Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Randall Park as a parodied version of North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-Un, the film features a slapstick plotline where a couple of bumbling journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the reclusive dictator.

But when the teaser for the flick hit the internet, the real life hostile foreign power was not amused.

North Korea spent the ensuing months issuing threats of violence and terrorist attacks.

And then, just a month before the film's scheduled release, the hermit kingdom successfully hacked Sony's computer servers, publishing damaging information for anyone to access on the internet.

So in this episode of Lead Balloon, we speak with Michael Lynton, who was the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment at the time, and ultimately gave the film the green light for production.

We discuss the public relations fallout from the hack, how he set about rebuilding the company's reputation, and WHY he even chose to launch that project--a mistake he still feels is the biggest he's made in a long entertainment industry career.

Co-authored with Joshua Steiner, Michael's new book "From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn't Own You" is available now, wherever you get books.

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But in 2002, the club itself became the story, as its men-only membership policy came under the microscope in an unexpected and sensational showdown between women's rights activists and the club's defiant adherence to "tradition."

The tale of how the conflict came to a head is an unlikely Public Relations parable in its own right, driven by two iconoclasts of their era: Augusta National chair Hootie Johnson and Dr. Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

And, as a signature sponsor of the Masters Tournament, Coca-Cola had to thread the PR needle, trying to land on the right side of history without alienating the powerful Augusta National Golf Club, the pro golf establishment and all of their supporters.

In this remastered episode, retired Coca-Cola Vice President of Communications Ben Deutsch shares his recollection of the showdown, and Dr. Martha Burk explains how she orchestrated an effective pressure campaign against Masters Tournament sponsors and Augusta National members.

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And the primary reason it’s happening is not a brilliant PR campaign, Pulitzer-winning journalism, or organized political strategy.

It’s because of regular folks with camera phones documenting what’s actually happening on the streets of Minneapolis and other cities that have been occupied by ICE.

By simply recording and sharing, they have publicly and irrefutably contradicted the Trump Administration’s blatant lies.

And now, many people who did not want to pay attention to the issue are paying attention.

Some folks who supported the aggressive immigration enforcement now don’t.

And citizens who were not comfortable questioning the administration’s lies... question them now.

Whether you want to call them “Legal Observers,” “Constitutional Observers,” or "regular folks" who record what’s happening, the impact is profound.

So in this episode, we discuss why these brave Minnesotans with camera phones are such a potent force in the current political environment with Scott Libin, a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism.

And, we speak with a former law enforcement leader in the Midwest who says more people need to pick up their smartphones and serve as "legal observers." Dave Mahoney served as Dane County, Wisconsin Sheriff from 2007 to 2021, and shared an interesting encounter with Dusty in 2011 that cemented both of their appreciations for the First Amendment right to document the government's actions.

For those who are interested in serving as legal observers, Libin and Mahoney will even lay out some steps for enhancing your effectiveness and bolstering your safety.

Because every American has a role to play in protecting our constitutional rights.

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"Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!"

And we're FINALLY talking to the guy who did it.

Because Corey Smale—who was promptly fired for the Tweet and owned it publicly—isn't just PBR's ex-social media manager.

He's now been named Ad Age's "Marketer of the Year" for his current work as Chief Creative Officer at Garage Beer, one of the fastest-growing beer brands in the world.

Look, we already covered the PBR "eating ass" tweet extensively in episode 30 of this podcast.

And Dusty arrived at the conclusion that it might have been a dumb thing to tweet, but it was consistent with the brand voice that management and fans had embraced. Firing Corey was just an act of scapegoating.

But in this episode, we'll chart the four-year redemption ordeal that took Corey Smale from social media fall guy… to the creative force behind a growing beverage brand that counts football and podcast sensations Jason and Travis Kelce among its co-owners.

Corey will tell us about the very deliberate decision-making that rebuilt his reputation, the uncertainty that comes from missing on a big swing, and the source of the work ethic that has propelled him to the top of the marketing heap.

Plus, we'll talk about the creative process behind Garage Beer's deliciously deranged marketing and social media presence, including its "Brewmite" martial arts movie, its Predator parody "Thermal Buzz," and a water bed that dispenses beer to one lucky brand fan.

Check out the video version if you want to see clips of the creative assets: https://youtu.be/X32LR9Q0SVs

Finally, Corey will break a bit of Garage Beer merchandising news—the upcoming launch of its "Beer Hand," a reimagined Nintendo Power Glove designed to aid the wearer in making life decisions and pounding brewskies.

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That’s not REMOTELY true, however.

In fact, Ben Kollenbroich was just a regular 25-year-old guy in 2010. There certainly weren't any movies based on his life.

And it wasn't an accident, a mix up or a mistaken identity that caused dozens of websites… and even his own grandmother… to believe otherwise

It was an intentional and painstakingly-implemented prank executed by one of his best friends.

With time to kill and a dogged commitment to the bit, Ben’s buddy Vince had cultivated a steady buzz of internet chatter claiming that Ben had inspired the Hollywood flop.

Over the course of months, he gradually built up the source material needed to keep that fabricated factoid on Wikipedia.

But what started as a prank got suddenly serious when Vince’s made-up Internet claim started to circulate all on its own.

Search results for Ben’s name cited him as the movie's inspiration for more than 10 years.

And neither of them was capable of doing anything about it.

In this episode, Ben and Vince recount the story... and reflect back on an era when people still believed what they read on the Internet.

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But when a road is closed, most transportation agencies put out a press release.

And this disconnect is not only annoying—it can be a public safety hazard.

So after the recent catastrophic flooding in his Southeast Wisconsin community, Dusty wants to start a conversation about how public officials can modernize the way they communicate about road closures in 2025.

Because, in order to maximize the impact of potentially life-saving information, municipalities and departments of transportation need to take their message to the channels that the public actually uses.

In this episode, we speak with Scott Oppmann, ArcGIS Solutions Director at Esri. Esri's ArcGIS is the leading mapping and spatial analytics software in its field, allowing organizations to leverage location-based digital insights across a wide variety of fields. And Esri’s Community Maps Program and Road Closures solution helps local governments get time-sensitive travel information out to the apps that people actually use when they travel.

We'll discuss the imperative for pushing live travel updates to maps apps, different methods for doing so, and why it's important to have a plan in place BEFORE an emergency strikes.

Learn more about Esri's Community Maps Program and Road Closures Solution.

Contribute to contentpartners.maps.google.com

Support Wisconsin Flood victims: feedingamericawi.org

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In its 25 years of operation, this compendium of human knowledge has become an integral tool for understanding the world in which we live.

But artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT could threaten Wikipedia's viability over the next 25 years.

And in fact, by diverting fundraising traffic, undermining traditional journalism, and thinning the ranks of Wikipedia editors, large language models (LLMs) could even imperil their own usefulness.

So in this episode, we're talking to a Wikipedia expert about the implications—both for strategic communicators and for society in general.

Bill Beutler is the founder of Beutler Ink, a PR firm that specializes in optimizing brands' presence on Wikipedia.

And together we'll discuss what can be done to preserve Wikipedia as a resource, how communicators should adapt their strategies, and what the future might hold.

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A brewing trade war, the uncharted fallout of artificial intelligence, and political upheaval around the world...

All these factors have created an atmosphere of business uncertainty. Marketing jobs and budgets face the specter of the chopping block once again, and many are taking a "batten down the hatches" approach.

But at a time like this, it's important to remember: when everyone else goes quiet, your voice carries that much further.

And so in this episode, we're revisiting a pivotal conversation with Joe Pulizzi from the peak of the Covid lockdowns.

When uncertainty was at its worst, he shared the story of how he raised the multi-million-dollar brand "Content Marketing Institute" from the ashes of an entrepreneurial venture that failed during the Great Recession.

By "going big" on branded media when everyone else went home, that fledgling company changed marketing forever, rebranding the notion of "Content Marketing" and forging a media empire.

Pulizzi would go on to launch the "Content Marketing World" conference, write three best-selling books and co-launch “This Old Marketing” the podcast.

And his advice will come as a breath of fresh air for communications professionals who are uncertain about what comes after 2025.

It certainly did for Dusty in 2020. As he reveals for the first time in this episode, he was close to despair about the future of Podcamp Media when he first had this conversation with Joe.

But the interview forced Dusty to take a deep breath, double down on his podcast content marketing strategy, and dig in on making Podcamp Media succeed.

And here we are today.

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This has long been a reliable axiom for information consumption on the internet.

But social media and SEO marketers have long relied on their engagement metrics as an exception to that rule—critical quantitative data that can't be faked and can be leveraged to demonstrate the value of a campaign or piece of content.

Except in 2025, it's just not reliable any more.

That is because sophisticated operations called "bot farms" have built swarms of networked smart phones designed to mimic the organic engagement that drives social media algorithms.

At a command, these bot farms can create a cascade of authentic-seeming engagement that's nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, catapulting selected posts to the top of social media feeds.

International state actors can wage propaganda wars.

Financial influencers can pump up the value of assets they hold.

And, more and more, global brands can leverage bot activity to drive their messaging to the top of feeds, manufacture social proof, and astro-turf the impression of favorability.

So in this episode, we're talking to digital PR expert Eric Schwartzman, whose firm helps clients with brand management, reputation monitoring, crisis management, and corporate communications.

He also recently published an expose for Fast Company on the rise of bot farms and its implications.

Together, we'll learn how bot farmers manipulate the algorithm, what means are available to detect inauthentic activity, and why social media networks are slow to react.

Plus, we'll explore the moral quandary that social media and SEO marketers increasingly face in this brave new world:

If everyone else is using bots to drive engagement... should you?

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Without any branding or context, this weathered sign invites thousands of motorists daily to call a mysterious phone number.

And that has been driving Dusty CRAZY because, frankly, nothing about this billboard makes any sense in 2025.

So we're going to SOLVE A MARKETING MYSTERY, folks!

Together with our old pal Kyle Brown, we're going to speculate about WHY this sign exists, how it got there, and what its purpose is.

And THEN, we're actually going to track down the person responsible for the sign and learn the strange-but-true story of the "Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week."

Because it turns out this billboard is a portal back in time to a different era of direct response marketing. We discover that it was built decades ago by Ken Hoffman, a self-proclaimed "ideas man" who gives them away for free, but has trouble getting his own ideas off the ground.

We learn how his career was influenced by the so-called "marketing gurus" of yesteryear, and find lots in common with this endlessly curious polymath.

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Filled with more and better options, with less advertising, than ever before in human history...

Are the good times over?

Almost every major streaming service has recently begun inserting advertising into its programming.

And it's NOT your imagination... the ads really are more disruptive and obnoxious than traditional television commercials.

So what's driving the sudden advertising stampede in the streaming services that we used to love? How much worse is it going to get?

And who in their right mind still thinks that intrusive advertising, inserted into something we'd rather be watching, is a way to win hearts and minds in the year 2025?

We'll discuss all this and more with world-renowned film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the editor at large of RogerEbert.com (where he authored this barnburner https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/streaming-ads-worst )

Matt is a Pulitzer finalist who writes as well for New York magazine and Vulture.com. He's the founder of MZS.press, the arts bookstore of the internet, and appears in print in The New York Times, Salon, and Rolling Stone. And he's the author of a handful of New York Times bestsellers, including the Wes Anderson Collection, The Sopranos Sessions, and Mad Men Carousel.

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The worst had happened.

Flight 965 had disappeared in the mountains of Colombia, and Jennifer needed to report to the scene of the crash to coordinate the company's public relations response. Unnerved and uncertain, she had to push aside her doubts and power through what would become one of the most harrowing experiences of her career.

Jennifer would go on to serve as a Vice President of Communications for British Airways, a PR Manager at the Sabre Group, and eventually the head of her own independent agency, Think Beyond PR.

But the experience of immersing herself in a tragedy that cost 159 lives sticks with her to this day, forging a set of PR instincts and resolve that have served her well.

And in the wake of recent air disasters, including the American Eagle 5342 tragedy in Washington, her story offers rare insights into what’s happening behind the scenes right now.

-----

You can learn more about the crash of Flight 965 in this episode of Mayday.

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An eye-catching spot promised brand fans that, if they saved up 7 million Pepsi Points, they could win a Harrier fighter jet.

However, no one at Pepsi or their ad agency ever expected anyone to try to claim that prize. And when Washington business school student John Leonard did, they faced a multi-year legal battle and a storm of negative publicity.

Now, almost three decades later, another beverage company has spoofed that infamous campaign—with a twist.

Canned water brand Liquid Death actually bought a jet for one lucky fan to win, and executed a wildly successful promotion to support the contest.

So in this episode, we're talking to Liquid Death VP of Creative Andy Pearson about the logistics of making that happen. We discuss Liquid Death's unique approach to marketing, his creative influences, and why they would even want to try to recreate the publicity stunt that lost Pepsi the Cola Wars.

And with Jeff Beer from Fast Company, we explore the background and takeaway lessons of the Pepsi Harrier Jet fiasco. 

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For decades, getting your client's message in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal has been the gold standard by which PR agencies are judged.

But as we march further into this age of new media, those public opinion gatekeepers in the traditional media are losing their dominance of the American attention span.

And as evidenced by this year's presidential campaign strategy, that means that PR tactics are shifting as well.

Donald Trump's interview on the Joe Rogan podcast is seen as a pivotal moment in the campaign that cemented his electoral victory.

And Kamala Harris's appearance with Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast reached millions of voting age women who were viewed as critical to the Democrat's campaign strategy.

So in this episode of Lead Balloon, we're joined by Colab co-founders Ashley Mann and Lizzy Harris for a post-mortem on the 2024 election in a public relations context.

They discuss why traditional media's influence is waning, how campaigns leveraged podcasts and social media in the run up to the election, and how PR professionals should adapt their strategies.

And they'll touch on the importance of building genuine relationships with members of the new media, navigating influencer marketing, and the challenges of media training in a rapidly changing environment.

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For his own, personal benefit, he has victimized the grieving parents of children who were killed in school shootings. He has deliberately stoked fear among his followers in order to sell them snake oil. He has promoted insane conspiracy theories about everything from 9-11 to the moon landing. 

And this month, karma FINALLY came around for him in the most epic way possible.

The families of some Sandy Hook school shooting victims—the very people Jones hurt the most—are teaming up with the Onion, America's leading satiric comedy publication, to purchase Jones's Infowars brand at his bankruptcy auction.

So in this episode, we're talking to Leila Brillson, CMO of The Onion, to learn all the delicious details.

In this interview dated November 19, 2024, we'll explore what led to the bidding process, the line between corporate strategy and comedy, and the Onion's blooming partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety. And we'll critique this ongoing corporate acquisition not just as a business strategy, but as a cunning publicity stunt and a brilliantly-conceived work of art.

There's a video version of this episode available at https://youtu.be/0JvJuszeNtU

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They're an important reminder that the rescue and recovery crews who rush into these disaster zones are invaluable...

...as is the work of public affairs crews and reporters who document the aftermath of these storms.

They’re giving the outside world a window in to the carnage, making clear the need for aid, and bearing witness to what we’ve lost.

So in this episode, we're going to explore the sacrifices they make in the line-of-duty, and the psychological—and sometimes physical—toll it takes.

We'll meet Molly McPherson and Mike Moore, two former public affairs professionals for the Federal Emergency Management Agency who were assigned to the Hurricane Ike disaster zone in 2008.

It’s an assignment that would change their lives forever—and nearly cut Molly’s short. 

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For marketers and PR practitioners, it serves as an enduring reminder of the power that our mistakes have to burn down powerful people and institutions in one moment of lapsed judgment.

And in the spirit of the upcoming election, in this episode we'll explore what led up to the catastrophe, and its lasting impact on the world of public relations and marketing, with one Democrat and one Republican, both of whom worked in the White House.

Josh King was a junior staffer on the campaign trail for Team Dukakis '88. He went on to serve as White House events director under Democratic President Bill Clinton.

And Kevin Sullivan was the White House spokesman under the 43rd president, Republican George W. Bush.

Together, they'll shed light on the political legend of Dukakis in a tank, offer up a glimpse behind the scenes of the Clinton and Bush administrations, and remind us of a few other times when the republic teetered on the brink of PR calamity. 

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In her book, "Like, Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English," she notes that language has always evolved. Every generation adds its own spin, and the English language is almost unrecognizable from what was spoken centuries ago.

And for the most part, we agree.

But Dusty thinks there's a *figurative* line in the sand that should never be crossed: the corruption of the word "literally" in modern English.

We talked to Dr. Fridland for episode 43 of this podcast, where she gave us a brief history of how slang evolves, and why it’s a bad idea for brands to try and co-opt it.

And she was so informative and wonderful and fun to talk to.

But, in this clip that we didn’t have a place for in the episode, Dusty still had to press her about her stance on the word “literally.” 

Is Dusty just being a stick-in-the-mud? Or do we need to hold the line on "literally?"

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History gets uncovered. New information comes to light that changes everything. And sometimes an opportunity comes along to learn just a little bit more about a topic of interest.

So in this episode, we're revisiting three separate tales from Lead Balloon’s four-year run to dig deeper, uncovering some new "holy crap" moments that we never saw coming.

From episode one, we find out how the manager for world-famous-Internet-meme-Grumpy-Cat feels about being cast as the villain on our podcast.

From episode 13, how the Harmon Brothers agency, creators of the viral video ads for the Squatty Potty, have become involved with the rightwing-conspiracy-fueled media landscape of the "Sound of Freedom" film, distributed by Angel Studios, that made headlines in 2023. We also learn that they're working on an eyebrow-raising marketing/entertainment crossover called Homestead, based on the Black Autumn book series. And, we dig in to their other past projects, including Covenant Eyes and VidAngel.

And from episode 40, Dwight Chapin—who served in the Nixon administration and did prison time as part of the Watergate scandal—talks about how he punked Nelson Rockefeller at a political press conference, and shares his sincere regrets about his time in politics. 

Plus, we're joined by our old friends, marketer and strategist Kyle Brown and Andrew Julian, senior sports editor for the Messenger, to talk about what's next for Lead Balloon as a podcast.

Cheers to 50 episodes, everyone.

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During a meeting with one of his new bosses, prominent Milwaukee politician Jim Bohl, Dusty made a bad assumption and recklessly insulted Jim to his face.

Dusty wasn't fired, and the pair went on to work well together at City Hall for five years.

But they never again spoke about what was said on that fateful day in 2012.

That is, until the launch of Lead Balloon, when they recorded this important conversation about making mistakes, forgiveness and leadership.

So in this remastered early episode of Lead Balloon, Dusty recounts the hilarious tale of the dumbest thing he ever did, with the help of colleague Ken Leiviska.

Then, he and Jim Bohl revisit the insult to note some important lessons for media professionals transitioning into a career in political PR.

And finally, Dusty checks in with two other City Hall officials, city clerk Jim Owczarski and public information manager Bill Arnold, to see just how close he actually came to getting fired in his first week on the job.

Don't forget, I could really use your feedback about the future of the show.

Please take the survey at podcampmedia.com/survey

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But with the recent declassification of Navy gun camera footage that shows unexplained craft seeming to defy the laws of flight and physics, there's a growing movement among the aviation, military and science communities.

They insist it's vital to destigmatize the conversation around Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, which is the preferred nomenclature for the inexplicable occurrences.

Because the craft seem to do things that are impossible for our current level of aeronautical technology, and have interfered with the operation of other aircraft in-flight.

And if they aren't American, they pose a national security threat regardless of whether they're from China, Russia or... somewhere else.

So in this episode, we talk to former Navy Lt. Ryan Graves, the founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace and a former Navy F-18 pilot who has experienced encounters with UAP. He was also one of three experts called to testify at a Congressional hearing in July.

He'll share the things he saw that convinced him that UAP are a serious issue, what made him decide to come forward as the first military pilot to go public with his concerns, and why so many pilots experience UAP but choose not to report it.

Then, we'll discuss how his organization is leading a campaign to destigmatize the conversation, promote UAP reporting, and bring transparency to the issue.

Visit podcampmedia.com/survey to give some feedback about the future of the Lead Balloon Podcast!

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Every election cycle, American voters are bombarded with mailers, emails and text messages that mostly just get trashed or deleted.

And when a Political Action Committee like NextGen America is charged with reaching out to younger voters, they face an even more substantial task in motivating the perennially under-performing youth vote to make their voices heard.

But this year, NextGen America made headlines nationwide when it leveraged a new, unconventional tactic in its get-out-the-vote efforts for a Wisconsin State Supreme Court race.

Using a small team of staff volunteers, the group reached out to young people on the dating app Hinge, urging them to register and pledge their vote on an app that's typically reserved for romance and relationship seekers.

And, with success in that race, the PAC is now looking to scale up its tactic for the nationwide presidential election next year.

So in this episode, we talk to NextGen America's National Press Secretary Kristi Johnston. She not only pioneered the idea, but led from the front by reaching out to voters on Hinge herself, and she'll share what she learned, how her tactic is different from other forms of youth outreach, and why authenticity is key.

Plus, we meet, Noah Turecek, a young man from Wisconsin who matched with Kristi on Hinge, to get his view.

Visit podcampmedia.com/survey to give some feedback about the future of the Lead Balloon Podcast!

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"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Those with a keen memory will recall that the Aloha State was NOT, in fact, wiped off the map by a missile strike.

It was a false alarm.

But what it revealed about the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system should concern every strategic communicator.

Because while the WEA system has the potential to be a powerful lifesaving tool, it is routinely misused by emergency managers and misunderstood by the public.

With little to no federal oversight, the manner in which this system is used is left up to more than 1,600 local jurisdictions.

As a result, users are being bombarded with too many notifications that are not germane to their immediate safety, and that is conditioning us to ignore potentially life-saving alerts in the future.

So in this episode, we parse lessons from Hawaii's WEA SNAFU with Commander Bhavini Murthy, a medical epidemiologist and researcher with the U.S. Public Health Service, and Dr. John Anderton, the Associate Director for Communication at the Centers for Disease Control’s Office of Readiness and Response.

We learn from an expert on WEA messaging what jurisdictions nationwide are doing incorrectly. Dr. Jeanette Sutton is an Associate Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the State University of New York at Albany.

And, Dusty works to instigate WEA reforms in his own backyard with Milwaukee County Supervisor Shawn Rolland.

By the way, if you've ever wondered what to do in the event of a nuclear missile strike, here are some resources from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/emergencies/index.htm

Visit podcampmedia.com/survey to give some feedback about the future of the Lead Balloon Podcast!

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And they're coming for your marketing or content creation job.

The advent of generative artificial intelligence chatbots—most notably tools like Chat GPT and Midjourney—is poised to revolutionize creative industries. These tools use deep learning technology to generate new content based on prompts from human users.

But will this be the end of creativity as we know it, or a new implement to help creative people be even more creative?

In this episode, we hear from "Jess," a copywriter who was laid off from her job at a well-known national logistics company and "replaced by Chat GPT."

And then, we talk to Renato Fernandez, the Chief Creative Officer at the LA-based, global creative agency TBWA / Chiat / Day. They’re a three-time honoree as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, have been recognized thrice as Adweek’s Global Agency of the Year, and are seen as a pioneering leader in the incorporation of generative A.I. into the creative workflow.

Together, Jess and Renato will generate a picture of an industry facing an inflection point...

And, indeed, a battle for its very soul.

We mention an interesting study we saw this week about how human-generated SEO content performs better than A.I.-generated content. You can find that here:

https://www.rebootonline.com/blog/ai-vs-humans-content-writing-seo-experiment/

Subscribe to the Podcamp Media e-newsletter for more updates on the world of strategic communication.

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For Rob Davis and John R. Montgomery, working at the Chicago ad firm Leo Burnett in the early 2000’s, it was a regular occurrence.

In fact, the stories from their time there were so singular, that when they shot a pilot and pitched it to Hollywood, it was picked up and run as a CBS sitcom starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

From wacky hijinks to high-stakes drama, unbelievable coincidences to larger-than-life personalities, "The Crazy Ones" sourced its comedy from real-life agency anecdotes, amplified by the creative genius of its all-star cast and famed executive producer David E. Kelley.

And Rob and John found themselves on a wild Hollywood ride that would alter the course of both their careers.

In this episode, they tell us what it took to get the project off the ground, what it was like repackaging their professional lives as TV scripts, and how they pitched a new approach to brand integration on television that was years ahead of its time.

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Certainly, brands swooping in and trying to leverage youth culture to drive sales is nothing new.

But as bad as it was in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, the advent of social media marketing made it 1000 times worse.

The internet never forgets, and whether it's the "Silence, Brand!" meme or the "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids" Reddit group, the web is littered with examples of companies whose attempts to ingratiate themselves with young people have earned outright scorn instead.

So in this episode, we talk to Holden Jurisich, a 24-year-old Gen Z meme expert, and his dad Jay Jurisich, the founder and creative director of the Zinzin naming and branding agency in San Francisco, to explore case studies of this phenomenon in action.

Plus, sociolinguist Dr. Valerie Fridland explains how this pattern has played out, again and again, over the centuries of English language history.

Because, while you’ll find dozens of articles explaining how to incorporate youth slang into your social media marketing, or urging you to be ironic and self-aware when you speak to Gen Z in their own language, the best advice is and always has been:

Don’t.

Just don’t do it.

Because the kids don't like it.

Check out the blog post by Holden: https://www.zinzin.com/observations/2022/how-do-you-do-fellow-kids-gen-z-speak-in-naming-and-branding/

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And, as of today, May 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services coronavirus Public Health Emergency is expiring.

But just because Covid is "over" doesn’t mean we won’t still have to discuss it as strategic communicators.

And so in this bonus episode, we bring back someone who has been a voice of reassurance and reason throughout this horrible, three-year ordeal.

Bill Pierce was a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush Administration. Today he’s a crisis communications consultant at APCO Worldwide and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

We'll discuss the nuances you need to understand as a strategic communicator in the "new normal," best practices to keep in mind, and what it all means for the world of business and public policy more broadly.

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Michael Kaye is the director of brand and communications for the online dating app OkCupid. And, in the early days of the Covid lockdown, he and his team faced decisions that weighed on no less than the continued existence of the company.

After all, what is a stay-at-home order if not an existential threat to a company whose customers want to get matched up with new people to meet and date?

Facing this and other previously unthinkable realities in 2020, Michael and his team made the bold decision to retool their messaging—and indeed their core operating strategies—to embrace social responsibility over conventional profit.

It was a calculated risk that panned out in the long run, as we'll learn from Michael and a pair of OkCupid users—Lauren Stines and Jake Sandvik—who each have their own stories of love finding a way, even in the midst of global crisis. 

Special thanks to London indie musician Garlen Lo for sharing his song, "Lover's Lover" for this episode! Visit www.garlenlo.com to learn more.

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So-called deepfake technology, which can synthesize audio and video of things that never happened, has arrived en masse.

And, while these tools for generating potential disinformation were previously only available to trained experts and big institutions, recent advances in artificial intelligence technology mean that ANYONE can create fake videos... nearly instantly, with little to no training, for FREE.

Accordingly, experts like Dr. Hany Farid from UC-Berkeley say deepfakes are suddenly being used the wage disinformation campaigns every day.

So in this episode, Dr. Farid cites some examples of how deepfake technology is being used to attack important people and institutions, and lays out strategies that strategic communicators can use to try and protect their clients and employers.

We talk to Francesca Panetta and Halsey Burgund, the Emmy-winning film directors who used a viral deepfake of President Richard Nixon to try to warn society about the growing threat, and learn some shocking facts about the technology.

And we meet Noelle Martin, a lawyer, researcher and activist from Australia whose reputation has been targeted with deepfake pornography. Noelle tells us about her efforts to create legal recourse for the non-consenting victims of deepfake porn and her battle to reclaim her reputation.

Because deepfake technology no longer poses a reputation threat "sometime in the next few years."

It poses a threat RIGHT NOW.

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Drafted as a contingency plan for President Richard Nixon on the occasion of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the memo entitled "In Event of Moon Disaster" is inarguably a better piece of writing than any of the presidential remarks actually delivered on that day. 

Penned by White House speechwriter William Safire, today it is hailed as a work of rhetorical and poetic genius. It has inspired major Hollywood features, played a central role in moon landing anniversary observances, and even been used as a tool to educate information consumers on the dangers posed by deepfake technology.

And yet from July 20, 1969 until its rediscovery in 1999, this striking piece of American history remained buried in obscurity, its brilliance unrecognized among the millions of pages of documents archived from the Nixon administration.

So in this episode of the Lead Balloon podcast, we will track the path of the "Greatest Speech Never Given," from William Safire's desk, to Nixon's Chief of Staff, to its disappearance from and re-emergence in the national discourse.

Dwight Chapin, who served as Deputy Assistant to President Nixon and helped plan the Public Relations strategy for the moon landing, will tell us more about his colleague Bill Safire, and how they positioned the moon landing from a strategic communication context.

Joe Lopez, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Richard Nixon Foundation, will discuss the memo's rediscovery and display in the Nixon Presidential Library.

And Francesca Panetta and Halsey Burgund, co-directors of the viral Emmy-winning short film “In Event of Moon Disaster,” will discuss their decision to reimagine the remarks by using deepfake technology to synthesize a video of Richard Nixon actually delivering the momentous speech.

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Corporate blogs, mom-and-pop business websites, podcasts…

Even stuff that you posted years ago to your personal website or social media.

It’s now being examined, sifted through and screened by artificial intelligence bots, which are programmed to search for copyright violations.

The practice has become known as “copyright trolling,” and when the bots find copyrighted images, they send a letter or email demanding payment of hundreds or even thousands of dollars to settle the claim, threatening costly litigation if the recipient does not swiftly comply. 

And for the unsuspecting, often well-meaning online creators who receive these letters, it can be a disruptive, scary and expensive experience.

Working on behalf of copyright holders like the AP and the AFP, companies like PicRights and Higbee & Associates may have outdated copyright laws on their side. But according to our guests in this episode, that doesn't make their practices ethical or moral.

Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is a Belgium-based marketer, technologist and business consultant, and the founder of the market research firm Into the Minds. He has blogged about his experience being accosted by PicRights, and exhaustively researched the company and its methods.

And Caroline Fox is the principal attorney at CJFox Law in Richmond, Virginia. With an agency background in public relations and social media, she now works as an attorney specializing in copyright, trademarks and advertising / media compliance, and has advised numerous clients who have received demand letters from PicRights.

Together, we'll explore how these operations work, what the implications are, and how to protect yourself. Because, if you or your company creates content on the internet, you might be surprised to learn just how vulnerable you are to copyright trolling.

Subscribe to the Podcamp Media e-newsletter for regular updates on what we've got cooking.

And check out these wacky results from when we asked an A.I. to draw "Evil Robot Copyright Lawyers" for us.

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During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Bud Light launched a new advertising strategy that was... unconventional, even for them.

Instead of frogs or "wazzap" guys or silly superstitions, this campaign focused on attacking Bud Light's rivals for using corn syrup to brew their beers. Stranger still, outside observers noted that the beer giant borrowed other conventions from the world of political mudslinging, twisting facts, doubling down on vague talking points and attempting to build a consensus against Miller Lite and Coors Light.

But the brewing barons at Anheuser-Busch didn't count on the little guys... specifically, members of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) who took exception to the attacks and rallied to the defense of MillerCoors.

We've remastered this classic Lead Balloon episode to add the perspective of new key players, including:

• MillerCoors (now called Molson Coors) Chief Communications Officer Adam Collins
• NCGA CEO Jon Doggett
• NCGA past president Kevin Ross

Additionally, we've refined the original storytelling with NCGA VP of communications Neil Caskey, Brewers Association spokesman Paul Gatza, and friend-of-the-show Kyle Brown. Together, we'll break down the ultimate failures of "the Corn Syrup Wars," untwist the misleading claims made in Bud Light's ads, and detail the long-term ramifications for all the brands involved.

Subscribe to the Podcamp Media e-newsletter for regular updates on what we've got cooking.

Listen to the NCGA Podcast episode from which our new footage was sourced.

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So busy, in fact, that we almost forgot to recognize a pretty significant milestone in Dusty's career.

20 years ago, Dusty got his first job behind a microphone. He was 17-years-old, working an after school gig at his local radio station in Monroe, Wisconsin, when he was afforded the opportunity to voice the overnight shift and eventually ride the news desk.

It ignited a passion for storytelling and audio that has guided his career ever since—during his 10 years in the radio business, then his career in public relations and content marketing, and finally in his role as founder of Podcamp Media and host of Lead Balloon. Connecting with and serving an audience has always been a guiding star.

So in this this bonus episode, Dusty calls up his first audio boss, Scott Thompson—co-owner of Big Radio in Monroe and afternoon show host—to talk about those formative experiences, lessons, people and memories that set the stage for every step in his career that would come after.

Plus, we dig into the archive and pull out a few audio clips from early in Dusty's career, just for giggles.

Lead Balloon will be back with new episodes in 2023.

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Each year, dozens of media reps, influencers and VIPs are invited to take a ride in the back seat of one of the squadron's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

And, in order to help tell the story of the Blue Angels public affairs team, Lead Balloon was invited to be the first podcast to take one of those rides.

CLICK HERE if you prefer to watch a video podcast documentary version of this episode.

In this episode, Dusty is paired up with Lt. Commander Griffin Stangel, #7 Blue Angels pilot and air show narrator, who is tasked with giving media reps the ride of a lifetime, while at the same time serving as an on-the-record spokesman for the unit. He not only flies the plane, but fields questions and hits talking points with a smile on his face—all while enduring the extreme physical punishment of high-G aviation.

The jet rides are a critical part of the Blue Angels media relations strategy, Stangel notes, because, "We can talk about it all day, but unless you're up here experiencing it, you won't truly know what these pilots are putting themselves through." 

Stangel also flies members of the Blue Angels public affairs team to capture photos and videos of the squadron in action. As we learned in the last episode, it's a remarkable ordeal to operate a camera in the middle of "the most intense roller coaster" ride in the world.

This time, we visit the team at their Pensacola headquarters, and we'll take you through a day-in-the-life as a member of the Blue Angels public affairs team: early morning pre-flight briefing, special breathing techniques to avoid "G-Force Induced Loss-of-Consciousness," strapping in to the fighter jet, and a memorable, adrenaline-soaked flight in an F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The Blue Angels are supported by a team of more than 150 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and we meet a number of them, including:

• #7 Pilot and Narrator, Lt. Commander Griffin Stangel
• Public Affairs Chief MCC Michael Russell
• #7 Crew Chief AD2 Cam Tuzon
• AE2 Dale Pascua
• Public Affairs Specialist MC2 Cody Hendrix

Special thanks as well to Blue Angels Public Affairs Officer Lt. Chelsea Dietlin and Public Affairs Chief MCC Paul Archer for helping coordinate Lead Balloon's embed with the squadron, as well as Jim Schlueter, Paul Guse and Dave Oates.

Make sure to check out the epic video version of this podcast!

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Special music for this episode was performed and recorded by Ty Christian and Brian Koenig of the metal act Lords of the Trident, which is touring this fall in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Additional music by the Revolution, Tiger Gang and Dr. Delight.

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It’s also—and people forget this—a group of elite public affairs and marketing practitioners. 

From the pilots to the technicians turning wrenches on the planes, every Blue Angels team member is trained to uphold the unit's 76 years of tradition and legacy. As a brand management exercise, there is perhaps no other initiative in the world as rigorous and disciplined.

And at the heart of this publicity apparatus is a small but extraordinary group of public and media relations practitioners whose duties would literally make most strategic communicators pass out.

The Blue Angels public affairs team operates under grueling physical conditions, works brutal hours and is held to meticulous standards befitting one of the most storied aviation units in history, where the stakes are always life and death.

They populate social media accounts on behalf of the Blue Angels brand, coordinate ride-alongs with local media and VIPs, and are even called upon to fly photography missions with the squadron, experiencing the same adverse G-forces as the pilots themselves.

We wanted to tell the story... of the people who tell the Blue Angels' story, embedding with the Blue Angels Public Affairs team for the first segment in this two-part series.

So in this episode, we meet the team as they prepare for and fly at the Chicago Air and Water show, one of more than 60 air shows the Blue Angels headline across North America each year.

The Blue Angels are supported by a team of more than 150 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and we meet a number of them, including:

• Executive Officer, Commander Jon Fay
• Maintenance Officer, Lt. Commander Brian Abe
• #7 Pilot and Narrator, Lt. Commander Griffin Stangel
• Public Affairs Chief MCC Paul Archer
• Public Affairs Specialist MC1 Cody Deccio
• Public Affairs Specialist MC1 Bobby Baldock
• Public Affairs Specialist MC2 Cody Hendrix

Special thanks as well to Blue Angels Public Affairs Officer Lt. Chelsea Dietlin for helping coordinate Lead Balloon's embed with the squadron, as well as Jim Schlueter, Paul Guse and Dave Oates.

Watch a video preview of next month's epic season finale with the Blue Angels.

Subscribe to the Podcamp Media e-newsletter to be notified when we post video of this extraordinary experience.

Special music for this episode was performed and recorded by Ty Christian and Brian Koenig of the metal act Lords of the Trident, which is touring this fall in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Additional music by Michael Briguglio, the Revolution and the Realist.

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Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chair Yasser Arafat’s signing of the Oslo Accords—and the handshake that followed, cajoled by U.S. President Bill Clinton—comprised an iconic snapshot in history.

In the moment, the world was awash in optimism, and Jewish Americans in particular were riveted by what was happening in the Middle East.

But in Eastern Europe, Jewish people living in former Soviet states faced a growing threat of persecution, and the problems went largely unreported.

And Operation Exodus, an effort by the United Jewish Appeal to repatriate one million Jewish refugees from failing states like Uzbekistan to Israel, would need a brilliant publicity campaign to motivate donors to support its ambitious goals.

So the UJA hired Dick Grove, the founder of Ink PR, for the job. And, together with a handpicked team of PR professionals and documentarians, he traveled into the Lion’s Den itself, documenting destitution firsthand in a failed Soviet State and building a massive fundraising publicity campaign for UJA.

In this episode, he's joined by Operation Exodus director Ron Friedman to rehash the tale of this extraordinary undertaking.

Visit our website for pictures from Dick's trip to Uzbekistan.

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And Lee Caraher, then the Vice President of Corporate and Consumer Communications for the Sega Corporation, doesn't know it yet...

...but she's about to have a public relations crisis on her hands.

Police would eventually uncover evidence that shooter John T. Lin "trained" for his revenge rampage by spending hours playing Virtua Cop, an arcade-style video game that puts a plastic replica pistol directly in the player's hands as they blast bad guys on a screen.

And media coverage of the shooting would add fuel to the fire in the growing debate over video game violence that played out in the mid-90s.

So in this episode, we rehash the story with Lee and parse the PR takeaways.

And, since video games have been blamed for dozens of other heinous acts in the years since the shooting, we'll explore the relationship between violent media and violent behavior with two experts whose opposing views yield some surprising common ground.

Clinton "Paperthin" Bader is an Esports commentator in Seoul, South Korea who provides expert play-by-play on professional video game competitions, which is a major form of entertainment in Southeast Asia.

And Dr. Myriam Miedzian is a prominent critic of video games who served on President Bill Clinton’s Violence Prevention Task Force and worked on faculty at Rutgers and Barnard. She also wrote a 1991 book called Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking the Link Between Masculinity and Violence.

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But, in that era, it was very seldom that any company actually faced backlash or consequences for its ad practices.

That began to change, however, when National Airlines deployed a racy new ad campaign in which alluring young stewardesses invited travelers to "Fly Me" on their next business trip.

National Airlines may have sold more tickets as a result of the ads.

But, for a workforce of stewardesses who were fed up with sexist standards and unfair working conditions, the campaign proved to be a tipping point that sent them into the streets to protest, organize, and agitate for the respect they deserved—both in the workplace and in the media.

In this episode, Nell McShane Wulfhart—author of The Great Stewardess Rebellion—charts a course through the aviation, advertising and labor history of this story.

Plus, we're joined by Philippa Roberts and Jane Cunningham to explore the sexist tropes at play in 1970s advertising, and how sexism is just as pernicious in today's media, even if it's less blatant. Philippa and Jane are co-authors of Brandsplaining: Why Marketing is Still Sexist and How to Fix It, and are also co-founders of the agency PLH, the UK’s leading research consultancy specializing in female audiences.

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That means no media relations arm. No crisis comms plan. No PIO. 

In fact, the entire PR team was purged just a couple years ago in 2020, and CEO Elon Musk has defended the move, saying the company doesn't believe in "manipulating public opinion."

Not only does this reflect a very unsophisticated understanding of what public relations practitioners do, but it also makes Elon Musk the sole public authority authorized to comment on Tesla's wheelings and dealings... and he doesn't exactly have a history of exuding stability.

So in this episode, we revisit that history with Forbes Senior Editor Alan Ohnsman and San Diego-based crisis communications consultant David Oates.

We discuss how Tesla is now struggling to control its own narrative, what risks it's courting, and how Elon Musk's leadership model might be setting up the company... and its shareholders... for their biggest disaster yet.

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Embrace your roots. Celebrate authenticity.

It's a lesson that's been served up again and again in the brands and marketing ecosystem. But it never seems to sink in.

So in this episode, we'll pop the top on a Snapple double feature.

First, Jane Cavalier tells us about pitching Snapple's iconic slogan, "Made From the Best Stuff on Earth," and watching it flop with the company's original owners.

And then, Richard Kirshenbaum outlines the genesis of the iconic "Snapple Lady" ad campaign, which catapulted Snapple into a multi-billion dollar brand--that is, until new owners changed course and sunk $1.4 billion in mismanaged brand value.

Together, Jane and Richard will parse lessons hard-earned in the hustle of Madison Avenue and retell a tale as old as the Golden Goose itself: "If you've got a good thing going, but you don't understand how it works, for the love of God don't tinker with it."

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“Not drinking this January? Try eating ass.”

The uproar was swift and loud. And PBR deleted the tweets and apologized publicly, even as some writers blamed a “rogue employee” for the tweets.

That was NOT the case. The offending Tweeter was actually an established social media manager by the name of Corey Smale, a creative enigma whose free-wheeling, hands-on approach had really resonated with the brand’s fans.

So what went wrong for PBR? What safeguards did they have in place? Who’s REALLY to blame for the ass-eating Twitter incident, and what can we learn from it?

On this episode, we pick through the wreckage with Kyle Brown, our go-to beer marketing correspondent, and with David Griner, Adweek’s International editor, who scored an exclusive interview with former PBR social media manager Corey Smale.

Plus, we examine an interview that Corey gave on the In Defense of Ska Podcast—mere weeks before his dismissal—to learn more about the process that had been established for running PBR's social media.

*Please note, this episode is NOT SAFE FOR WORK*

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Now, they need your help to pierce the veil of Russian propaganda and fight for their homeland in their own way--by waging a global information war to win the hearts and minds of the world.

In this episode, we talk to three Kyiv-based creatives who are organizing this loose coalition of Ukraine's creative community:

• Viktor Shkurba, Founder and Creative Director of [isdgroup]
• Oksana Gonchar, Creative Group Head at [isdgroup]
• Andrii Mishchenko, Kyiv-based freelance creative strategist

They discuss how the war has disrupted their lives and their agency's future, how they're fighting back against Russian disinformation, and the imperative for creatives around the world to get involved.

Additionally, you can support these causes:

Prevent World War 3 Brief:

https://preventww3.in.ua/

How to support Ukrainian army:

https://bank.gov.ua/ua/about/support-the-armed-forces

Ukrainian relatives asking ex us military to donate that protective gear:

https://www.gearforukraine.com

Project aiming to show Russians all their military loses. Also asking for donations:

Russian-crimes.com will start in a few days (carpentry only in Russian: www.Marta-mira.com)

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And social media manager Amy Brown was the creative instigator of that success. Many internet historians even point to her epic 2017 tweet-roast as the viral moment that launched an entire genre of Snarky Brand Twitter.

It certainly made her a hero to social media managers the world over.

So why, within just a couple of months, did Amy Brown feel like she needed to leave that high-profile dream job at Wendy’s? 

Because social media burnout is real. And for professional communicators, who need social media to do their jobs, it can start to seem like there’s no escape from the creeping toxicity, the poorly-defined work hours, and the haunting, ever-present specter of the algorithm. 

In this episode, Amy relives the moment she "went viral," and shares some of the lessons she's learned about finding balance in social media use and maintaining her personal well-being in the toxic environment of modern social media.

Plus, UC-Davis Social Media Director Sallie Poggi joins us as well with insights into how they’re creating a healthier environment for social media professionals... and why she thinks today's social media managers are tomorrow's CMOs.

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And as a junior studying marketing at Ohio University, he channeled his passion for a part-time job at a Sherwin-Williams paint store into a wildly successful TikTok channel. His weirdly entertaining videos of mixing paint colors amassed hundreds of thousands of social media followers and tens of millions of views.

Inspired by his meteoric success, Tony pitched the concept of a branded TikTok channel to Sherwin-Williams marketing brass, hoping the company would recognize a ripe opportunity to build brand awareness and loyalty with a new generation of future homeowners.

Instead, the company fired him for "gross misconduct." But it would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to the ascendant entrepreneur, and a public relations disaster for Sherwin-Williams.

Check out Tonester Paints on TikTok and visit the Tonester Paints website to learn more.

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But Alex has a lot of other irons in the fire, too.

And so in this bonus episode, Dusty can't help fanboying a little bit over the really incredible Bucks team. Alex explains why he thinks the City of Milwaukee has a “Quiet Swagger” that will surprise a lot of out-of-towners. And, he explains the comms strategy that he’s deploying in his run for a U.S. Senate seat.

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It’s a sports marketing nightmare. And just last year, it came true for the management of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.

Alex Lasry is the Senior Vice President of the Bucks. And even though he was shocked just like the rest of us when the 2020 walk-out happened, he supported the team’s decision whole-heartedly.

Because there was an entire summer of reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t take the court on August 26, 2020. But they crystalized around the police shooting of a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the violence and even deaths that followed. 

In this episode, Alex explains what went through his mind as a sports marketing professional during the historic events of last summer, and explains how the Bucks' new ownership group has strived to push back against decades of institutional racism in Milwaukee.

Plus, CBS Sports Senior Editor Andrew Julian joins us to put the Bucks' wildcat walk-out in the proper historic context.

Sign up for the Podcamp Media e-newsletter for updates on our new Milwaukee headquarters Grand Opening in the spring.

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Work can be scarce and hard to come by, and when an opportunity does come along, there can be a lot of pressure to accept it no matter what.

John Jantsch knows from experience. Before he was the founder, host and author of Duct Tape Marketing the agency, podcast and book, he was a go-getter looking to make his way as a consultant in Kansas City.

But an association with one early client--a client that he wouldn't touch now as a wiser, more experienced marketer--was enough to get him called in front of a federal grand jury at the time. And he took away some valuable lessons about being discerning when it comes to whom you work with.

We'll also glean some lessons from his more than 15 years as a podcaster, and catch a few tidbits from his new book. 

John's new book is The Ultimate Marketing Engine: 5 Steps to Ridiculously Consistent Growth.

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And so in 2013, when accusations came out that hand-picked members of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s staff deliberately caused massive traffic backups on and around the bridge, the story made national headlines... and that was before revelations that the shenanigans were likely tied to political motivations.

But for Anthony Hayes, the Bridgegate scandal was more than a flashy cable news headline. As the Assistant Director of Communications and Media at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, it was his job to manage the public relations fallout from the scandal.

Anthony’s tale is a telling tutorial in managing the reputation of a public institution damaged by private petty partisanship. And his behind-the-scenes insights shed new light on a scandal that many say ended Chris Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign before it really even had a chance to get off the ground.  

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Founder Dusty Weis explains why in this column he wrote for our friends at OnMilwaukee.com.

(Music by Ghost Beatz)

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The year was 1996, and Henry was the Vice President of Public Relations at Foresters Financial. He had just found out about an ongoing affair between two high-ranking executives, and they had made their intentions clear. They wanted him to aid in the cover-up, for which he would be richly rewarded.

But sticking to his principles was just the first lesson in what would become a crash course in scandal, marital infidelity, prostitution and executive embezzlement. And those principles of his would shortly become Henry's only life raft.

Now a San Diego-based business coach, author, Forbes columnist, and the CEO of Indie Books International, Henry recalls the story today as a career-defining lesson that marked a turning point in his understanding of leadership.

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And with hip-hop legend and business magnate Russell Simmons lined up to serve as headliner, the hall was packed with people eager to hear Simmons's stories from the early days of hip-hop and his entrepreneurial awakening.

Instead, what they got was a strange tirade from an uncooperative guest in front of an increasingly uncomfortable live audience, made even stranger by the fact that, within a few months, Russell Simmons would flee the country to escape criminal prosecution for a string of assault charges.

These days, Justin is the Chief Marketing Officer at People.ai, an AI automation sales and CRM solutions provider. But in this episode, he looks back on this morality tale about the dangers of influencer marketing, relives the longest 45 minutes of his career, and recounts the lessons that he learned about planning a live event and relying on an unreliable celebrity.

You can watch Justin's on-stage dance with Shaq right here.

These two YouTube Videos were instrumental in researching this episode.

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The worst had happened.

Flight 965 had disappeared in the mountains of Colombia, and Jennifer needed to report to the scene of the crash to coordinate the company's public relations response. Unnerved and uncertain, she had to push aside her doubts and power through what would become one of the most harrowing experiences of her career.

Jennifer would go on to serve as a Vice President of Communications for British Airways, a PR Manager at the Sabre Group, and eventually the head of her own independent agency, Think Beyond PR.

But the experience of immersing herself in a tragedy that cost 159 lives sticks with her to this day, forging a set of PR instincts and resolve that have served her well. And for those of us who think we're having a hard day in the PR trenches, her tale is an important lesson in coping through pressure, humility and determination.

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You can learn more about the crash of Flight 965 in this episode of Mayday, from which we sampled some expert interviews, survivor recollections and black box reenactments to help build context for Jennifer's story.

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But in 2002, the club itself became the story, as its men-only membership policy came under the microscope in an unexpected and sensational showdown between women's rights activists and the club's defiant adherence to "tradition."

The tale of how the conflict came to a head is an unlikely Public Relations parable in its own right, driven by two iconoclasts of their era: Augusta National chair Hootie Johnson and Dr. Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

And, as a signature sponsor of the Masters Tournament, Coca-Cola had to thread the PR needle, trying to land on the right side of history without alienating the powerful Augusta National Golf Club, the pro golf establishment and all of their supporters.

In this episode, retired Coca-Cola Vice President of Communications Ben Deutsch shares his recollection of the showdown, and Dr. Martha Burk explains how she orchestrated an effective pressure campaign against Masters Tournament sponsors and Augusta National members.

Plus, Ben Deutsch shares a few more tales from his tenure at Coca-Cola, and some of the important lessons he learned while overseeing the communications operation of one of the world's most recognizable brands.

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As it turned out, he'd wind up as the media point person while the iconic brand navigated one of the most tumultuous periods in its 135-year history. 

From a near-disaster at the 1998 World Cup to a soda-fueled health scare in Belgium, from a whistleblower suit that attracted the SEC's attention to an off-hand comment that jeopardized Deutsch's standing with the company's leadership, the former Coke executive opens up about his tenure with the global marketing juggernaut and shares insights from which communications professionals in any industry can learn.

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In minutes, that realization changed everything about the way businesses and organizations communicate about politics, and the Lincoln Project is a major force driving that shift.

Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson is a political strategist, a former member of the Republican party, and a media consultant with a rich, broad background in the world of political ad strategy.

And in this episode, we'll discuss the business imperative driving a growing number of conservative business organizations to turn on the modern Republican party. We’ll learn in-depth details about the strategic media offensive the Lincoln Project led against Donald Trump’s re-election. And we’ll discuss why, like it or not, the illusion separating the worlds of business and politics shattered on January 6th.

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That responsibility extends beyond the traditional bounds of public health communication, according to public health experts, and touches nearly every strategic communicator in the country--and indeed every American citizen.

In this episode, we welcome back two past guests to the show.

Bill Pierce was formerly a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush Administration. Today he’s a crisis communications consultant at APCO Worldwide and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

And Dr. Maria Sundaram is an epidemiologist and post-doctoral fellow at IC/ES, the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, and a global authority on Covid-19. These world-class public health communicators are in agreement that how we all communicate about the vaccination process going forward will play a major part in how many lives are saved.

We’ll also explore what needs to happen from a StratComm standpoint, the best ways to deal with all the misinformation about vaccines, what went wrong in the last year, and why this could be a turning point in the war on Covid.

Because if we do it right this time, communicators could still help save the world. 

(Pictured in this week's podcast art: Dusty's hero, his wife, getting her vaccination as a frontline M.D.)

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But sometimes, when the conventional approach fails, the only way forward is to throw carefully-laid plans out the window and wing it.

In 2013, when a government shutdown closed the National Parks to visitors on the eve of her long-planned PR junket, (W)right On Communications founder Julie Wright faced a choice. She could either abandon months of planning and waste an opportunity to showcase some of California's most epic scenery to a hand-picked group of influential travel writers, or she could bend the rules, take a calculated risk and skirt some barricades.

So she went rogue, and the trip that resulted was as hair-raising as it was memorable. In this episode of Lead Balloon, she shares the epic tale, as well as the important lessons she learned about asking forgiveness instead of permission... and BEAR SAFETY. Travel writers Diane Lebow and Laura Kiniry also share their recollections of the trip, and explain why every PR practitioner needs a little bit of "rogue" in them.

Learn more about (W)right On Communications, visit Diane Lebow's website and check out Laura Kiniry's Instagram feed.

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Lead Balloon is Adweek's 2020 "Marketing Podcast of the Year," and Dusty is "just gobsmacked."

This is like pulling down an "Emmy" or an "Oscar" in podcasting. And since it's 2020 and, well, Covid, there won't be an opportunity to accept some hardware on a podium.

So in this quick special update, Dusty attempts to parse his thoughts on what it means for the show and the future of Podcamp Media.

Please do sign up for the Podcamp newsletter for more updates on new developments. Cheers everyone.

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The Squatty Potty, a plastic platform that purports to alleviate constipation, is certainly not any conventional marketer's dream client.

But under the guidance of the Harmon Brothers agency, this ignoble brand launched the most successful viral marketing video of all-time, landing hundreds of millions of video views and millions of dollars in sales. And they owe it all to an animatronic unicorn who poops rainbow ice cream.

Harmon Brothers' social media success was even recognized with a 2016 Webby Award, and other notable campaigns have included the OraBrush, Poo-Pourri toilet spray and Chatbooks.

In this episode, Harmon Brothers CEO Benton Crane tells the story of the agency's origin and trajectory, explaining the fusion of science and art that powers their reliable viral successes. It turns out that there is no such thing as a "bad client" for an agency willing to embrace data-driven outlandish creativity, irreverence and poop jokes.

Plus, Boeing's retired VP of Communications Jim Schlueter weighs in. Learn more about his family's project alextheartist.com.

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And for outside creatives transitioning into the corporate world, there are tough lessons to master, dangerous pitfalls to avoid and unwritten rules to learn.

Before he was brand strategist, David Allen Moss was an industrial designer, an artist and a musician. His impressive and meandering career as a marketer has touched brands like Best Buy, Wynn Las Vegas, Gateway Computers, Costco and Red Lobster. And the time he spent working for American Greetings and EDR Media in Ohio is littered with war stories of high-profile clients, high-pressure business meetings and high-strung personalities.

These days, David is the Chief Creative Officer at Evergreen Podcasts in Cleveland. But he says his experience in the trenches made him the professional he is today, even if, as an idealistic creative in the corporate world, it was an especially vexing puzzle to navigate.

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Use them correctly, and you can tap into the efficiencies inherent in automation, with a demonstrable return on investment. Use them incorrectly, and you can crater your customer relationships with the touch of a button.

Misty Dykema and Abby Bell from Simantel Group have watched these dramas play out, over and over, as they try to coach different businesses through the marketing automation learning curve. They've seen the worst-case scenarios, and often been called in to clean up the mess when marketing technology adoption goes wrong.

In this episode, they share cautionary tales from the front lines, and outline the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Plus, Dusty surprises Abby with a podcast karaoke session. Yeah, that really happened.

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But for people of color, there's no escaping these conversations--they shape the reality that Black people live every day in America. They can't turn it off or "take a break from it," and that's a form of white privilege right there.

Everyone has a part to play in building a better society, and it starts with knowing how to have uncomfortable conversations. So in this episode of Lead Balloon, three people of color who work as professional communicators discuss their experiences with racism, privilege and the corporate world.

Randy Crump from Prism Technical Management and Marketing Services, Dr. Monique Liston from Ubuntu Research and Evaluation, and Kennita Hickman from Catera Omnivision also share tips for how their white colleagues can help the cause instead of contributing to the problem.

Because if you haven't been uncomfortable lately, you're part of the problem.

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It's not just a football play; it's a mindset that professional communicators must adopt from time-to-time.

Beth Tomkiw is the Chief Content Officer at Trusted Media Brands, the publisher of Taste of Home, Reader's Digest and many other recognizable publications. Previously an editor at Playboy, she also worked in custom publishing and content marketing for more than a decade.

In this episode, Beth Tomkiw tells the tale of the Hail Mary play she drew up as a content strategist at McMurry to save the agency's contract with the Ritz-Carlton brand.

(Original photo by WiNG, CC BY-SA 3.0)

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But with a likely recession setting in, those of us fortunate enough to still have jobs in marketing and communications are looking for ways to do more with less.

Enter Joe Pulizzi. In the midst of the last recession, his fledgling company changed marketing forever, rebranding the notion of "Content Marketing" and forging a media empire. From the ashes of the Great Recession, he raised the Content Marketing Institute, three best-selling books and “This Old Marketing” the Podcast.

In this edition of Lead Balloon, Pulizzi shares his tale, as well as advice for communications professionals hoping to weather the storm.

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"They threw the plan out, and started to make up a new one, and they didn't need to," says Bill Pierce, who served as a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush Administration. "There are some basic fundamentals that they should have adhered to and didn't, unfortunately."

In this episode, Pierce taps into his deep expertise in crisis communication and pandemic response planning to critique the federal comms response to the COVID-19 Coronavirus so far--what they've done right and what they've done wrong.

Plus, Dr. Maria Sundaram, an epidemiologist at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health, takes calls from listeners to bust some myths about the pandemic which have been circulating on social media. Watch video of Dr. Sundaram's Q&A session here.

Special thanks to Daniel Matarazzo for sharing his clever, uplifting Coronavirus musical parodies with the world. Check him out on Twitter or YouTube.

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But until HBO's McMillion$ came out, most folks didn't realize that the reason it suddenly vanished in 2001 was because it was rigged from the start.

In the hit series, directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte tell the fantastic story with panache and aplomb of how McDonald's was scammed for $24 million.

And in this episode of Lead Balloon, they examine the story through a PR and marketing lens, explaining how McDonald's and the FBI tried to save face in the midst of disastrous circumstances. And, PR agency owner John Boyanoski shares his tale from the day when the FBI visited his newspaper office to avert a McMillion$ PR disaster.

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Somehow.

But like the show Seinfeld, one of the most popular sitcoms from the '90s, the slow speed of information back then could cause challenges and miscommunications during high-stakes PR events--which might otherwise have been solved with a quick phone call.

In this episode of Lead Balloon, Pittsburgh-based PR consultant Tim O'Brien shares a tale from his days at the Ketchum agency, where insane pressure, bad luck, poor timing and colorful characters all came together to create a situation worthy of its own Seinfeld episode.

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But when you choose creativity and innovation over familiarity and stagnation, there can be hidden dangers. They might result in a sticky mess and hundreds of dollars in damage, but ultimately, isn't that a lesser risk than failing as a storyteller?

In this episode, Patrick re-lives a couple of embarrassing moments from his career, along with his former colleague Katrine Strickland. News editor Jason Maddux explains why he never runs ribbon cutting photos in the newspapers he manages. And with Patrick, we explore the importance of authenticity in PR and media relations, and how to be prepared for anything in a field where everything can happen.

(Includes music by Alavedra, McColl & Levine / CC BY 4.0)

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HEADS UP: We remastered this episode, adding new perspectives, follow-up and... well, we just all-around made it better.

LISTEN TO THAT VERSION HERE

Instead of frogs or "wazzap" guys or silly superstitions, this campaign focused on attacking Bud Light's rivals for using corn syrup to brew their beers. Stranger still, outside observers noted that the beer giant borrowed other conventions from the world of political mudslinging, twisting facts, doubling down on vague talking points and attempting to build a consensus against Miller Lite and Coors Light.

But the brewing barons at Anheuser-Busch didn't count on the little guys... specifically, members of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) who took exception to the attacks and rallied to the defense of MillerCoors.

In this episode, Neil Caskey from the NCGA recounts the tale of their beer war with Bud Light, Paul Gatza from the Brewers Association explains why big brewers are feeling the pinch and might resort to such infighting, and Kyle Brown helps break down the ultimate failures of "the Corn Syrup Offensive."

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But Dusty wasn't fired, and the two went on to work well together at City Hall for five years. But they never again spoke about what was said on that fateful day in 2012.

Until now.

With the help of colleague Ken Leiviska, Dusty recounts the hilarious tale of the dumbest thing he ever did. Then, he and Jim revisit the insult to note some important lessons for media professionals transitioning into a career in political PR. And finally, Dusty checks in with two other City Hall officials, city clerk Jim Owczarski and public information manager Bill Arnold, to see just how close he actually came to getting fired in his first week on the job.

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In fact, "Grumpy Cat" herself was there for the big unveiling, along with scores of excited fans and a gaggle of local and national press.

But there was a problem--a big one. And, as Madame Tussauds marketing coordinator Jesse Russell raced the clock to sort it out, he battled one of the great horrors of the 21st century.

Because it turns out that, in the internet age, even cats have pushy, demanding managers.

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