Hi, this is Jim and Tucson. The Sound of Young America is an independent production supported by

listeners like you and me. If you'd like to donate to support the show, visit MaximumFund.org

and click on donate. Live on tape from my house in Los Angeles. I'm Jesse Thorn and this is

The Sound of Young America from MaximumFund.org.

It's The Sound of Young America. I'm Jesse Thorn. This week, my guest is Terry O'Reilly.

His CBC radio show The Age of Persuasion is a dense, funny history of the world of advertising.

Before we get to our conversation, let's hear a sample from his show.

It was the late 60s. Richard Nixon was sworn into office. All of her won the best picture Oscar.

True Domainia was cooling. If you were looking for John and Yoko, why you'd find them in bed

at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel. It was a time of ceaseless motion of boundless,

often rudderless energy, colliding philosophies of hateful love and endless war.

In this turbulent climate, the folks at time incorporated had an idea. They decided to hold a

contest to create an ad in the public interest. Ad agencies were invited to enter.

The stakes were plenty attractive. The winning team would receive $25,000 and a bus

of Johannes Gutenberg. The winning entry would run as a full-page ad.

The winner was all-text. Two columns of large bowl type under the enormous black

headline sandwiched between two thick red lines. The ad was written by Bob Levinson and

arch-directed by Len Serowitz of Doyle-Dan Burnback. Its headline was created by Bob's brother,

Larry Levinson. And I'll bet you a nickel that nobody, and I mean nobody, knew what was coming.

The headline? Do this or die. It's the sound of young America. I'm Jesse Thorn. My guest on the

program is Terry O'Reilly. He's a legend in the world of radio advertising. I'm probably over

playing that a little bit. And also the host of the CBC program, The Age of Persuasion, which

...