We buy into the idea that maybe “buy” is the wrong word for digital items like movies, TV shows, and music that customers may not actually own.

We consider what an alternative universe would look like if brands advertised what people really think about their products.

We invest everything we’ve got in non-fungible tokens and then try to figure out if what we own actually has any real value.

We storm our brains for ideas on what the next phase of social media might look (and sound) like.

We crash the Clubhouse to share our thoughts on the new invitation-only, voice-based social network.

We cough through a cloud of cigarette smoke as we revisit one of the most memorable anti-smoking campaigns ever made.

We scale the epic marketing campaign around the release of another major streaming service looking to join the ranks of Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus at the top of the mountain.

We assemble an all-star cast of top-level talent including Bruce Willis, Hugh Jackman, and Brie Larson to talk about the increasing appeal of ad campaigns for big-name actors.

We do not pass GO as we spin, roll, and pop our thoughts on the best board game advertising of all time.

We pick players in the burgeoning marketing battle between Series X and PS5 consoles, and unlock our personal picks for the best game covers of the Xbox/Playstation era.

We riff on a range of recent marketing and branding efforts—from the unleashing of the Seattle Kraken to breakfast Mac & Cheese to Planters’ rapidly aging Baby Nut.

We quibble over whether all the quacks and quips about the failure of Quibi are well-deserved, and provide some quick reviews of the streaming platform’s bite-size content offerings.

We kick around some thoughts on Nike’s new Ben & Jerry’s-inspired footwear and share our personal picks for the ugliest sneaker designs of all time.

We reflect on recent brand announcements from Aunt Jemima & Uncle Ben’s in light of widespread protests against racism and calls for change across the USA.

We spitball—with face masks, of course—some creative ideas to take working from home to the next level now that it could be the forever future for many employees.

We zoom in on the different ways brands have incorporated social distancing and quarantine life into their advertising.

We isolate some of the brands and products rising up to make life a little easier during this strange stretch living in lockdown.

We pull down our protective masks to spread a few thoughts on how brands are responding to the coronavirus and the massive impact COVID-19 is having on marketing and events.

We sound off on the current state of old-school social media and loop our thoughts on a pair of modern social apps looking to make some noise.

We focus our monocles on the untimely death of Mr. Peanut and tip our top hats to the ads that made us laugh, cry, and want to buy during Super Bowl 54.

We recall how brands from the past envisioned the future, and share a couple of our own marketing visions for the 2020s.

We let our follicles run wild as we discuss the growth and evolution of Movember and brush up on some of the most memorable mustaches in ad history.

We fan out our thoughts on the name of NBC Universal’s new streaming platform and strut out our official ranking of streaming service names.

We leaf through our memories to dog-ear our favorite magazines and talk about the future of the medium moving forward.

We travel to the galaxy’s edge to shine a mouse-eared spotlight on our endgame pick for brand of the year.

We decode the meaning behind a handful of slang terms currently making the rounds in pop culture and social media.

We expand our horizons by talking about brands branching out from their core business or philosophy by launching unexpected products, services or media efforts—and discuss if that’s ever a good idea.

We reveal the sports-based commercials that emerge victorious in our highly selective tournament to crown the ultimate athletic ad of the past three decades.

We endorse our favorite brand-celebrity pairings and explain what makes them masterful marriages of marketing, audience, and influence.

We sing the praises of a band of brands whose powerful use of popular songs in their marketing and advertising plays like sweet music to our collective ears.

We boil this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials down to the ABCs—animals, bevs, and celebs—and tell you which brands won the big game in each of these key categories.

We leap back in time to the age of Obama, netbooks, and The Black Eyed Peas to revisit some of the most notable brands, marketing, and pop culture of 2009.

We hum with excitement as we share the 10 brands that captured our eyes, brains, hearts, tongues, and screens in 2018.

We come to play… with suggestions on the hottest gifts for kids this holiday season and share our picks for the greatest toys of all time.

We tap into the seasonal flavor that could be the next pumpkin spice and answer three burning questions about the past, present, and future of fall marketing.

We creep into the deadly deliciousness of the Halloween season by sharing our killer picks for favorite candy packaging design.

We test our knowledge of classic advertising campaigns by answering trivia questions about memorable commercials, slogans and brands that have permeated pop culture over the past several decades.

We tackle the brand status of the national football league and audible some wild ideas to rush the NFL into the future.

We unveil the winner of our summer box office challenge and honor some incredible & impossible movies that defined the blockbuster season.

We laugh, chuckle and guffaw through a stream of countless brand tweets in an effort to crown the Twitter kings of comedy.

We rack our brains coming up with creative ways to upgrade products that haven’t taken a significant step forward in far too long.

We sweat out the dog days of summer by shouting out a few key brands we strongly associate with the hot and sunny season.

We spin our thoughts on the marketing power of cover art and hit play on our favorite album covers of all time.

We look back on 100 podcast episodes and share some of our favorite centenarian brands.

We ask and answer the most important social media question of 2018—Yanny or Laurel?

We make you wonder whether you’re listening to real people or artificial intelligence as we discuss Google’s latest innovation.

We premiere our predictions for the movies that will burn up the box office in summer 2018.

We lob up our picks for top NBA team names and slam down our winners for sweetest league logos.

We snap, crackle and pop through decades of brand slogans from “Got milk?” to “Taste the rainbow” to determine which ones are the best of the best.

We guzzle down four new flavors of Diet Coke to tell you if they can beat the real thing and share our picks for favorite Coke can designs.

We unwrap six classic holiday commercials and force them to face off in a showdown to see which ones yield more Yuletide power. Put on your protective Santa suit because this podcast has Claus!

We give thanks for a basketful of brands that have delivered us a bounty of delicious flavors to feast on in 2017. Grab your plate of mashed potatoes because this podcast is about to pour over you like Thanksgiving gravy.

We phone in our thoughts on the new iPhone X and share our recommendations for some must-have iPhone apps. If this podcast recognizes you using our new facial recognition feature, the show will start now!

We spice things up by talking about the tsunami of pumpkin spice products hitting store shelves this fall and share our grades for some of the more unique pumpkin spice offerings out there. Grab your pumpkin spice latte and your pumpkin spice Oreos and get ready to have your ears pummeled by pumpkin spice in podcast form!

We gaze in wonder at the winner of our game of summer box office predictions, and share our picks for favorite fall movie trailers. This episode is like a great trailer—all of the best parts with none of the crap in between!

We rack our brains trying to remember whether Santander Bank’s short film “Beyond Money” is marketing or entertainment, and share our picks for a few other pieces of fantastic brand filmmaking. Listen up because in the near future your memories of this episode may fetch a pretty penny on the open market!

We order Google, Alexa, and Siri into our podcast gladiator arena to see who emerges victorious in the battle for best voice assistant marketing. If you have a voice assistant turn it off now because we’re about to say their names so many times they’ll burst into flames.

We venture on a quest to determine the impact of Facebook’s new mission, and uncover examples of other brands with magnificent mission statements. Prepare your ears for danger because on this podcast failure is not an option!

We auction off our thoughts on eBay’s new brand campaign taking aim at Amazon, and share our bids for some of the best brand comebacks in recent memory. Cue up LL Cool J because this podcast is about to stage the greatest comeback since our last episode.

We zoom past two defenders, pump fake, and fire off our list of the top five LeBron James commercials. Adjust your headband and toss some chalk in the air because this podcast came to play!

We prepare for the impending rise of the machines by discussing Marble the food delivery robot, and speculating on some other ways brands could start putting robots to work. Round up Wall-E, HAL 9000, and Johnny 5 because this podcast is about to fry your circuits!

We forecast the five summer movies that will deliver the biggest returns at the box office, and share our picks for best movie posters of all time. Grab your junior mints and get ready for aliens, apes, and an entire movie about emojis. Yep, that’s a thing.

We crown the champion of our best jingle bracket and answer a few big questions about Pepsi, United, April Fool’s Day, and Christopher Walken. Fasten your seatbelt because this podcast is about to punch you in the face like United Airlines’ customer service.

We bounce into the final round of our Most Memorable Brand Jingles Bracket and then bounce back 20 years to reveal our top 10 forgotten 90s brands. Pump up your Nikes, grab your Hacky Sack, and cue up Coolio because we’re heading back to the best decade ever!

We toss eight of the catchiest brand jingles of all time into a bracket to determine which one takes the title of most memorable. Get ready to have jingles jammed in your brain for the next month because it’s time for March Madness—Speaking Human-style!

We switch on Nintendo’s new console to determine if its moniker is a winner, then we power down with our picks for worst tech product names.

We name our thoughts on the much-buzzed-about title of the new Star Wars movie and identify what makes the force strong with a company name.

We declare and debate the best and worst Super Bowl commercials in the history of the big game. Strap on your helmet and lace up your cleats because this podcast is about to hit you like Mean Joe Greene.

We grab some groceries off the shelf and run out of the store without getting arrested thanks to Amazon Go, then we sweat it out as we answer five burning questions about the Amazon brand.

We dig deep into the ice chest of 2016 to unearth the year’s coolest cultural artifacts. Slice open a tauntaun with your lightsaber and cozy up inside for warmth because you’re about to experience a whole new level of cool!

We applaud the most spectacular, strange, and surprising marketing efforts of the year with the highest honor bestowed by a podcast named Speaking Human… the Awesome Awards. Call up Chewbacca Mom and dust off your Pokemon Go app because we’re about send 2016 out with a bang!

We slap on a pair of Spectacles to get a fleeting glimpse at the future of social sharing, and envision our own creative ideas for social-connected products that could be the next big thing. Look deeply into our podcast eyes because you’re about to get snapped!

We plug in to the marketing power of Nintendo’s “new” retro gaming system, the NES Classic Edition, and then push start on our favorite NES Classic games. Jump on a Goomba and eat a magic mushroom because this podcast is about to power up!

We catch up with the elusive creature that tried to destroy our fresh, hot Domino’s pizzas back in the late 80s and share our picks for most memorable animated brand characters. Call up Tony the Tiger because this episode is Gr-r-reat!

We explode with thoughts on the early extinction of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and share our picks for the all-time biggest product blunders. Get ready for a recall because this podcast is smoking!

We run into the future Marty McFly promised us by lacing up Nike’s new HyperAdapt sneakers, then we travel back to the present to name our top three product innovations of the 21st century. Fire up Mr. Fusion because this podcast is about to burn rubber!

We reel from a disappointing movie summer by applauding our favorite film posters of the cinematic season. Like “The Legend of Tarzan”, this podcast is ripped and ready to start swinging!

We dive into a heated discussion of the Olympic Committee’s controversial rule 40 and then sprint over to the podium to hand out medals for best unofficial Olympic marketing. Move over Usain Bolt because this podcast is about explode out of the blocks!

We review the state of online reviews to determine whether it’s fair or foul for brands to pay for positive mentions. Anonymous internet users who may or may not be on our payroll call this episode of the podcast “the greatest thing to happen to your ears since sound!”

We “just do it”… and by “just do it” we mean share our picks for the best Nike commercials of all time. Lace up your Jordan’s and prepare to get schooled!

We augment our reality and roam the earth hunting for monsters like Sandshrew, Weedle and Psyduck, along with the answer to the vital question: How in the name of Pikachu did Pokémon Go become a global craze?

We drive into the future of bold and electric branding by looking at the rapid acceleration of Tesla Motors. Buckle up your brand because this podcast is about to give you a jolt!

We growl and howl like Wookiees as we watch a mom in a Chewbacca mask go viral, take over the galaxy, and give Kohl’s enough free marketing to fill a Star Destroyer. Charge up your bowcaster because this podcast’s about to get hairy!

We squat with a mystical unicorn who teaches us about proper pooping technique as well as a few lessons for marketing around taboo topics. Grab your roll of Charmin because this podcast is headed to the john!

We predict the movies that will bank the most money at the box office this summer. Strap on your proton pack and fire up the USS Enterprise because we’re about to project your cinematic future!

We talk with Jacob Farrar, Director of The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing at the University of Akron, about some of the interesting things they’re doing at the Taylor Institute and how today’s colleges and universities are helping shape the next generation of marketers.

We flap through ten years of tweets filled with millions of hashtags, memes and Bieber references to pinpoint the past, present and future impact of a little bird called Twitter. And we do it all in less than 140 characters… or maybe not.

We stay thirsty with the “most interesting man in the world” as we revisit one of the past decade’s most successful marketing campaigns. We don’t always record podcasts, but when we do it’s Speaking Human…

We connected with voiceover artist Kelley Buttrick through Twitter as a result of our recent podcast episode spotlighting the Jeep brand (Episode #53). Kelley was doing her own marketing effort involving Jeep, and we wanted to talk to her and learn a little more about what it’s like to work in the voiceover world and explore the unique and unorthodox approach she has taken to market her services.

We announce the champion of our Emoji Marketing Madness Bracket and reward them with a trophy, a crown, and a gold medal… in beautiful emoji format. Bust out your Japanese ogre red devil face because this competition’s about to get heated!

We march through faces crying tears of joy, pizza slices, and piles of poo to crown the champion of our Emoji Marketing Madness Bracket. Bust out your screaming cat face cause this one could come down to the wire!

We hop in the Wrangler and head off road to shine a spotlight on Jeep as the brand celebrates its 75th anniversary. Pop off the top and rip off the doors because this podcast is ready to ride!

We tackle the big game to tell you which brands dominated the digital playing field when it came to building early buzz for their ads. Go deep and get ready to catch our picks for the best pre-game advertising of Super Bowl 50!

We peer into Periscope to give you a glimpse of the popular new social platform and explore the value of live streaming as a marketing tool. Open your ears and prepare your eyes because we’re going scoping!

We freeze, chill and serve our thoughts on the coolest things to come out of 2015. In the iconic words of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze from Batman & Robin… “Let’s kick some ice!”

We recap the amazing, astonishing and awe-inspiring marketing feats of 2015 by presenting the winners of our second annual Awesome Awards. Slap on your Apple Watch and hit play on the new Adele album because we’re about to give out some hardware!

We sharpen our scissors, grab our cable boxes, cut off all the cords, and stare at our screens to get a picture of the future outlook for cable companies and TV advertising. Don’t touch that dial because Speaking Human starts now!

We use the force to force our bodies to sit through an endless array of new marketing efforts incorporating a Star Wars theme while pondering the epic question: Is it ever a good idea to jump on the marketing bandwagon?

We get googly-eyed over a cardboard contraption that allows us to take a peak into a different reality. Will this new virtual world change the future of marketing, or will we just look like fools with boxes on our faces?

We hack our way through USA Network’s clever giveaway to promote the show “Mr. Robot”. Grab your rootkit, honeypot and encryption codes and get ready for the social marketing revolution!

On this special bonus episode, we share our scattered thoughts on this year’s Cannes Lions award winners. Get ready to hear our roar because this podcast cannot be tamed!

We project our thoughts on the biggest marketing blockbusters of the summer movie season. Grab your popcorn and get ready for outrageous comedy, explosive action, and death-defying stunts… or at least two guys talking about that stuff.

We drop our drumsticks in disbelief as Colonel Sanders and The Hamburglar return from the marketing graveyard to win back our brand loyalty. Call up Grimace and The Noid because fast-food mascot reboots are the hot new trend!

We consume clever home improvement tips in easily digestible six-second chunks and then regurgitate our thoughts on choosing the right social networks for your brand. Get ready to go swinging, humans, because we’re checking out some Vines!

We YouTube twenty of the greatest brand moments from the past decade to tell you what video earns the title of YouTube’s all-time best ad. Crank up your bandwidth and get ready for some serious YouTubin’!

We podcast our thoughts on the trials, travails, and triumphs of a topic very near and dear to our hearts: podcasting. That’s right, humans, you’re about to listen to a podcast about podcasts.

We witness a murder and get stalked by a hitman via phone, text, email, Twitter, and online video. Will we survive and—more importantly—will it make us want to see the movie “Kill Me Three Times”?

We flicker through 30 years of film intros to watch the evolution of the Disney logo from static to CGI to fully customized. Break out your copies of “Snow Dogs” and “Lilo & Stitch” because we’re going logo-ing!

We pit four fast food chains against each other in a bracket to determine whose weird marketing effort won the month of March. Get ready for some competitive beef, sweat and grease, baby!

We swipe, tap and laugh through four decades of Saturday nights spanning from Belushi to Murphy to Carvey to Sandler to Ferrell to Fey to Samberg to Wiig. Whew. Live from Monsters Unlimited its Speaking Human!

We nod off to the intriguing sounds, noises and grumblings of Jeff Bridges as he shows us how to bring our wildest dreams to life on the World Wide Web. Bio-digital jazz, man!

We veer off the road while gazing at outdoor ads covered in diamonds, human hair, and cans of snot. That’s right, baby—we’re bringing billboards back. Yeah!

We blitz the big game to find out which brands got the most out of their million-dollar investment on Super Bowl Sunday. And if that’s not enough incentive to listen… there’s gonna be puppies!

We rewind through the labyrinth of 2014, dodging soccer balls, ice buckets and Ebola to uncover all that was awesome in marketing this year. Get ready for the first annual Speaking Human Awesome Awards!

We pilot our X-wings into the Star Wars universe for 90 mouth-watering seconds of mysterious wonder to explore the power of teaser marketing. The force is strong with this episode.

We compute the new tagline that has Android aiming to unite all the unique people of the world by plugging them into the same mobile operating system. Don’t worry storm troopers, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for…

We terrify our listeners with blood-curdling reactions to the latest gruesome collection of horrifying Halloween commercials from ravenous brands who want to rip out your eyeballs, hold your beating heart in their hands and devour the dollars in your wallet.

We ride in a Fiat through a magical and twitchy world of crazy beats, horse heads and angry robots, all in hot pursuit of endless fun. My brain is melting!!!

We behold the amazing transformation that takes place when a caterpillar called Clear Channel creates a cocoon and emerges as the butterfly known as iHeartMedia.

We grunt with everyone’s favorite Austrian bodybuilder, former governor and 80s action star as he flexes his comic muscle in a new marketing campaign for Realestate.com Australia. Get to the chopper!!!

We stare endlessly at the recently redesigned Airbnb logo in hopes of seeing all the strange interpretations that have surfaced on social media. Oh my god, I do see it! It looks like a…

We declare our brand winners of the bloody, sweaty and hard-fought marketing battle that was the 2014 World Cup. Victory!

We marvel at the magnificent Marvel marketing machine by thoroughly examining Thor’s new anatomy, gauging audience expectations for Guardians of the Galaxy, and getting amped up early for the ultimate superhero sequel. Avengers assemble!

We toast our 21st episode by taking 21 shots, jumping in a Dodge Charger with the Duke boys, and watching them outrun the law while surfing Autotrader.com. Yee-haw!!!

We crash the World Cup to explore how Beats by Dre managed to become the world’s coolest brand by getting banned from the world’s biggest marketing stage. Goooooooaaaaaaaalllllllllllllll!

On this episode of the Speaking Human marketing podcast, we celebrate the arrival of summer by sitting around the campfire, singing along to the S’more Song, and discussing DQ’s new marketing campaign. It’s gonna be a hot one!

We imbibe the latest packaging innovations from top beverage brands. We verify the icy-coldness of Coca-Cola; warm up to the holiday season with Starbucks; and get drunk on originality with Absolut vodka. Chug! Chug! Chug!

We celebrate and denigrate the latest bizarre celebrity-brand pairings. We ride in a Dodge Durango with Ron Burgundy; watch Jean Claude Van Damme make a double impact for Volvo; and try on clothes made from cool by Christopher Walken. Wowie. Wow. Wow.

We discuss the high-stakes game of summer movie marketing. We’ll tell you what blockbuster marketing drove our butts to cinema seats and what films flopped at inspiring us to leave our air-conditioning and HDTVs.

We peep into the marketing future and catch a glimpse of Oreo dipping its cookies into robotics, Lexus driving the red carpet at the Oscars, and Google converting us into a culture of cross-eyed nerds.

Today on Speaking Human, GE rounds up some familiar robot faces, Apple plays ping pong with Venus and Serena, and Planet Fitness sounds the alarm on lunks.

Today on a very special episode of Speaking Human, we bust out the barbecue, beer barrels and body paint to cheer wildly as a band of vicious competitors vie for glory on Super Bowl Sunday. That’s right, we’re talking about the brutal battle for brand supremacy during the big game. Find out who came out on top and who just flushed millions down the Porta-John.

Today on Speaking Human, Hasbro forces us to fight for the right to use the iron in Monopoly; Axe Body Spray sends us into space smelling really good; and Zicam makes us do battle with a boogery beast.

Now if you’ve listened to the podcast before, you know that we usually kick off each show by taking on the latest Mortal Marketing News then unleashing the fury of our Superhuman Review. But in this episode we’re throwing that format out the window to end the year in big, bold, epic Speaking Human-style by exploring the good, the bad, and the ugly underbelly of marketing in 2012. That’s right, folks – it’s our BEST OF THE YEAR BLOWOUT BONANZA!

Today on Speaking Human, we flashback to the decade of alt rock, Topanga and Jumanji, exchange LOLs and OMGs with the Pope on Twitter, and celebrate the holidays with Clark Griswold and a pair of Old Navy pop pants.

Today on Speaking Human, we crown social media king of the porcelain palace, celebrate twenty years of finger-tapping talk, and get brand-brainwashed by the rhythm and motion of the most-watched YouTube video of all time.

Today on Speaking Human, we hold a memorial for a snack food thought to be indestructible, debate whether we or you should get a Wii U, and try to determine if mobile devices are destroying our souls. And in a last hurrah before the apocalypse, we watch in awe as Black Friday goes nuclear and swallows Thanksgiving whole.

This week on Speaking Human, our heads spin as we watch Target take product placement to a whole new level, our man-minds get blown away when we find out the joy, adventure and “blue water” women experience once a month are all a corporate lie, and, finally, our lightsabers go dim as we discover the disturbing news that Luke Skywalker and Minnie Mouse are actually brother and sister! NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!

This week on Speaking Human, it’s all video all the time. We watch as Snoop Dogg hawks Hot Pockets, Goldblum grumbles about the glories of Paypal, and Felix Baumgartners’ extreme space jump burns up YouTube records on the wings of Red Bull. Geronimo!!!!!!!

This week on Speaking Human, we tune you in to the increasing static at Dish Network, fill you in on how Facebook will help fulfill your future wants, and discretely delve into the mother of all scandalous smartphone map controversies: Mapplegate.

This week on Speaking Human, we catch a buzz from all the extra bucks handed out by Starbucks, diagnose some common mistakes companies should avoid like the plague on their websites, and take a shot at the latest contributions from Amazon and Toys R Us to the tablet BOOM.

This week on Speaking Human, we talk about the billion-dollar bite Apple took out of Samsung, discuss the infectious Internet virus that is “Call Me Maybe”, and review the zombie marketing war AMC has waged against Dish Network.

This week on Speaking Human, we create incredibly unreal expectations for the future of this podcast and take a crunchy bite out of Triscuit’s new “Topper’s Tantrum” marketing campaign.