The Bad Pod, An Advertising Podcast
We're here to talk about the bad, the ugly, and what good advertising actually is with insight from the industry’s top creative minds.
Hosts Amelia and Brian are ad agency creatives on a mission to talk to every capable creative director, copywriter extraordinaire, art directing dynamo, swiss army social strategist, ECD, CCO, PFD, and SOS about what the f&$k a good ad—and ad industry—even looks like.
The Bad Podcast seeks to answer the question that echoes through every corner of the creative world: is this good?
- Average duration
- 61 minutes
- Episodes
- 87
- Years Active
- 2025
Rhonda Hiatt, Global CEO of M+C Saatchi Consulting, on Cultural Power, Crisis Navigation & Creative Leadership
This time, we sit down with Rhonda Hiatt, Global CEO of M+C Saatchi Consulting and CEO of Clear. From mowing lawns in the Midwest to helming a global consultancy and opening a restaurant on the side,…
"Brand as a Rorschach Test" with Tom Suharto, Global Strategy Lead at Forsman & Bodenfors
In this episode of The Bad Podcast, An Advertising Podcast, we get inside the mind of Tom Suharto, Global Strategy Lead at Forsman & Bodenfors. From cutting his teeth in research to leading strategy …
"Think Local, Act Global" with Erin Williams, Global XD at McDonald's
Our Favorite Stories
- Erin’s unconventional path to advertising—starting with an English and film degree, moving to Chicago, and launching a scrappy startup before breaking into UX.
- The “hot cake” corpo…
Todd Kolm, Frameworks for Finding the Right Problem
Our Favorite Stories:
- Hotboxing the next blockbuster idea: starting a career at the tail end of the "Mad Men" era in digital healthcare advertising. Working with Rich Norman, Todd learned how Allegra …
"Playing with Platforms" with Chuck Monn, CCO at R&R Partners
Happy New Year, we hope you've had a fantastic holiday filled with much deserved rest, good food, and even better company.
We're starting 2025 with strong with TBWA veteran-turned-indy CCO Chuck Monn…
An Infinite Canvas: The Future of Collaborative Storytelling with AI ft. Alec Pollak, EVP at NEON, an IPG Health Company
Our Favorite Stories
- Alec's journey as the "Photoshop kid" at Grey Entertainment, helping build the Batman movie's first website.
- His reflections on surviving the Web 1.0 era and the exciting chaos of …
"Straight-A student with a bad mouth" with Chris Eichenseer, Founder & CD at Someoddpilot
Our favorite stories:
- From record label & photography studio to ad agency; shaping incredible brands like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork to now Kimberly-Clark and Patagonia
- Renting a $700/month, 2,000 sq …
Jargon Monoxide with "MC" Melissa Cabral
Our favorite stories:
- Mass media shaped by sight-sound imagery, inspired by watching a ton of TV and critiquing the commercials as much as watching the programming. Recalling jingles, surgery cartoon…
From CEO to Psychoanalyst with Tom Doctoroff, ex-JWT Asia
"If you got one foot in tomorrow and one foot in yesterday, then you're squattin' on today." - Brian's grandma
Our favorite stories:
- 3x author, professor, and agency chief turned clinical therapist
- O…
"Please Stay Dumb and Curious" with Micky Ogando, Founder/CCO of Bakery
Our favorite stories:
- "I started Bakery when I was 27... I didn't know how to do anything but I thought I knew how to do everything better than everyone else."
- "If you're from a place like the Dominic…
"Sketchbook Theo is the best Theo" with Theo Gibson, ECD at Joan Creative
Theo Gibson, ECD of Joan Creative and visual artist Bank Moody, joins us from Joan's NYC office to share his Jedi-like wisdom around authentic artistic creation, and how it has served him during an a…
Lameya Chaudhury, Head of Social Impact, Lucky Generals (UK)
This episode, we sit down with Lameya Chaudhury, the driving force behind social impact at Lucky Generals, the UK-based advertising agency known for work that doesn't just resonate—it challenges perc…
"Doing one great thing a year" with JoRoan Lazaro, ECD at Experience.Monks
Multi-hyphenate creative legend JoRoan Lazaro, ECD of Experience.Monks joins us to talk all things emerging technology, career lifecycles, and getting his start AOL in a time when UX design was still…
Multi-Cultural Marketing is Marketing with Suzie Bao
Suzie Bao, IW Group's new VP Account Director for McDonald's stopped by the Bad Pod to talk about...
- Joy work; engaging career growth and creativity with a focus on multicultural representation
- Lessons…
"Not everyone can eat a creative idea" with Matt Johnson, Co-Founder of HAYMAKER
You'll be glad you caught this one. Matt Johnson has paved his ad career as a strategist and now agency founder with determination, humility, and of, course, a heaping helping of creativity. He cut h…
Episode 69 - Clint Runge, Founder at Archrival - Youth Culture Agency
- Introducing our guest all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska… Clint Runge, CEO & Founder of Archrival!
- Turns out, advertising was a second chapter for Clint, who actually started out in architecture and d…
Episode 68 - Amelia's Farewell!
After 3 years and over 60 guest interviews, The Bad Pod co-founder, Amelia is leaving the podcast.
AND Eric L. Hu, Head of Strategy FinTech at Walmart and our episode 37 guest from August '22, is ta…
Episode 67 — The Next Evolution of the Creator Economy with Ryan J. Mack, CCO at Made In Network
Look no further than this episode's thumbnail image to see that Ryan Mack likes doing things differently. And it's that ability to go with his gut, even and especially when unconventional, that has u…
Episode 66 - Making Advertising More Accessible with Sarah Latz & Francesca Piancone of Book180 Portfolio School
It's the Happiest of New Years here at The Bad Pod because we finally got to sit down with the co-founders of our long-time sponsors, Book 180!
Sarah Latz & Francesca Piancone were PR & Agency profess…
Episode 65 - Brand Strategy with Ian Baer: Insights from a 35-Year Veteran
In episode 65 of The Bad Pod, An Ad Pod, we delve into the mind of Ian Baer, an advertising maven with a storied 35-year career at the helm of industry giants like Publicis and TBWA. Ian recounts ho…