's More
0:07
get early access every week. They
0:10
enjoy ad-free episodes, ad-free archives, and
0:12
they get bonus episodes every month.
0:15
Just go to Apple Podcasts and enjoy
0:18
your seven-day free trial now. Hey,
0:23
I'm Ryan Reynolds. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently,
0:25
I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if
0:28
big wireless companies are allowed to raise
0:30
prices due to inflation. They said yes.
0:32
And then when I asked if raising
0:34
prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts,
0:36
they said, what the f*** are you
0:38
talking about, you insane Hollywood a*****e? So
0:41
to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30
0:43
a month to just $15 a month. Give
0:46
it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45
0:49
up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote for new
0:51
customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Mint
0:53
Unlimited slows. Many of us to have
0:55
those stubborn pounds that seem impossible to
0:57
lose no matter how good we eat
1:00
or how hard we work out. My
1:02
solution is Plushcare. Plushcare is a leading
1:04
Tell A provider were doctors who are
1:06
there for you day and night to
1:09
partner with you and your weight loss
1:11
journey. They can prescribe F D A
1:13
approved weight loss medications like Will Go
1:15
V and that Pound. For those who
1:18
qualify plus the except most insurance plans
1:20
to get started, visit plushcare.com/weight Loss. That's
1:22
plushcare.com. Slash weight loss. This
1:24
is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. As
1:27
a podcast listener, you've heard from us before. Today
1:30
let's hear from our members about what online therapy has
1:32
done for them. I would recommend
1:34
my therapist 1,000 times over. She
1:38
has truly changed my life. The
1:40
day after my first session, my friends and
1:42
family said I sounded like myself again for
1:44
the first time in weeks. You
1:46
deserve to invest in your well-being. Visit betterhelp.com
1:48
to see what it can do for you. That's
1:52
betterhelp.com. betterhelp.com. I
1:58
work for three different advertising... Agencies in
2:00
my career to were part of
2:03
large global advertising networks. The third
2:05
was independent. That shop was a
2:08
very different experience. There was no
2:10
holding company lording over the ad
2:12
agency, no long distance bureaucracy. That.
2:15
Independent ad agency offered a nimbleness
2:17
conglomerates could never match. As a
2:19
result, the work ruled the award
2:22
shelves. If you work as an
2:24
indie shop, you know what I
2:26
mean. And if you wanna know
2:29
more about what's going on in
2:31
the world of independent agencies, go
2:33
to Indy Agency.news It's the member
2:35
lead place where independent advertising agencies
2:38
gather, meet and grow and there's
2:40
it in Agency. New show every
2:42
day at nine Am Pacific noon
2:44
Eastern. India Agency.news tells
2:47
you what's happening in the in
2:49
the agency world. Campaigns and agencies
2:51
are highlighted. Interviews with owners, leaders
2:54
and creative people show in the
2:56
thinking. One. More thing,
2:58
if you're a marketer in
3:00
the Agency.news is the place
3:02
to find your next agency.
3:05
Become a member, Go to
3:07
India Agency.news and long live
3:09
in these. mrs
3:15
past Envy,
4:11
as they say, is one
4:13
of the seven deadly sins. It
4:15
is the resentment of another's good
4:18
fortune. A
4:20
book titled The Traveler's Guide to
4:22
Hell says envy is ruled
4:24
by the celestial sign of the moon.
4:27
It also says envy is
4:29
the key behind every advertisement.
4:34
The Roman poet Ovid wrote
4:36
that the personification of envy
4:38
is a figure with shallow
4:40
cheeks, a shrunk body, decayed
4:43
teeth, and a venom-coated tongue.
4:46
There is no doubt envy
4:48
is corrosive. It can damage
4:50
relationships, undermine businesses, and eventually
4:53
it can sabotage your own
4:55
career. In
4:57
a medieval diagram called the Tree
4:59
of Vices, it depicts
5:01
the fall of man as a
5:04
tree with seven branches, representing each
5:06
vice. The base
5:08
of that tree, the root of
5:10
all vices, is pride, but
5:13
the first branch after pride is
5:16
envy. People
5:20
generally have no problem talking about
5:23
religion, politics, and even sex, but
5:26
envy is rarely discussed out in the
5:28
open. It's a
5:30
festering private kind of anguish. Sociologist
5:34
Helmut Schuch, who wrote a book about envy,
5:36
called it a fundamental problem
5:39
of existence. It's
5:42
interesting that we rarely envy people we don't
5:44
know. Are you envious
5:46
of movie star Ryan Reynolds, for
5:48
example? Probably not.
5:51
But your neighbor's fancy new car? Absolutely.
5:56
The green eye of envy is usually reserved
5:58
for those we know well. We
6:00
are more unhappy when a close friend
6:03
succeeds than when a stranger does. Which
6:06
prompts another question. Why
6:08
are we green with envy? It
6:14
said the ancient Greeks believed that the
6:16
green of envy and its kissing cousin
6:19
Josie occurred as
6:21
a result of the overproduction
6:23
of bile, which turned human
6:25
skin slightly green. And
6:28
when bile rises, well, you know
6:30
what happens. Historically,
6:32
the color green was very
6:35
difficult to replicate. Green
6:38
plant dye quickly turned brown. Egyptians
6:41
tried using a mineral called
6:43
malachite, but it eventually turned
6:45
black. The ancient
6:47
Greeks gave up on green almost
6:49
completely and preferred yellow, red, black
6:51
and white. So
6:53
perhaps those who could create the
6:55
color green were envied by
6:57
those who couldn't. According
7:02
to an article in The Guardian,
7:04
the color of envy is almost
7:07
always green. In Italy,
7:09
the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Spain,
7:11
Portugal, Finland, Norway, the US
7:13
and Canada, envy is
7:16
green. But green
7:18
isn't universal. In
7:20
Hungarian and German, one is
7:22
consumed by yellow envy. Same
7:25
with the French. They are yellow with envy,
7:28
but green with fear. Poles
7:30
connect envy with the color purple. Envy
7:34
is Russian, see purple and black. In
7:37
West Africa, they go macro red.
7:40
The eyes of the Maasai in Tanzania
7:42
go black with envy. In
7:45
Ukraine, there are two different kinds of envy.
7:48
White envy means you're happy for other people.
7:51
Black envy simply means bite
7:53
me. Welcome
8:03
to our annual brand envy
8:05
episode. This is the
8:07
show where I list some brands I admire from
8:09
a distance. Brands that
8:12
have lasted or succeed in a
8:14
difficult category or brands that are
8:16
especially unique. We'll talk
8:18
about four such brands today. And
8:21
while they give me a case of brand
8:23
envy, I assure you it's a very healthy
8:25
shade of green. Or minty,
8:28
really. During
8:50
the war years in the 1940s,
8:52
there was material shortages and fuel
8:54
rationing. As a result,
8:56
families had to watch their pennies and
8:58
spent more time at home. It
9:01
was during that difficult time that
9:03
board games became popular. They
9:06
were inexpensive and gave people a
9:08
much needed stay at home diversion.
9:10
Family, friends and neighbors could play.
9:14
A few years before the war,
9:16
a wealthy Canadian couple were on
9:18
vacation in Tibet. While
9:20
there, they discovered an ancient dice
9:22
game. They loved it
9:25
because it was both simple and complex.
9:27
And above all, it was a lot of fun.
9:33
This wealthy couple brought the game
9:35
back to Canada, updated the rules,
9:37
created a scorecard and they would
9:39
play it on their yacht. Whenever
9:43
they had friends on board, they would break out
9:45
the dice game and have fun. Because
9:48
they would play it on their yacht, they
9:50
called it the Yacht Game. Their
9:53
friends enjoyed the game so much, they all
9:55
wanted copies of their own. So
9:57
in 1956, the The
10:00
couple approached Edwin Lowe. Back
10:03
in 1929, Lowe was a
10:05
traveling salesman and noticed that
10:08
people in Georgia were playing
10:10
a rudimentary game called Beano.
10:13
Sensing it had great potential, Lowe returned
10:15
to his New York home, established
10:17
the E.S. Lowe
10:19
Company, changed the name of
10:21
the game to Bingo, and made
10:23
a fortune. The Canadian
10:26
couple approached Lowe and asked him to produce
10:28
a few samples of their yacht games so
10:30
they could give them to friends. Lowe
10:33
liked the game so much, he
10:35
offered to buy the rights. The
10:38
Canadian couple agreed to sell the game
10:40
in exchange for the first 1,000 games
10:42
Lowe produced so they
10:44
could continue to give the game
10:46
as gifts. Lowe
10:48
happily agreed and they shook
10:51
hands. The
10:55
first thing Lowe did was change the name
10:57
of the yacht game to Yahtzee. When
11:00
it came to marketing, he decided to
11:03
promote the educational aspects of the game
11:05
and position Yahtzee as fun for
11:07
the whole family. But
11:10
sales were lackluster. That
11:12
prompted Lowe to try another strategy. To
11:16
demonstrate the fun of Yahtzee, he
11:18
began organizing Yahtzee parties across North
11:20
America where people could learn to
11:22
play the game. It
11:24
was a grassroots effort, but it paid
11:27
off. As word
11:29
of mouth spread, demand for Yahtzee soared
11:31
and millions of games were sold from
11:33
that time forward. Any time, any
11:35
place you'll love Yahtzee, your game was
11:38
strategy and chance add up to
11:40
fun and excitement. Yahtzee!
11:42
Yahtzee! Yahtzee! Triple Yahtzee
11:45
challenge Yahtzee and word Yahtzee for Milton
11:47
Bradley. Edwin Lowe sold his successful company
11:49
to Milton Bradley in 1973. Ten
11:53
years later, Milton Bradley became a
11:56
subsidiary of Hasbro. changes,
12:00
Yahtzee remained an evergreen,
12:03
very profitable game. It
12:05
was so popular, dozens of variations were
12:08
produced, including travel Yahtzee sets, triple Yahtzee
12:10
and word Yahtzee. Take a gamble on
12:12
Yahtzee, there's a million ways to play.
12:15
Pay it in, as is the nighter
12:17
in the day. Play it with a
12:19
flag. Play it with a daze.
12:21
Let's get played with a hawker face. Yahtzee
12:24
got its first celebrity endorsement when Tony
12:26
Randall and Jack Klugman, from the sitcom
12:28
The Odd Couple, appeared on the cover
12:30
of the 1974 challenge Yahtzee game. Even
12:36
into the 21st century, where
12:38
computer technology reigns, Yahtzee
12:40
easily transformed into digital
12:42
and online versions. Yahtzee
12:46
with Buddies became one of the first
12:48
games available for the Apple Watch. Today,
12:51
Yahtzee is still one of
12:53
the most successful games of
12:55
all time, with over 50
12:57
million sets sold. Ervin
13:09
Robbins was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
13:11
in 1917. When
13:14
he was a boy, his family moved to
13:17
Tacoma, Washington. His father
13:19
owned a dairy and ice cream store
13:21
there, and young Erv grew up scooping
13:23
ice cream cones in the family business.
13:27
Robins were always smiling when they bought
13:29
ice cream cones, and Erv would often
13:31
finish the day's work happy. It
13:34
was a feeling he would never forget. Erv
13:38
Robbins would eventually go to university
13:40
in Seattle, then served as
13:42
a lieutenant in the Navy during World
13:44
War II, where he would occasionally whip
13:46
up ice cream for his fellow troops.
13:50
When he returned to civilian life in 1945, he
13:52
cashed in a $6,000 life insurance policy and
13:57
opened the Snowbird ice cream store.
13:59
store in Glendale, California.
14:03
He wanted the shop to have an old-time ice
14:05
cream feel with 21 different flavors,
14:08
and he wanted to recreate the
14:10
happiness he felt in his father's
14:12
store many years before. One
14:15
year later, Erv convinced his
14:17
brother-in-law, Bert Baskins, to open
14:19
up his own ice cream
14:21
shop in nearby Pasadena, California.
14:25
By 1949, they had 40 stores between them. Then
14:32
in 1953, Erv and Bert decided to
14:35
merge their ice cream companies to form
14:38
Baskin-Robbins. A
14:41
local advertising company called Carson-Robbins created
14:43
a visual identity for the new
14:45
company and incorporated the number 31
14:48
into their logo as
14:50
the combined Baskin-Robbins now had 31
14:53
different flavors. It was
14:55
one of the most distinctive aspects of the
14:57
company, one flavor for
14:59
every day of the month. Along
15:03
with that branding, the company also
15:05
created its iconic pink spoons. As
15:08
the number of stores grew, Erv and
15:11
Bert realized that in order to maintain
15:13
their high standards store to store, each
15:15
location would require a manager who had
15:18
a stake in the company. With
15:20
that, the partners pioneered the concept
15:22
of franchising in the ice cream
15:25
business. Baskin-Robbins
15:27
also purchased their first dairy, giving
15:29
them complete control over the production
15:32
of their ice cream and the
15:34
development of new ingredients and flavors.
15:41
When the Beatles landed in New York in 1964,
15:44
a reporter called Erv-Robbins to
15:46
ask him what flavor Baskin-Robbins was
15:49
going to introduce to commemorate the
15:51
band's arrival. Erv
15:53
had not even thought about it until that
15:55
moment, but quickly replied, um, Beetle
15:58
nut, of course. The
16:01
flavor was created, manufactured, and
16:03
delivered within five days. Baskin
16:06
Robbins has had a lot of fun with their flavors
16:08
over the years. There was a
16:11
double 031 secret bonded flavor
16:13
to celebrate the popularity of
16:15
James Bond movies in 1965.
16:19
There was a lunar cheesecake flavor when man
16:21
landed on the moon in 1969. To
16:25
mark the end of the cold war,
16:27
the company created a flavor called Gorba
16:29
Chocolate. And Shrek
16:31
Swirl joined the list when the movie
16:34
hit screens in 2002. Baskin
16:40
Robbins opened its first Canadian store in
16:42
1971. Today,
16:45
it has 96 locations
16:47
spread across Ontario, Quebec,
16:49
British Columbia, and Alberta.
16:52
Internationally, Baskin Robbins now
16:54
has 7,500 shops
16:56
in 50 countries, and it
16:58
is synonymous with ice cream.
17:02
Irv Robbins once said he never met a
17:04
flavor he didn't like. It
17:06
must be true, as Baskin Robbins has
17:08
over 1,200 flavors in
17:10
its flavor library. By
17:13
the way, back in 1978, scooping
17:16
ice cream at Baskin Robbins was
17:18
the first summer job of a
17:21
young 16-year-old kid in Honolulu. When
17:23
he looked back on that job years
17:26
later, he said it taught him responsibility,
17:28
hard work, and how to balance a
17:30
job with family, friends, and school. Perhaps
17:33
you've heard of him. His name is
17:36
Barack Obama. While
17:41
Barack Obama is famous, this
17:44
next brand has appeared in over 2,000 movies
17:47
and television shows. Ryan
17:53
Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of
17:55
just about everything going up during inflation, we thought
17:58
we'd bring our prices down. So to help us,
18:00
we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently
18:02
a thing. Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium Wireless! Having to
18:04
get 30, 30, better get 30, better get 20,
18:06
20, 20, better get 20, 20, better
18:09
get 15, 15, 15, 15, just
18:12
15 bucks a month? Sold! Give
18:14
it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45
18:16
up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote
18:18
for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40
18:21
gigabytes per month. Slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com. Many
18:23
of us have those stubborn pounds that seem
18:25
impossible to lose. No matter how good we
18:28
eat or how hard we work out. My
18:30
solution is Plushcare. Plushcare is
18:33
a leading telehealth provider with doctors who are
18:35
there for you day and night to partner
18:37
with you in your weight loss journey. They
18:39
can prescribe FDA approved weight loss
18:41
medications like Wagovi and Zeppound for
18:43
those who qualify. Plus, they accept
18:45
most insurance plans. To
18:48
get started, visit plushcare.com/weight
18:50
loss. That's plushcare.com/weight loss.
18:53
Want to teach your kids financial literacy
18:55
but not sure where to start? Greenlight
18:58
can help. With Greenlight, parents can keep
19:00
an eye on kids' spending and saving. While
19:03
kids and teens use a card of their own to
19:05
build money confidence. As a
19:07
parent, you can send instant money transfers, set
19:09
up chores, automate allowance, and more.
19:12
It's a convenient way to run your
19:14
household, customized to your family's needs, and
19:16
the easy way to raise financially smart
19:18
kids. Get started with
19:20
Greenlight today and get your
19:22
first month free at greenlight.com/ACAST.
19:25
This episode is brought to you by
19:27
Progressive. Most of you
19:29
aren't just listening right now. You're driving,
19:32
cleaning, and even exercising. But
19:34
what if you could be saving money by switching to
19:36
Progressive? Drivers who save by switching
19:38
save nearly $750 on
19:40
average, and auto customers qualify for
19:42
an average of seven discounts. Multitask
19:45
right now. Quote today at
19:48
progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance
19:50
Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of
19:52
$744 by new customers surveyed who saved with
19:54
Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential
19:57
savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and
19:59
situations. Before
20:03
we get back to our show, I want
20:05
to give you a little taste of a,
20:07
but wait, there's more bonus episode that's available
20:09
to you now. Recently,
20:11
I interviewed Max Kerman, lead
20:14
singer for Arkells, about the
20:16
interesting ways the band markets
20:18
its music. What
20:20
are some of the most fun
20:22
marketing things that Arkells have done?
20:25
This year, we put in a
20:27
very quiet album called Laundry Pile.
20:29
It's very different than anything else we've ever done. We're
20:32
thinking about, what's the best release event
20:34
we could do? The album is artful
20:36
and it feels intimate and it feels
20:38
small and it's called Laundry Pile. We
20:41
don't want to do it at a rock and roll club. What
20:44
if we took over a laundromat in
20:46
the neighborhood and we made it feel
20:48
like it was an art gallery? It
20:50
was this dreamy laundromat that people
20:52
could enter. What if
20:54
instead of doing one show for an hour,
20:56
we invite in groups of 15 or 20
20:59
at a time
21:01
to come in to find the band waiting
21:03
there for them, like it's an art gallery,
21:05
and we perform one song for them and
21:07
then the next group comes in. Each group
21:10
gets a slightly different experience. What if
21:12
we have a laundry bin with 10
21:15
different t-shirts in it, it looks like
21:17
dirty laundry, and each t-shirt has a
21:19
different song title from the new
21:21
record? What if we get
21:23
a volunteer to choose a t-shirt and that's the
21:25
song that group gets to hear? To
21:27
hear more of that bonus episode,
21:30
just search under the influence on
21:32
Apple Podcasts and enjoy a seven-day
21:34
free trial. By subscribing,
21:37
you'll get more bonus episodes,
21:39
early access to all of
21:41
our shows, and ad-free episodes
21:43
and archives. Plus, you
21:45
support this podcast and help us
21:47
to keep producing episodes. We
21:49
really appreciate it. Thank
21:53
you. named
22:00
George Blaisdell watched another man struggle
22:02
to light a cigarette with a
22:05
European lighter. So
22:07
Blaisdell decided to construct a better
22:09
one. He fabricated a
22:12
small metal case and attached a
22:14
lid with a hinge. Then
22:16
he incorporated a tiny chimney feature
22:19
to make the flame windproof. The
22:22
result was an attractive lighter that could
22:24
be operated with just one hand.
22:28
Next, the lighter needed a name.
22:31
Blaisdell had always liked the sound of the
22:33
word zipper, so
22:35
he called his lighter Zippo. Blaisdell
22:41
founded the Zippo company and the
22:43
first lighter was manufactured in 1933.
22:47
A patent was granted three years later.
22:50
Zippo Lighter sold for a buck 95 and
22:53
the warranty said it works or
22:55
we fix it for free. That
22:57
warranty is still honored 92 years later.
23:02
World War II had a huge
23:04
impact on Zippo as the company
23:06
ceased production for the consumer market
23:08
and dedicated all production for the
23:10
military. Millions of
23:13
soldiers carried Zippo Lighters into battle
23:15
and brought them back home when they
23:17
returned. During
23:22
the 1960s concert goers would hold
23:24
up their lighters when they wanted
23:26
an encore. It became
23:28
known as the Zippo Moment. Though
23:31
the Zippo lighter is small, it
23:33
is iconic. The
23:36
shape is trademarked as is
23:38
the unique sound the lighter makes when it's
23:40
flipped open. An early
23:42
advertising campaign for Zippo Lighters demonstrated
23:44
how it worked even in the
23:47
wind. The ad showed
23:49
a young lady lighting a cigarette while
23:51
leaning into a wind so strong it
23:53
molded her dress to her body.
23:57
Later ads made a strong case for choosing
23:59
Zippo. over a book of matches
24:01
with the line matchless
24:03
performance. The
24:06
Marlboro man, one of the most famous
24:08
advertising images of the 20th century, also
24:11
used a Zippo. But
24:13
maybe the best advertising
24:15
came courtesy of Hollywood.
24:20
Hollywood has cast Zippo in over
24:23
2,000 movies and TV shows and
24:25
Zippo has never paid a dime for the
24:28
product placements. From I
24:30
Love Lucy to The Godfather
24:32
to Pulp Fiction to Ocean's
24:34
Eleven, the appearance of Zippo
24:36
tells the audience the character
24:38
is cool, self-reliant, and a
24:40
hero. As a matter
24:42
of fact, you rarely ever see a villain
24:44
using a Zippo. The
24:47
headline for one early Zippo ad
24:49
said, 278 movies, zero facelifts.
24:54
Which is not only funny, it
24:56
underscored a Zippo fact that in
24:59
its over 90 years of existence,
25:01
only two of the lighter's original
25:03
parts have been modified. Yet
25:06
over 400,000 varieties
25:08
of Zippos have been produced. There's
25:12
even a YouTube video that teaches you how
25:14
to ignite a Zippo by snapping your fingers,
25:17
just like you see so often
25:19
in the movies. So
25:24
how does Zippo survive now that millions
25:26
have given up smoking? Actually,
25:28
the company has had record sales in
25:31
the last few years. First,
25:33
Zippo has diversified its product
25:36
range to include Zippo branded
25:38
sunglasses, apparel, camping equipment, and
25:41
even perfume. And no, it
25:43
doesn't smell like butane. Second,
25:45
over 60% of its revenues
25:47
now come from overseas markets
25:50
like China and India. Third,
25:53
more and more people are sparking up their
25:55
cannabis. Plus, Zippo sponsors
25:57
between 100 and 100. 150
26:01
music concerts every year. It
26:03
produces versions with band imagery, TV
26:05
show imagery, and over 30,000 other
26:09
collectible designs. Zippo's
26:14
main competition isn't from other lighters, by
26:16
the way, it's from
26:18
counterfeiters. So the company
26:20
maintains a full-time staff to search
26:22
the internet for knockoffs. It
26:25
vigilantly guards its trademark. Since
26:29
1933, Zippo has produced over
26:31
570 million lighters. It's
26:35
been on screen for over 75 years. It's
26:38
still owned by a member of the
26:40
original Blaisdell family. And
26:42
you can identify a Zippo with
26:45
your eyes closed. That
26:48
makes it a classic brand.
27:01
Speaking of Hollywood, there is a brand
27:04
that I've admired for quite a few
27:06
years now. It's called Shonda
27:09
Land. Shonda
27:11
Rhimes was born in 1970 in a suburb
27:13
of Chicago. The
27:16
youngest of six children, she exhibited
27:18
an early talent for storytelling. And
27:21
in high school, she worked as
27:23
a hospital volunteer, which ignited an
27:25
interest in the busy world of
27:27
hospitals, hint, hint. She
27:30
majored in English and film studies at
27:32
Dartmouth College, where she directed and performed
27:34
in student productions. And after
27:37
Rhimes got her degree, she moved to
27:39
San Francisco and worked as
27:41
a writer at advertising agency
27:43
McCann Erickson. But
27:45
her big dream was to write
27:48
for the television shows that advertising
27:50
interrupted. So
27:54
Shonda Rhimes moved to Los Angeles
27:56
to study screenwriting at the University
27:58
of Southern California. There,
28:01
she earned a Master of Fine Arts
28:03
degree. She landed
28:05
a succession of jobs in Hollywood.
28:07
She interned. She worked for Denzel
28:10
Washington's production company. She worked
28:12
as a researcher and she shot a short
28:14
film. Rhimes then
28:16
got a big break in 1999. She
28:19
landed an assignment to co-write
28:21
the movie, introducing Dorothy Dandridge,
28:23
starring Halle Berry. Then
28:26
Rhimes wrote Crossroads, the film debut
28:29
for Britney Spears. That
28:32
led to a job in
28:34
2004, writing the screenplay for
28:36
The Princess Diaries 2 Royal
28:38
Engagement, starring Julie Andrews.
28:42
Then Shonda turned her focus to
28:44
television. It would lead
28:46
to her greatest breakthrough. She
28:55
created Grey's Anatomy. The
28:58
ABC prime-time medical drama featured
29:00
a diverse cast and strong
29:02
female characters, which would become
29:05
a hallmark of Shonda Rhimes shows. It
29:08
launched in 2005 and was an immediate hit. At
29:13
its peak, Grey's Anatomy attracted nearly 20
29:15
million viewers per episode. It
29:18
is still on the air and
29:21
is the longest-running medical drama in
29:23
history. That
29:25
same year, to have more creative
29:27
control and freedom, she
29:29
established her own production company
29:31
called Shonda Land.
29:37
In 2007, Shonda Rhimes created a
29:40
Grey's Anatomy spin-off called Private Practice,
29:42
which ran for six years. In
29:46
2012, she created the TV series
29:48
Scandal. Kerry Washington starred as
29:50
a political fixer who happened to be
29:52
having an affair with the President of
29:55
the United States. Scandal
29:57
was also the first network TV drama in
29:59
the United States. in 40 years to
30:01
feature an African-American actress in the
30:03
lead role. Her
30:05
next hit was, How to Get
30:07
Away with Murder, starring Biola Davis. Even
30:11
in an era with declining
30:14
network TV viewership, her shows
30:16
attracted huge audiences, making
30:18
Shonda one of the most powerful
30:20
people in television. In
30:23
2017, she left ABC and signed
30:25
a $100 million deal with
30:28
Netflix, telling the Netflix CEO,
30:30
quote, I want to make
30:32
shows, I don't want anybody to bother me
30:34
while I'm doing it. So
30:37
there. In
30:43
2020, she produced Bridgerton,
30:46
a historical romance that flipped
30:48
perceptions of the Regency era
30:50
on its head by portraying
30:52
people of color as high-class
30:54
socialites. The show was watched by
30:56
63 million households in the
30:58
first 28 days. From
31:01
there, she developed a spinoff
31:03
called Queen Charlotte. Then
31:08
in 2022, Shonda created Inventing Anna, a
31:13
mini-series about a real-life con artist who
31:15
pretended to be a German heiress. And
31:19
while overseeing close to 70 hours of
31:22
television per season, she still
31:24
managed to write a New York Times
31:26
bestseller. She had committed
31:28
to saying yes to everything that scared
31:30
her for one full year and
31:33
wrote a book about it titled Year
31:35
of Yes. She
31:37
also launched the Women's Directing
31:40
Mentorship to help other aspiring
31:42
writers and producers. For
31:44
all that and more, Shonda
31:47
Land is a brand I
31:49
greatly admire. It
32:00
takes a lot of energy, chutzpah,
32:02
and courage to create a brand
32:04
that matters and lasts.
32:08
Over 100 million people worldwide play
32:10
Yahtzee on a regular basis. Baskin-Robbins
32:14
is still thriving after all these
32:16
years, probably because of
32:19
Irv Robbins' insightful philosophy. He
32:21
said, we sell fun, not
32:24
ice cream. In
32:26
over 90 years, no one has spent a
32:28
cent on a mechanical repair of a Zippo
32:30
lighter. The 100%
32:32
warranty still applies, and
32:35
Zippo still lights up Hollywood screens.
32:38
Not long ago, Shonda Rhimes was named
32:40
one of Time magazine's 100 People
32:43
Who Helped Shape the World. In
32:46
an industry mostly ruled by white
32:48
males, she is an
32:50
African-American woman who calls the shots.
32:53
Industry is a force of nature.
32:57
Every successful brand is the result of
33:00
the collective intent of the people behind
33:02
it. Edwin Lowe,
33:04
Irv Baskin, Burt Robbins, George
33:06
Blaisdell, and Shonda Rhimes drove
33:08
their companies to the top.
33:12
That's why Yahtzee, Baskin-Robbins, Zippo,
33:14
and Shondaland are brands that
33:16
are envied the world over
33:19
when you're under the influence. I'm
33:23
Terry O'Reilly. This
33:30
episode was recorded in the
33:32
Terrestrial Airstream Mobile Recording
33:34
Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly.
33:36
Sound Engineer, Jeff Devine.
33:39
Research, Patrick James Aslan.
33:41
Under the Influence theme by
33:43
Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre.
33:45
Tunes provided by APM Music.
33:47
Follow me on social at
33:49
Terry O'Influence. This podcast
33:52
is powered by ACAST. And
33:54
if you'd like to read next
33:56
week's fun fact, just go to
33:59
apostrophepodcasts.ca and follow the
34:01
prompts. See you next week. That
34:30
shop was a very different experience.
34:32
There was no holding company lording
34:35
over the ad agency, no long-distance
34:37
bureaucracy. That independent ad agency
34:39
offered a nimbleness conglomerates could
34:41
never match. As a result,
34:44
the work ruled the award shows. If
34:46
you work at an indie shop, you know what
34:48
I mean. And if you
34:50
want to know more about what's going
34:53
on in the world of independent agencies,
34:55
go to indieagency.news. That's
34:57
the member-led place where independent
34:59
advertising agencies gather, meet and
35:01
grow. And there's an
35:03
Indie Agency News show every day at
35:06
9am Pacific noon Eastern. Indieagency.News
35:09
tells you what's happening in the
35:11
indie agency world. Campaigns
35:13
and agencies are highlighted. Interviews
35:16
with owners, leaders and creative
35:18
people show indie thinking. One
35:21
more thing. If you're a marketer,
35:23
Indieagency.News is the place to find
35:25
your next agency. Become
35:28
a member. Go to
35:30
Indieagency.News and long live
35:32
Indies. Time
35:51
to say hello to something fresh
35:53
and guilt-free. Hello, fresh. Jazz up
35:55
dinner with pecan-crusted chicken or garlic
35:57
butter shrimp candy. Now that's music.
36:00
to my mouth. Hello, fresh.
36:02
Let's get this dinner party started.
36:05
Discover all the delicious possibilities at
36:07
hellofresh.com. Need
36:10
new glasses or want a fresh
36:12
new style? Warby Parker has you
36:14
covered. Glasses start at just $95,
36:16
including anti-reflective, scratch-resistant prescription lenses that
36:19
block 100% of UV rays. Every
36:23
frame's designed in-house, with a huge selection of
36:25
styles for every face shape. Even with Warby
36:27
Parker's free home try-on program, you can order
36:29
five pairs to try at home for free.
36:32
Shipping is free both ways, too.
36:34
Go to warbyparker.com/covered to try five
36:36
pairs of frames at home
36:39
for free. warbyparker.com/covered. Hello,
36:41
this is Danny Pellegrino, host of the
36:43
Everything Iconic podcast, and I'm here to
36:45
tell you all about Splash Refresher, because
36:48
hydration is mandatory, but boring is not.
36:50
Now, I love my water, but if
36:52
I don't spice it up, I'm not
36:54
going to finish what I took out
36:56
of the fridge. That's why I love
36:58
my Splash Refresher, which is flavorful, delicious,
37:00
bright, hydrating, and zero calories. The wild
37:02
berry flavor is my fave. No,
37:05
wait. Is the pineapple mango
37:07
flavor my fave? You know what?
37:09
All five craveable Splash Refresher flavors
37:11
are my fave, because they're so
37:13
delicious. So get hydrated and
37:15
enjoy it with Splash Refresher.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More