Dusty Weis
Lead Balloon Ep. 46 - Why Are Wireless Emergency Alerts on Your Phone So Terrible?
A ballistic missile false alarm in Hawaii prompts us to take a closer look at a perennially misused public safety tool. On January 18,...
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Dusty Weis
- Aug 1
- 23 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 45 - Replaced by Chat GPT: Are Creative and Copywriting Jobs Threatened by A.I.?
We meet one of the "first wave" of workers laid off in the Artificial Intelligence revolution, and look ahead to the future of creative...
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Dusty Weis
- Jul 5
- 32 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 44 - How a Real Life Ad Agency Inspired the Robin Williams Sitcom, "The Crazy Ones"
Life at Leo Burnett served as a constant source of comedic inspiration for John R. Montgomery and Rob Davis. Every professional...
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Dusty Weis
- Jun 1
- 26 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 43 - Brands Don't Have the Rizz: Gen Z Slang Is Falling Flat in Marketing
We prove conclusively, WITH SCIENCE, that brands are only hurting themselves when they co-opt youth slang. "How do you do, fellow...
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Dusty Weis
- May 2
- 30 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 42 - OkCupid During the Covid Pandemic: PR Messaging and Online Dating Apps
Social distancing could have been cataclysmic to the world of online dating, but OkCupid chose to embrace it anyway. When the unstoppable...
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Dusty Weis
- Apr 4
- 29 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 41 - Deepfakes: How Communicators Must Prepare Now for this Reputation Threat
In recent weeks, deepfake disinformation attacks have exploded, and experts say a new era of strategic communication tactics must arise....
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Dusty Weis
- Mar 1
- 28 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 40 - In Event of Moon Disaster: The Greatest Speech Never Given
Lost for 30 years in the Nixon archives, today it is hailed as a work of rhetorical and poetic genius. It has been called “The Greatest...
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Dusty Weis
- Jan 31
- 30 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 39 - Pernicious Copyright Robots: PicRights & the Practice of "CopyRight Trolling"
They're Targeting Your Corporate Blog, Your Company Website and Even Your Social Media, and They Can Level Hefty "Settlement" Payments...
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Dusty Weis
- Dec 21, 2022
- 32 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 38 - The Bud Light CoRntroversy, Revisited: Miller Lite Strikes Back
A classic episode re-mastered, with new insights from the CCO of Molson Coors. Now with 50% new footage! During Super Bowl LIII in 2019,...
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Dusty Weis
- Nov 1, 2022
- 34 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 37 - Blue Angels Ride Along: Becoming the First Podcast to Fly with the Blue Angels
Dusty gets strapped into an F/A-18 Super Hornet to learn how the US Navy does media relations. For the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight...
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Dusty Weis
- Oct 4, 2022
- 37 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 36 - The US Navy Blue Angels: Public Affairs and Marketing at 500 Miles Per Hour
Lead Balloon embeds with the world's most elite, "high-tempo, ready-to-rock-and-roll" public affairs and marketing team. The U.S. Navy...
158 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- Sep 1, 2022
- 22 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 35 - Post-Cold War Trip to Uzbekistan Boosts Fundraising for UJA's Operation Exodus
With Dick Grove and Ron Friedman: Fundraising was a challenge in the wake of the iconic Rabin-Arafat handshake at the White House in...
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Dusty Weis
- Aug 2, 2022
- 36 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 34 - Murder in Boston Blamed on Sega's Virtua Cop Video Game, with Lee Caraher
Did a shooter train for his revenge rampage by playing a hands-on arcade game? A public relations true crime investigation. Also...
71 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- Jul 6, 2022
- 26 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 33 - National Airlines' Saucy "Fly Me" Ad Campaign & the 1970s Stewardess Rebellion
With Nell McShane Wulfhart, Philippa Roberts and Jane Cunningham Sexist advertising that objectifies women reached its heyday in the late...
1,157 views0 comments
Larry Kilgore III
- Jun 2, 2022
- 33 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 32 - Tesla’s Elon Musk Fires the Entire Public Relations Team—What Could Go Wrong?
How and why Tesla's approach to communication went from unconventional to nonexistent. As the world’s most valuable automotive...
230 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- May 3, 2022
- 33 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 31 - Snapple: Pitching the Best Catchphrase On Earth
With Jane Cavalier and Richard Kirshenbaum - A world-class slogan crashes and burns, and then an iconic brand burns all its bridges. The...
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Dusty Weis
- Apr 5, 2022
- 34 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 30 - Inside the PBR "Eating Ass" Tweetstorm, with Adweek Editor David Griner
Plus Special Guest Kyle Brown -- In our first NSFW episode, we try to decide whether social media manager Corey Smale deserved to get...
155 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- Mar 19, 2022
- 20 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 29 - Ukrainian Creatives Waging an Information War Against Russian Invasion
Ad agencies and freelancers across Ukraine have banded together to pierce the veil of Russian propaganda--and they need your help. For...
70 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- Mar 1, 2022
- 38 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 28 - Wendy's Twitter and the Dangers of Social Media Burnout
With Amy Brown and Sallie Poggi -- How Can Social Media Managers "Take a Break From Social Media?" Wendy’s, the burger chain, is infamous...
1,443 views0 comments
Dusty Weis
- Feb 2, 2022
- 30 min
Lead Balloon Ep. 27 - Sherwin-Williams Paints Itself Into a Corner on TikTok, with Tony Piloseno
A Plucky TikTok Superstar Gets Fired for Finding Unexpected Brand Success on Social Media Tony Piloseno really likes paint. And as a...
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