Lateral with Tom Scott
119: A horse/deer dilemma
Jan 17, 2025
Julian O’Shea, a Melbourne-based city design YouTuber, joins Dani Siller and Bill Sunderland from 'Escape This Podcast.' They tackle quirky topics like bizarre food theft prevention and marketing campaigns, including Burger King’s Moldy Whopper. The trio shares playful anecdotes about unusual culinary ideas, like the 'Earth sandwich,' and explore a humorous historical tale about a deer presented as a horse. Their banter brings laughs while delving into cultural oddities and the intricacies of politics and perceptions in governance.
51:30
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Quick takeaways
- The unconventional 'Moldy Whopper' campaign effectively increased sales by showcasing the absence of artificial preservatives, challenging traditional advertising norms.
- A historic anecdote about Zhao Gao's deer-and-horse ploy illustrates the complex political dynamics and loyalty tests within the imperial court.
Deep dives
Unusual Marketing Success
A restaurant chain in 2020 displayed photos of their food covered in mold, which surprisingly resulted in a 4% increase in sales. This unconventional marketing strategy aimed to highlight the absence of artificial preservatives in their offerings, with the tagline emphasizing the 'beauty of no artificial preservatives.' The campaign, known as the 'Moldy Whopper,' became quite notable as it challenged conventional advertising norms. Such a bold move sparked discussions on consumer psychology and the unexpected ways that branding can influence purchasing behavior.
