{"podcast":{"title":"Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories","slug":"lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","podcast_index_feed_id":257456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/leadballoon","website_url":"https://www.podcampmedia.com/leadballoon","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f7f1c742-fa62-11e9-a703-bfe81ccf5509/image/9b1c2168a9233fc4f00a55bbf69dbcc9.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podcamp Media","episode_count":75,"summary":"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 sometimes, there are important lessons to be learned from someone else's worst day. And sometimes, it's just more convenient than group therapy. Lead Balloon is an award-winning program, named by Adweek as \"Marketing Podcast of the Year,\" nominated for a Webby award and nominated twice for \"Best Business Podcast\" in the Podcast Academy awards. Tune in monthly for new episodes. Visit podcampmedia.com/leadballoon to learn more.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T22:19:04.768864+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456"},"episode":{"title":"65. Delicious Redemption: Getting Fired for an Infamous PBR Tweet Made Corey Smale the CCO at Garage Beer","slug":"65-delicious-redemption-getting-fired-for-an-infamous-pbr-tweet-made-corey-smale-the-cco-at-garage-beer","published_at":"2026-01-27T11:07:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/65-delicious-redemption-getting-fired-for-an-infamous-pbr-tweet-made-corey-smale-the-cco-at-garage-beer","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM2582542519.mp3?updated=1769210159","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM2582542519.mp3?updated=1769210159","summary":"It was four years ago that the Twitter account for legendary beer brand Pabst Blue Ribbon tweeted out: \"Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!\" And we're FINALLY talking to the guy who did it. Because Corey Smale—who was promptly fired for the Tweet and owned it publicly—isn't just PBR's ex-social media manager. He's now been named Ad Age's \"Marketer of the Year\" for his current work as Chief Creative Officer at Garage Beer, one of the fastest-growing beer brands in the world. Look, we already covered the PBR \"eating ass\" tweet extensively in episode 30 of this podcast. And Dusty arrived at the conclusion that it might have been a dumb thing to tweet, but it was consistent with the brand voice that management and fans had embraced. Firing Corey was just an act of scapegoating. But in this episode, we'll chart the four-year redemption ordeal that took Corey Smale from social media fall guy… to the creative force behind a growing beverage brand that counts football and podcast sensations Jason and Travis Kelce among its co-owners. Corey will tell us about the very deliberate decision-making that rebuilt his reputation, the uncertainty that comes from missing on a big swing, and the source of the work ethic that has propelled him to the top of the marketing heap. Plus, we'll talk about the creative process behind Garage Beer's deliciously deranged marketing and social media presence, including its \"Brewmite\" martial arts movie, its Predator parody \"Thermal Buzz,\" and a water bed that dispenses beer to one lucky brand fan. Check out the video version if you want to see clips of the creative assets: https://youtu.be/X32LR9Q0SVs Finally, Corey will break a bit of Garage Beer merchandising news—the upcoming launch of its \"Beer Hand,\" a reimagined Nintendo Power Glove desi…","meta_description":"It was four years ago that the Twitter account for legendary beer brand Pabst Blue Ribbon tweeted out: \"Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!\" And we…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2597,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/episodes/65-delicious-redemption-getting-fired-for-an-infamous-pbr-tweet-made-corey-smale-the-cco-at-garage-beer/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/65-delicious-redemption-getting-fired-for-an-infamous-pbr-tweet-made-corey-smale-the-cco-at-garage-beer.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}