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is an apostrophe podcast production.

4:03

I received a letter the other

4:05

day addressed to Mr. Terry O'Reilly.

4:08

There was nothing unusual about it except

4:10

I suddenly wondered where that word came

4:12

from, the word Mr. which

4:15

was abbreviated to MR. It's

4:19

one of those words we see and hear a

4:21

lot and their origins are interesting. They're

4:24

called honorifics. These

4:27

are titles that refer to a person in

4:29

a formal or respectful manner. The

4:32

word Mr. comes from old 15th

4:34

century English usage to distinguish the

4:37

head of a household. For

4:40

example, the patriarch of a family

4:42

would be named Mr. Johnson. His

4:45

sons would be referred to as Mr.

4:47

Jed Johnson and Mr. George Johnson. Sometimes

4:51

the word Mr. was combined with other

4:53

high titles like Mr. Prime Minister or

4:55

Mr. Speaker but

4:58

the feminine version of that

5:00

was rarely Mrs. but rather

5:02

Madam Prime Minister or Madam

5:04

Speaker which brings us

5:07

to the honorific title of Mrs.

5:12

The title of Mrs. spelled

5:15

M-R-S period was a contraction

5:17

of the word mistress. It

5:20

was used historically for both married

5:22

and unmarried women. Even

5:25

in the 1600s a distinction was

5:27

made using Mrs. for married women

5:29

and Miss for single women. Note

5:33

the abbreviated word M-R-S period is

5:35

rarely spelled out in full and

5:38

there seems to be

5:40

no standard spelling either

5:42

M-I-S-S-U-S or M-I-S-S-I-S which

5:45

leads to the question why

5:47

is there an R in M-R-S period

5:50

if it comes from the word Mrs.

5:53

Now that's because both Mrs. and Miss

5:56

are rooted in the word mistress which

5:58

back in the day was a title

6:00

given to women who had authority, control,

6:02

or power. Think headmistress

6:04

of a school. Then

6:07

sometime in the 15th century, the

6:09

word mistress began to be used

6:12

in a romantic context to refer

6:14

to a man's beloved or sweetheart.

6:17

Then in the 17th century,

6:19

the word mistress became problematic.

6:22

It then referred to a woman

6:24

who had a, quote, continuing extramarital

6:26

sexual relationship with a man who

6:29

provides her with financial support. Interestingly

6:32

and not surprisingly, there is

6:35

no male counterpart word for

6:37

mistress. A man having an

6:39

affair is simply called a man.

6:45

Now we come to the honorific

6:47

title of Ms. spelled M S

6:49

period. While we

6:51

think of it as a term born of

6:53

the 1970s women's lib movement, it

6:55

can be traced back to England in

6:58

the 17th and 18th centuries. Like

7:00

Mrs. and Miss, it too is

7:03

a derivation of the word mistress.

7:06

The earliest known modern revival of the

7:08

term Miss was in 1901 when a

7:12

publication in Massachusetts made the case

7:14

that a title for a woman

7:16

shouldn't rely on that woman's domestic

7:18

situation. It said referring

7:20

to a single woman as Mrs. was

7:23

incorrect and addressing an older

7:25

married woman as Miss seemed awkward.

7:28

So it suggested the honorific title

7:30

of Ms. Decades

7:33

later in 1969, Gloria Steinem was

7:35

listening to a radio interview with

7:37

a feminist who suggested the title

7:40

Ms. should be used by women.

7:43

Steinem, who was preparing to launch

7:45

a feminist magazine, adopted the word

7:48

as the publication's title. From

7:50

that point on, Ms. was widely

7:53

used. Even in

7:55

an era of gender neutral terms, honorifics

7:57

can still be found to this day.

8:00

to signal gender, marital

8:02

status or professional qualifications.

8:14

There are some time-honored honorifics in the

8:16

world of marketing too. Brand

8:19

names that were created to give products

8:21

a sense of respect and authority. Using

8:24

titles like Mr., Mrs., Dr.

8:26

or Colonel, these products have

8:28

survived the test of time. In most

8:31

of the stories we'll tell today, they are

8:34

the brands you probably think of first in

8:36

their category. Is

8:38

that because those products are the best or

8:42

is it because they have the best

8:44

names? There

9:03

is a long history in the world

9:05

of marketing of naming products with the

9:07

words Mr. or Mrs. or Captain or

9:09

Dr. like Mr.

9:11

Clean or Mrs. Butterworth or

9:14

Captain Morgan or Doc Martens.

9:17

In the branding process, especially

9:20

when naming a product, words

9:22

are chosen very, very carefully.

9:25

The first task is to be distinct and

9:27

memorable. The second is

9:29

to infuse the name with a

9:32

feeling or a sense of authority

9:34

or expertise. Products

9:36

with the word Mr. were meant

9:38

to imply status, authority and respect.

9:42

Chocolate bar Mr. Big was eight

9:44

inches long, twice the size of

9:46

other bars. The slogan,

9:48

when you're this big, they call you

9:50

Mr. Product

9:52

names that contain the word Mrs. were

9:54

often used to conjure up an image

9:57

of homemade goodness and kitchen wisdom. think

10:00

Mrs. Butterworth. Whereas

10:03

brand names with the word

10:05

doctor on the label suggest

10:07

qualified expertise, someone skilled in

10:09

the healing arts. And

10:12

most of those names were dreamed

10:14

up by inventive marketers. Recognize

10:24

that little ditty? It

10:26

was written back in 1960. Five years earlier, brothers

10:30

Bill and James Conway were working

10:33

for a company called Sweden Freezer

10:35

in South Philadelphia. It

10:37

manufactured several products including ice

10:39

cream machines. At

10:42

that time, ice cream trucks were becoming

10:44

popular and people were coming

10:46

to Sweden Freezer to buy ice cream

10:48

machines. Then they were bolting

10:51

them onto trucks. But that

10:53

became problematic. The

10:55

ice cream machines would bounce around in the

10:58

trucks, become damaged, and there was no way

11:00

to keep the ice cream cool. Seeing

11:03

this problem, the Conway brothers

11:06

spotted an opportunity. So

11:08

they went to their bosses at Sweden

11:10

Freezer and proposed setting up a separate

11:12

division that would build and service ice

11:15

cream trucks. Their bosses

11:17

hated the idea. So the

11:20

brothers quit their day jobs to start

11:22

an ice cream truck business of their

11:24

own in Philadelphia. The

11:29

Conways had the technical knowledge and

11:31

skills to build functioning ice cream

11:33

trucks. At first, they

11:35

began selling unbranded trucks, manufacturing three

11:37

a day. Then they

11:39

had an epiphany. Instead

11:43

of just selling trucks, why not

11:45

figure out a way to get a steady stream

11:47

of revenue from each sale? So

11:50

they decided to go into the ice

11:52

cream truck franchise business. At

11:54

first, they called their business the Dairy Van.

11:58

Thinking it wasn't catchy enough, They

12:00

changed the name to Dairy King, but

12:03

worried at night stir up trouble

12:05

with Dairy Queen. So

12:10

they asked for help from a friend

12:12

in the advertising business. The

12:15

Conway's explained they were selling soft ice

12:17

cream because it served up faster than

12:19

hard ice cream. The

12:21

ad guy came back with softy,

12:24

spelled with two E's. But

12:27

when they put softy on the truck, it

12:29

just didn't seem to have any authority. They

12:32

considered Captain Softy and General

12:34

Softy, but nothing grabbed them.

12:37

Then Bill Conway said, what's

12:39

wrong with just calling it Mr. Mr. Softy? The

12:47

next step was to advertise Mr.

12:49

Softy. So they

12:51

hired the Gray Advertising Agency in

12:53

Philadelphia and commissioned the jingle. The

12:56

resulting radio commercial was written by Les

12:58

Woz, who was one of the top

13:01

jingle composers of the era. While

13:04

you may be familiar with the

13:06

melody, the original Mr. Softy radio

13:08

commercial had lyrics. Here

13:11

comes Mr. Softy, the soft ice cream man.

13:13

The cream is turning a soft ice cream

13:16

you get from Mr. Softy. For researching he

13:18

likes to breathe, look for Mr. Softy. My

13:20

milk sticks and my Sundays and my cones

13:22

are so soft. Look

13:26

for my store on wheels, jiggling

13:28

down the street. A couple of

13:30

years later, the company made a

13:33

loop of the melody and played

13:35

it through loudspeakers from their trucks.

13:38

It was a turning point. The

13:43

jingle became a nostalgic summer tradition,

13:46

tempting families to come running when

13:48

the Mr. Softy truck rolled into

13:50

their neighborhoods. At

13:52

its peak, the company had over

13:54

1,600 ice cream trucks on the

13:56

road. Years

13:58

later, the company sent telegram to

14:01

Les was thanking him for the

14:03

jingle, saying they would still be

14:05

a tiny three truck company if

14:07

it weren't for that incredible sonic

14:09

branding. The company,

14:11

still in the Conway family today,

14:13

became one of the biggest distributors

14:15

of soft ice cream and

14:18

one of the largest franchises of ice

14:20

cream trucks in North America. Today,

14:23

the fleet still rolls across

14:25

streets in Canada and the US,

14:28

and the logo on the trucks hasn't changed

14:30

since 1956. Watch

14:33

for the Mr. Softy truck. It's a soft

14:35

ice cream store on wheels. It's no F-T-O-U-H.

14:39

It's a very softy. While

14:42

some brand names are created by

14:44

enterprising marketers, some were

14:47

inspired by an aquatic military

14:49

vessel. Head

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17:15

The submarine sandwich has an

17:18

interesting history. It

17:20

appears that an Italian immigrant named

17:22

Dominic Conti came to America in

17:24

1895. In

17:26

1924, he started

17:28

a grocery store in Paterson, New

17:31

Jersey, where he started selling traditional

17:33

Italian sandwiches from a recipe he

17:35

brought with him from his home

17:37

country. It was a

17:39

long roll of bread filled with

17:41

cold cuts and various toppings. One

17:44

day, he went to a museum in

17:46

Paterson where he saw a submarine hull

17:48

that had been used in the war.

17:52

He took one look at it and thought, that

17:54

looks like the sandwich I sell. From

17:56

that day forward, he called his

17:58

sandwich the submarine. Soon,

18:01

people came from miles around

18:03

to enjoy Dominic's subs. Now,

18:07

fast forward to 1968. The

18:16

Yorkville area of downtown Toronto

18:18

is filled with high-end boutiques and the most

18:20

expensive condos in the city. But

18:23

back in the late 1960s,

18:25

Yorkville was a popular counter-cultural

18:27

hippie music hangout. Cafes

18:30

like the Mine of Bird and the

18:32

Riverboat were housed in shabby Victorian row

18:34

houses and hosted

18:36

budding singers like Gordon Lightfoot,

18:38

Neil Young, and someone

18:40

named Joni Mitchell. In

18:43

1968, a new business opened

18:45

just a few steps away. Jack

18:48

Levinson, a phys-ed teacher, and an

18:50

accounting clerk named Earl Lindzen were

18:52

looking for a project to make

18:54

some quick extra money. They

18:57

scraped together $1,600 and decided

18:59

to open a sandwich spot, as

19:01

there wasn't much fast food competition

19:04

back then. The menu

19:06

featured long, submarine sandwiches.

19:10

They decided to claim the category by

19:12

calling their new business Mr.

19:14

Submarine. The

19:19

partners only had a six-month lease, and

19:21

they planned to move on when the lease

19:23

expired. But to

19:25

their surprise, Mr. Submarine caught on.

19:29

There was a lot of traffic pouring into

19:31

the ground floor location, and the public could

19:33

watch the staff preparing delicious sandwiches in the

19:36

window next to a sign that said, Giant

19:39

Submarine Sandwiches. Soon,

19:42

long-haired shoeless hippies with the munchies

19:45

began hanging out on the steps

19:47

outside, despite another sign

19:49

that said, Please do not

19:51

sit on stairway. Over

19:54

the next four years, the partners would franchise

19:57

12 more Mr. Submarine

19:59

locations. They offered

20:01

franchisees a money-back guarantee if they

20:03

didn't make a profit after just

20:06

one year. In

20:08

1990, Mr. Submarine officially became Mr.

20:11

Sub and the company had over

20:13

300 locations. The

20:29

take-line was, I love my Sub. The

20:32

70s and 80s saw big growth for Mr.

20:34

Sub, expanding to a reported 500 locations. But

20:39

when the big American subway chain came to

20:41

town in the 90s, Mr.

20:43

Sub faced stiff competition. But

20:46

60 years later, Mr. Sub is still

20:49

going with about 260 locations across Canada.

20:54

And the first franchisee from 1972 is still

20:56

with the company today. One

21:15

of the more serious honorifics is

21:17

the word, Doctor. In

21:19

the marketing world, it's usually reserved for

21:21

a brand named after a founder. Back

21:26

in 1945, Klaus Martens was

21:28

a 25-year-old German army doctor.

21:31

He was recuperating after breaking his

21:33

ankle in a skiing accident. The

21:36

standard-issue boots he was given with their

21:38

hard leather soles were not only uncomfortable,

21:41

they hindered his recovery. He

21:44

wondered why you could enjoy a smooth

21:46

ride in a car with air-filled tires,

21:49

but you couldn't enjoy the same principle

21:51

with boots. So

21:54

he decided to design a boot

21:56

with a softer sole. Dr.

22:01

Martens cut up pieces of an

22:03

automobile tire and slipped them into his

22:05

shoes. While it lessened

22:07

the impact on his ankle, it didn't lessen

22:09

the pain. He

22:11

showed his prototype to a friend who

22:14

was a mechanical engineer, who

22:16

then suggested using two rubber

22:18

insoles, one stitched to

22:20

the leather, the other heat sealed

22:22

to the first, creating a soft

22:24

air pocket. The

22:26

pair filed a patent and went into business.

22:30

Using old military supplies and

22:32

tire rubber, they began producing

22:34

comfortable, durable boots. 80%

22:37

of their sales were to German women over

22:39

40. They

22:42

advertised their boots in magazines, and

22:44

one ad caught the attention of

22:46

a shoe manufacturer in England. That

22:50

company acquired the exclusive rights to

22:52

manufacture the boot, paying a royalty

22:54

fee to Dr. Martens and his

22:57

partner. The

23:01

first thing the English company did was to

23:03

make a few modifications to the footwear. The

23:06

boot was made fatter and rounder. The

23:09

sole was made thicker with a

23:11

grooved, two-toned edge, and a

23:14

contrasting yellow stitching was introduced. The

23:17

boots were christened Doc Martens, the

23:20

target audience, factory workers,

23:22

and miners. He

23:24

would have remained utilitarian work boots

23:26

had it not been for a

23:29

young musician looking for comfortable clothes

23:31

to wear on stage. One

23:37

day in 1967, guitarist Pete Townsend

23:39

walked into a hardware store to

23:41

buy a pair of work overalls

23:43

to wear for an upcoming gig.

23:47

While there, he spotted a pair of

23:49

Doc Martens. He wore

23:51

them that night and found that the

23:53

air-cushioned soles let him literally bounce around

23:55

the stage. On

23:58

top of that, he liked their aggressive austere

24:00

style, which was the opposite of

24:02

the psychedelic look he was tired of.

24:06

Thanks to Townsend, Doc Martens

24:08

caught on as an anti-fashion

24:10

statement. Next, they

24:12

were adopted by the skinheads in

24:14

England who clashed with police, who

24:17

were also wearing Doc Martens. Then

24:20

in 1975, Elton John wore a 54-inch pair of Doc Martens

24:22

in the

24:26

movie version of the Who's rock opera,

24:29

Tommy. Being

24:31

associated with the Who, the clash

24:33

in the sex pistols, gave Doc

24:35

Martens a sartorial air of rebellion.

24:39

By the end of the 70s,

24:41

Doc Martens were an aggressive symbol

24:43

of self-expression. Since

24:45

then, Doc Martens have been

24:47

worn by everyone from kids and

24:49

adults to brides and celebrities on

24:52

the red carpet. And

24:54

in 2023, Doc Martens hit 1.25 billion

24:58

in revenue, a milestone

25:00

in the company's 62-year history. Dr.

25:14

William Matthias Scholl was

25:17

born in 1882 in

25:19

Indiana. His grandfather was

25:21

a shoemaker, and young William would often

25:23

borrow his tools to repair the shoes

25:25

of his 12 siblings. He

25:29

left the family farm at the age of

25:31

16 to take a job with a shoemaker

25:33

in Chicago. Working

25:35

there, he realized that people

25:37

struggled with constant foot pain.

25:40

He became fascinated with foot ailments and

25:42

how to treat them. He

25:45

took night classes and studied medicine. While

25:48

still at school, Scholl invented

25:50

and patented his first arch

25:53

support. To

25:55

market and sell his invention, he founded

25:57

the Dr. Scholl's Company in 1906. 6.

26:01

His motto? When your feet

26:03

hurt, you hurt all over. Dr.

26:09

Scholl was an incredible marketer. On

26:12

sales calls to she-stores, he would pull

26:14

out a skeleton of a human foot

26:17

and plunk it on the counter. That

26:20

got everybody's attention. But

26:22

then Dr. Scholl would use the foot

26:24

to explain its complicated design, with 26

26:27

bones, 33

26:29

joints, and 100 different muscles and

26:31

tendons. And how those tiny

26:33

bones take so much abuse over the course

26:35

of a day and a

26:38

lifetime. Then he

26:40

would demonstrate how his various inventions

26:42

lessened foot pain. He

26:44

also took out advertisements in trade

26:47

journals. By 1909, he

26:49

set up a correspondence course to

26:52

train teams of salespeople, whom he

26:54

called foot soldiers, to teach them

26:56

the science behind his innovations. He

26:59

purchased a large factory and began

27:01

manufacturing a variety of foot products.

27:04

He had a profitable consulting

27:06

service. Dr.

27:08

Scholl organized huge sales

27:11

conventions, created motivational films,

27:14

and even composed morale-boosting songs

27:16

for his salespeople to sing.

27:22

Shoe retailers proudly promoted the fact they

27:24

carried a complete line of Dr. Scholl's

27:26

products and alerted customers

27:28

when Scholl trained experts would

27:30

be on hand for personal

27:32

consultations. Scholl staged

27:35

a nationwide Foot Comfort Week.

27:38

He staged contests looking for the prettiest

27:40

feet. He

27:42

created his now famous yellow

27:45

branding, complete with eye-catching store

27:47

displays. In

27:49

his lifetime, Dr. Scholl would invent more

27:51

than 1,000 patented ointments,

27:53

sprays, cushions, pads,

27:56

shields, and springs for tender

27:58

tootsies. And

28:00

from that, he created an empire

28:02

in North America and Europe that

28:05

included over 400 stores

28:07

and 6,000 employees. He

28:11

also started a podiatry college and

28:13

wrote a textbook. All

28:15

this time he never married, lived

28:18

in a single rented room and

28:20

used a common bathroom down the

28:22

hall, consumed only by

28:24

his passionate study of feet

28:26

and toes. And

28:28

one more interesting thing, some

28:31

believe he was never a

28:33

certified doctor. In

28:40

an investigative piece in the

28:42

Chicago Reader in 1994, a

28:45

journalist wrote that the American

28:47

Medical Association or AMA found

28:50

Dr. Scholl's credentials to be,

28:52

quote, entirely irregular. It

28:55

said records of his medical license were hard

28:57

to find and that at

28:59

best Scholl spent a short time at

29:01

some low grade medical schools, including

29:04

one that was caught in a scandal

29:06

for granting phony medical degrees in return

29:09

for cash. According

29:11

to the article, the National Association

29:13

of Caropadists banned him from advertising

29:16

in their publication in 1923. The

29:21

AMA said they wrote to Scholl

29:23

twice asking for clarification, but

29:25

he never responded. There

29:30

is no doubt Dr. Scholl was

29:32

a marketing pioneer and a dynamo,

29:35

but surprisingly, very little is written about

29:37

him in the annals of marketing. It

29:40

could be professional skepticism. It could be

29:43

he made too much money. Or

29:45

it could be because foot doctors

29:47

back then were often seen as

29:50

the lowest form of medical practitioners.

29:53

Through it all, William Scholl seemed to

29:55

shrug it all off. He

29:58

spent his entire life trying to make it. make foot

30:00

pain a thing of the past. The

30:03

graduates of the college he founded constitute

30:05

one third of the foot doctors in

30:07

the United States. And

30:10

his Dr. Scholl brand has a bigger

30:12

global footprint today than

30:14

at any other point in the

30:16

company's history. When

30:28

Shakespeare asked what's in a name,

30:31

he said a rose by any other name

30:33

would smell just as sweet. In

30:35

other words, he suggested the naming

30:37

of things was irrelevant. But

30:40

that's not the case in marketing. When

30:44

companies acquire other companies, they are

30:46

buying their brand names. When

30:48

shoppers reach for a product, they usually

30:51

reach for a familiar brand. Strawberry

30:54

jam is just jam unless it's

30:56

Smucker's. Sugared water

30:58

is just water until it's Pepsi.

31:02

Brand names have value. And

31:04

because the task of a brand name is to

31:07

stand out in the busy marketplace, bestowing

31:09

a product with an honorific title

31:11

is a tried and true strategy.

31:15

So a low-interest product like foot

31:17

powder becomes important when it's Dr.

31:19

Scholl's foot powder. A

31:22

simple sandwich shop called Mr. Submarine

31:24

torpedoed its competitors back in the

31:27

day. And an

31:29

ice cream truck called Mr. Softy makes

31:32

all other ice cream trucks sound

31:34

like vanilla imitators. Because

31:37

honorifics are everyday brand names,

31:40

but it could be argued that

31:42

they tap a deep-seated instinct of

31:44

respect or reverence. We're

31:47

taught from a young age to respect

31:49

Mr. Johnson, to pay attention

31:51

to your teacher, Mrs. Smith, and

31:53

to heed the advice of a doctor, even

31:56

if Dr. is in air quotes.

32:00

When you're under the influence. I'm

32:03

Terry O'Reilly. This

32:10

episode was recorded in the

32:13

Terrestream Airstream Mobile Recording Studio.

32:15

Producer Debbie O'Reilly. Sound engineer

32:18

Jeff Devine. Research Patrick James

32:20

Asselin. Under the influence

32:22

theme by Ari Posner and Ian

32:24

Lefever. Tunes provided by APM Music.

32:27

Follow me on social

32:29

at TerryOinfluence. This podcast

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is powered by Acast. And

32:34

if you'd like to read

32:37

next week's fun fact, just

32:39

go to apostrophepodcasts.ca and follow

32:41

the prompts. See you next week.

32:44

Hi, this is Daniel Luszczyk from Zarny,

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Ontario. Fun facts. Pope John Paul II

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once ordered 100 pairs of Doc Martens

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Mergers and business owners, you've been pining

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