The Firehouse Salon

This episode features an insightful conversation with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death. Discover how Liquid Death's unique approach to humour-driven, engaging, and purpose-driven marketing parallels Gossage’s philosophy. Andy shares his journey from ad school to building a radically creative brand, discussing standout campaigns and the strategy behind Liquid Death’s success. This episode underscores the importance of entertainment and genuine engagement in marketing.00:00 Introduc...

Our latest monthly online meetup bringing together diverse minds come together to discuss topics aimed at broadening perspectives.This episode host Ashley Pollak brings together a fantastic group of humans - Motorbike Innovator Hugo Eccles, Comedian Pierre Hollins, Creative Craftsman Jamie Bell and my Tediophobe Sophie Whippy We delved into the concept of absurdity, particularly how it can be based on either nonsensical or hardworking principles to effectively communicate serious messag...

In this episode hosts Ashley Pollak and James King explore the groundbreaking work of advertising legend Howard Gossage, focusing on his use of absurdity and humour. They discuss how Howard challenged industry norms with campaigns like the Qantas Airlines promotion, where he offered a live kangaroo as a prize, and his partnership with comedian Stan Freberg on the Contadina tomato paste ads, which helped the brand rise to the top of its market. The conversation also covers Howard's Pink Air ca...

We delve into the multifaceted world of attention in today's digital age, traversing the spectrum of focused obsession and casual consumption, unravelling how attention works, its implications for both content creators and consumers.

Join hosts Ashley Polak and James King as they delve into the inventive world of advertising legend Howard Gossage. In this episode, they explore Gossage's unique approach to capturing attention through the ingenious paper airplane competition, created to entice major airlines to advertise in Scientific American. Discover how Gossage's playful and interactive campaign not only met its objectives but also became a cultural phenomenon, drawing entries from around the globe and securing ext...

Welcome to The Firehouse Salon Live. In this episode Emma Stackhouse, Ashley Pollak, Sam Richardson, Adam Skuse, and Justin Obermann discuss how Gossage’s approach to interactive and participatory advertising is still relevant. The panel explores how modern brands can integrate personalisation and tactile experiences, akin to Gossage's use of coupons, in a digital age. They delve into the impact of social media and platforms like LinkedIn, emphasising the importance of bravery in creative mar...

"This is a story about an ad. It also says a good many implicit things about the ad-reading public...You can take a look at the ad hereThe ad is question sang the praises of a certain make of shirt, and it appeared in the New Yorker. In order to demonstrate the excellence of the shirtmaker's workmanship, a handkerchief-sized piece of shirting mysteriously equipped with buttonhole and pocket was offered free to readers who would write in and say what they thought the thing was for. Suddenly th...

Join us as we recreate the Firehouse Salon that Howard Gossage and his gang ran in the 1960s. This month, we will be discussing a campaign created by Gossage which inspired a fashion revolution, and exploring if that's STILL possible today...

A beer company, classical music radio station and clothes manufacturer walk into a bar... and create a never-seen-before product paving the way for fashion in years to come.You can take a look at the ad that started the story hereBut instead of a bar, imagine an ad agency in the heart of San Francisco.And instead of a bartender fixing the drinks, imagine Howard Gossage (ad-man meets Socrates) fixing all their business problems with one simple ad.

In this live edition of the show join recovering journalist Pia Hinckle, New Yorker journalist Nick Romeo, Radio Producer Jago Lee, Writer James King and your host Ashley Pollak as we explore all things radical, including what it means to 'stir the beehive.' 🐝Hinckle gained his reputation as the radical author and editor of Ramparts Magazine - a spectacular San Francisco muckraker that captured the spirit of the 60s and repeatedly scooped the New York Times, revolutionising American journalis...

In this episode we "uncover the largely untold story of Ramparts magazine, the spectacular San Francisco muckraker that captured the zeitgeist of the '60s and repeatedly scooped the New York Times, changing American journalism forever"You can see a selection of the amazing covers from the magazine hereWe interview Peter Richardson who has written critically acclaimed books about the Grateful Dead, Ramparts magazine, and Carey McWilliams, the radical author & journalist of The Nation magaz...

In this live edition Sherry Horowitz and Neil Davidson join our host Ashley to explore how Marshall McLuhan's predictions have to come to pass in the age of AI, and the role that creative people can play in leveraging the possiblities.About the show - We've now got into a rhythm with our format. New episodes will now be released fortnightly on Wednesdays. The Firehouse Salon live events take place the second Thursday of each month.

In this episode we explore the ideas, observations and 'predictions' of Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian professor who Wired magazine called their patron saint.Our hosts on this episode - Ashley Pollak and James King, discuss the relevance of McLuhan's thinking today, sharing archive clips for context. We also are really grateful to Andrew McLuhan for joining us for an interview. Marshall's grandson runs the McLuhan Institute and helps to make much clearer the key tenets of McLuhan and how we c...

Join the Tediophobes and friends as we recreate the Firehouse Salon that Howard Gossage ran with his gang in the 1960s. In this second edition we bring together inspiring speakers to discuss the work of EF Schumacher and debate the idea that growth is an essential part of the global economy. This leads us onto discussion and examples of how thinking small and local can lead to big things.

In this episode we explore the economic concept 'Small is Beautiful' and it's relevance to the Howard Luck Gossage story. Howard always believed in keeping things small. His ad agency for example never grew beyond 12 staff, and his infamous New Yorker ads would run just once. His discovery of an anarchic, philiosopher, economist Leopold Kohr led to his involvement in a revolution in the Carribean. We'll be covering that story about Anguilla in a future episode.In this show we get the chance t...