The Renaissance of Sh*tty Advertising

You Can't Handle Different. (What Clients Can and Can’t Handle)

You say you want something different. You don't. You want something different that looks like something that already worked. You want risk with a guarantee attached. You want a breakthrough idea that a focus group approves. That's not different. That's a polite version of what you've always done, wearing a new shirt. In this episode of Advertising in America, Chris, Mick, and Ryan go after one of the most dangerous lies in marketing: that clients want to do something bold. The truth is, most of them have already had bold presented to them. They just didn't buy it. They bought the safe version that came before it on the deck. Or after it. The one that felt like advertising. The conversation moves from Jack Nicholson improvising his way into movie history, to why The Sopranos cast assumed they'd never get a second season, to why the campaigns every business wishes they ran Old Spice, 1984, Got Milk, only look brilliant in hindsight. Because breakthrough ideas don't look like winners when you're staring at them in a boardroom. It looks like getting fired in 4K. Episode Highlights: * You Can't Handle Different: Why clients ask for it, reject it, and then applaud it when someone else pulls it off. * The Staring Off the Cliff Feeling: What true breakthrough ideas actually look like when they hit the table and why they terrify everyone in the room. * The Deck Order Truth: Why agencies present the safe idea first, the wild idea second, and expect you to run with number three. * The Sopranos Problem: Why the people closest to the most revolutionary things are always convinced they won't work. * Risk and Reward. Pick One: Why you can't live in both worlds at the same time, and what it actually costs to stand out. * Mere Exposure Effect: The 1968 research that proves repetition isn't lazy, it's how people come to love what they feared. * The Parasocial Brand: Why your customers call the same HVAC company every time—not because they know you, but because they feel like they do. * Different is the Story, Not the Operation: Why the thing that separates you isn't your service model, it's the strange, specific way you tell your truth. * You're Not the Hero: Why the home services company that leads with "we're here to save the day" has already lost the plot. 🎧 Hit play for the most honest conversation in marketing you'll hear this year. If you've ever been in the room when the bold idea got watered down, this one will feel uncomfortably familiar. 👉 Are you actually ready for something different, or are you just ready to say you were? Take the Next Step: Tired of marketing that doesn't move the needle? Need to break through all the noise? In this exclusive one-on-one consultation, Wizard Ryan Chute will help you uncover:  * ‍Overlooked advertising opportunities hiding in plain sight. * ‍Timeless psychological tactics that drive sales no matter the decade. * ‍Edgy strategies that capture attention and convert in today’s crowded landscape. 📞 Spots Are Limited —Reserve Yours Now!  [https://opt.wizardofads.services/opt-free-45minutes-session ] 🌐 Learn more: advertisinginamerica.com Connect with Us: https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica] https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica] https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica] https://x.com/adsinamerica [https://x.com/adsinamerica] https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica [https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica]

OTT Advertising: The Secret to Dominating Your Local Market

Everybody and their dog is selling OTT right now. Radio stations. TV stations. Outdoor companies. Your dry cleaner probably has a deck. But here's what they're not telling you: most of what's being sold under the OTT banner is overpriced, under-measured, and bought from someone who has absolutely no idea what they're doing, and even less incentive to admit it. In this episode, Ryan Chute and the Torbay Twins sit down with media buyer Beth Radtke and Wizard of Ads partner Ray Seggern to cut through the noise around Over the Top advertising. What it actually is, where it actually works, and how to avoid the traps that are quietly bleeding businesses dry? The conversation pulls no punches. From Comscore's measurement sleight of hand, to the dangerous gap between impressions and actual people in the room, to the Atlanta case study, where one buyer got 5,000 households and another got 25,000 for the exact same $5,000. This episode is a master class in media buying clarity. Because the medium isn't the problem. Buying blind is the problem. Episode Highlights: * What OTT Actually Is: And how connected TV, streaming, and broadcast now all occupy the same living room with different rules. * The Frequency Minimum: Why OTT sellers push frequency caps and why that's exactly backwards from what works. * Impressions Are Not People: The measurement gap between IP addresses, households, and actual human beings watching your ad. * Who's Measuring Who: Why independently verified data matters and what happens when the seller also owns the measurement tool. * 78 Steps From the Source: Why buying OTT through the wrong vendor means paying a premium for the bottom of the barrel. * The Atlanta Case Study: Same budget. Same geography. 5× the reach. The difference was who was doing the buying. * Live TV Is Back: Why appointment viewing is growing inside streaming and why that changes everything for local advertisers. * Media Agnostic or Media Commission: The single most important question to ask before taking any media advice. 🎧 If someone is trying to sell you OTT right now, listen to this episode before you sign anything. 👉 Are you buying media or just buying someone else's commission? Take the Next Step: Tired of marketing that doesn't move the needle? Need to break through all the noise? In this exclusive one-on-one consultation, Wizard Ryan Chute will help you uncover:  * ‍Overlooked advertising opportunities hiding in plain sight. * ‍Timeless psychological tactics that drive sales no matter the decade. * ‍Edgy strategies that capture attention and convert in today’s crowded landscape. 📞 Spots Are Limited —Reserve Yours Now!  [https://opt.wizardofads.services/opt-free-45minutes-session ] 🌐 Learn more: advertisinginamerica.com Connect with Us: https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica] https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica] https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica] https://x.com/adsinamerica [https://x.com/adsinamerica] https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica [https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica]

Story & Culture & Experience: Why 80% of Businesses Are Running on Broken

Your brand has a story. The question is whether it's true. Most businesses think they have a culture. They have a summer picnic. They have a mission statement on the wall. They have a boss who reads leadership books and then shows up late on Mondays. That's not culture. That's a fairy tale with fluorescent lighting. In this episode, Ryan Chute and the Torbay brothers sit down with Wizard of Ads partner Ray Seggern, author of the forthcoming book Story & Culture & Experience: A Field Guide for Finding Your Awesome,  to break down the three forces that determine whether a business becomes iconic or invisible. Story is what the market believes about you. Culture is who your people actually are. Experience is what your customers actually feel. When all three align, you don't have customers, you have champions. When they don't, no ad budget in the world will save you. This conversation goes deep on why advertising is secretly also a recruiting tool, how the boss's behavior predicts the team's behavior, and why the organizations that are hardest to fix are often the ones who most need fixing… starting at the top. Episode Highlights: * The Three Circles: Why story, culture, and experience are inseparable and what happens when any one of them is missing. * Culture on Accident: The businesses that are quietly brilliant but invisible and why that's a fixable problem with a powerful upside. * What You Emanate, They Will Emulate: How leadership behavior sets the behavioral standard for everyone below it for better or worse. * Every Consumer Ad Is a Secret Recruiting Ad: How the story you tell the market is simultaneously shaping who wants to work for you. * The 80% Problem: The uncomfortable reality about how many businesses conspire to bend the truth and what that does to culture from the inside out. * Assholeism: Ray's favorite chapter. The uncomfortable self-inventory that most bosses will never take. * Does Your Business Have a Soul? The final question in Ray's book and the most important one in this conversation. * The Leadership Trifecta: Help people win. Be trustworthy. Live in gratitude. Three buckets. Every mission statement in the world fits inside them. 🎧 If you've ever wondered why your culture keeps breaking down, why your best people keep leaving, or why your story doesn't match what actually happens inside your walls... Take the Next Step: Tired of marketing that doesn't move the needle? Need to break through all the noise? In this exclusive one-on-one consultation, Wizard Ryan Chute will help you uncover:  * ‍Overlooked advertising opportunities hiding in plain sight. * ‍Timeless psychological tactics that drive sales no matter the decade. * ‍Edgy strategies that capture attention and convert in today’s crowded landscape. 📞 Spots Are Limited —Reserve Yours Now!  [https://opt.wizardofads.services/opt-free-45minutes-session ] 🌐 Learn more: advertisinginamerica.com Connect with Us: https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica] https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica] https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica] https://x.com/adsinamerica [https://x.com/adsinamerica] https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica [https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica]

Discounts, Data, and Delusion: Rethinking Valpak

Is Valpak a relic of desperate discounting… or a misunderstood tool hiding in plain sight? In this episode of Advertising in America, the team takes on one of the most polarizing marketing channels out there—the infamous envelope of coupons. Is it junk mail destined for the trash, or a strategic weapon when used correctly? Chris Torbay fires the first shot, dismantling Valpak as a brand-killing, bargain-bin tactic that attracts the wrong customer at the worst possible moment. But Mick Torbay pushes back hard, arguing that no media is inherently broken—only the strategy behind it. Then comes the reality check. Media buying expert Beth Radtke steps in with data, experience, and a perspective most advertisers never consider: what actually happens after that envelope hits the mailbox. This episode isn’t about defending or attacking Valpak. It’s about understanding the real game. Episode Highlights: * Why media doesn’t make marketing work—message does  * The difference between brand building and sales activation * How cheap reach can still be strategically expensive * Why consistency and familiarity matter more than clever offers * And how the wrong message in the right medium still fails Because the question isn’t whether Valpak works. It’s whether you know how to use it. 🎧 Hit play to rethink not just coupons—but how every marketing channel fits into your strategy. 👉 Do you know how to make any marketing work?  Take the Next Step: Tired of marketing that doesn't move the needle? Need to break through all the noise? In this exclusive one-on-one consultation, Wizard Ryan Chute will help you uncover:  * ‍Overlooked advertising opportunities hiding in plain sight. * ‍Timeless psychological tactics that drive sales no matter the decade. * ‍Edgy strategies that capture attention and convert in today’s crowded landscape. 📞 Spots Are Limited —Reserve Yours Now!  [https://opt.wizardofads.services/opt-free-45minutes-session ] 🌐 Learn more: advertisinginamerica.com Connect with Us: https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica] https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica] https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica] https://x.com/adsinamerica [https://x.com/adsinamerica] https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica [https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica]

The Renaissance of Sh*tty Advertising

You don’t have an attention problem… you have an entitlement problem. Most advertisers walk into the market like they’re the main act, expecting people to listen, care, and convert. The reality? You’re the interruption. And if you haven’t earned that attention, you’ve already lost it. In this episode, the team dismantles the illusion that good products, polished branding, or bigger budgets automatically translate into results. From painfully generic HVAC commercials to bloated national campaigns, they expose the real issue: advertising that says everything and means nothing. The conversation cuts deep into what actually works, earning attention through entertainment, holding it through storytelling, and delivering a single, memorable idea instead of a laundry list of features. Because the market isn’t ignoring you… you’re just not giving it a reason to care. If you’re still relying on “quality, service, and low prices” to carry your message, this episode is your wake-up call. Episode Highlights: * You Don’t Deserve Attention: Why assuming people are listening is the fastest way to be ignored. * The Opening Act Reality: Your audience didn’t come for you—how to hijack attention and make them stay. * The 50/50 Ad Trap: Start entertaining, then switch to selling—and watch your audience disappear. * The One-Message Rule: Why cramming in features kills recall and guarantees failure. * Earn It, Then Hold It: The critical difference between grabbing attention and sustaining interest. * Campaigns That Compound: How consistency, characters, and storytelling build long-term loyalty. * Emotion Beats Information: Why people don’t buy what you say—they buy how you make them feel. * The Cost of Being Generic: If your ad could be for anyone, it will connect with no one. 🎧 Hit play to learn why attention isn’t given—it’s earned, fought for, and kept through craft. If your marketing feels invisible, this episode will show you exactly where it’s breaking down and how to fix it. 👉 Are your ads actually earning attention… or just interrupting people and hoping they tolerate it? Take the Next Step: Tired of marketing that doesn't move the needle? Need to break through all the noise? In this exclusive one-on-one consultation, Wizard Ryan Chute will help you uncover:  * ‍Overlooked advertising opportunities hiding in plain sight. * ‍Timeless psychological tactics that drive sales no matter the decade. * ‍Edgy strategies that capture attention and convert in today’s crowded landscape. 📞 Spots Are Limited —Reserve Yours Now!  [https://opt.wizardofads.services/opt-free-45minutes-session ] 🌐 Learn more: advertisinginamerica.com Connect with Us: https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.youtube.com/@advertisinginamerica] https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.facebook.com/advertisinginamerica] https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica [https://www.instagram.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.threads.net/@advertisinginamerica] https://x.com/adsinamerica [https://x.com/adsinamerica] https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica [https://ca.pinterest.com/advertisinginamerica/] https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica [https://www.tiktok.com/@advertisinginamerica]