
Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories
Subscribe in ParasocialFree on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Once it is installed, tap this link again and the show is yours. Already have it? Open in Parasocial.
About
Compelling tales from the world of public relations, marketing and branding, told by the well-meaning communications professionals who lived them. Lead Balloon is like Freakonomics for communicators and media consumers. It's a show where we tell stories from communications industry leaders, brands that everyone knows and loves (or hates), and spectacular PR disasters. With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis (nominated for "Best Indie Podcast Host" at the 2026 Podcast Academy awards) revisits epic PR disasters, intense communications scenarios, professional inflection points and notable campaigns we all remember, and usually finds a reason to chuckle. Because...
Also on
Recent episodes
- 72. Bald as a Brand: What is Baldmaxxing and Why Should Marketers Pay Attention? w/ Harry James and Brennan Johnson
- 71. America's Brand: Reclaiming Patriotism for Regular Americans, with Joe Trahan (APR Fellow PRSA)
- 70. How to Go Viral and Not Screw Up Your Kid's Life, with the Original "Hysterical Bubbles" Laughing Baby (All Grown Up)
- 69. How the Snapple Brand Won Our Hearts in the 90s, Then Lost Them
- 68. Seth Rogen Film, The Interview, Sparks a North Korean Hack Attack and a Hollywood PR Debacle for Sony Pictures' CEO
- 67. Coca-Cola's Master's Tournament Sponsorship Triggers 2002 Boycott Threat, with Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk
- 66. Cracks in the ICE: Legal Observers in Minneapolis Use the First Amendment to Swing Public Opinion About Immigration Crackdown
- 65. Delicious Redemption: Getting Fired for an Infamous PBR Tweet Made Corey Smale the CCO at Garage Beer
- 64. The Wikipedia Prank: Why the Internet Mistakenly Thought the Movie Good Luck Chuck was Based on Ben Kollenbroich
- 63. A.I. Podcast Host Invasion: Inception Point's Business Model & the Podcast Industry's Reaction