Linda Kaplan Thaler: The Woman Behind the Aflac Duck, Term “Kodak Moment” & Shampoo Orgasms | Up+Adam

From Up + Adam with Adam Montiel · 0:21:49

Show by Adam Montiel

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParkingAdvertising legend Linda Kaplan Thaler joins Adam Montiel for a wildly fun and surprisingly personal conversation about creativity, courage, rejection, resilience, and the 30-second moments that can change everything.Linda is the creative force behind some of the most recognizable advertising of the last several decades, including the Aflac Duck, Herbal Essences’ unforgettable “Yes, Yes, Yes” campaign, the Toys “R” Us jingle, and work that helped turn “Kodak moment” into part of the cultural vocabulary. In this conversation, she takes Adam behind the scenes of how those ideas actually happen, including the moment someone started quacking “Aflac” in a creative meeting, why laughter and play can be essential to great ideas, and how she once walked into a room full of conservative executives and declared that only an orgasm could save a dying shampoo brand.But this conversation goes well beyond advertising. Linda shares the lesson an early boss taught her about resilience after telling her that her first work was terrible, why the best new ideas are often rejected at first, how improv’s “yes, and” philosophy can unlock creativity, and why she has learned to treat failure as something to move through rather than something to fear. Her phrase for it is simple: “failing forward.”Her new memoir, My Life in 30 Seconds, takes the lessons of a legendary advertising career and distills them into bite-sized stories about grit, creativity, kindness, reinvention, and trusting yourself long enough to see where an unlikely idea might lead. As Linda tells Adam, you do not have to be born brilliant or naturally creative to accomplish extraordinary things. Sometimes resilience is the real superpower.Linda Kaplan Thaler is an Advertising Hall of Famer, founder and former CEO and Chief Creative Officer of The Kaplan Thaler Group, and the first woman to receive the Clio Lifetime Achievement Award. Her new book, My Life in 30 Seconds, is out now.• Linda Kaplan Thaler: kaplanthalerproductions.com• Instagram: @lindathaler3• Buy My Life in 30 Seconds in paperback: Barnes & Noble• Book information and additional ordering options: Linda Kaplan Thaler official website********Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:Official Website: adammontiel.comApple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple PodcastsSpotify: Up+Adam on SpotifyiHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadioYouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music********CHECK OUT OUR WOODS HUMANE PET OF THE WEEK!********ADAM’S TEDX VIDEO IS HERE!********FOLLOW ADAM ON INSTAGRAM*********Sincere Thanks to the current supporters of Up + Adam. Please take a moment and visit them and thank them for supporting local broadcasting, and valuing what we do here. Thank you for supporting them!Life ElementsCity of SLOWoodsHumaneSocietyTin City DistilleryOriginal Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner CollectiveMoonshiner on Spotify HEREPlease Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com©2026 Up+Adam with Adam Montiel / LoBro Studios, All Rights Reserved.

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