YouTube review: Company Man channel

The Can't Turn it Off producer, Thomas, is co-host of more than one podcast on the Jersey Studios network. On a recent episode of the Brain Invaders podcast, he recommended a YouTube channel called Company Man.

He had recommended it to me a while ago, and I had failed to sample its offerings at the time. I finally made a point to do so not so long ago. 

The channel's description: "Videos on interesting topics in business and marketing of well known companies."

Sounds rather dull, doesn't it? 

Well, it's not, and its creator or creators have had no problem turning out videos, most in the 10- to 12-minute range, about interesting topics. 

Some of the videos explore simple questions, such as why there are two different names for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, when they're essentially the same restaurant.

Other videos examine why Costco is so successful, or Gatorade has such a huge presence in the sports drink market. 

Conversely, there are videos examining why ESPN and Kmart have declined, or why iHeartMedia and Toys R Us have filed bankruptcy. 

Some of the answers may seem obvious, but there are not-so-obvious reasons, as well, and Company Man attempts to address those. 

I sampled a handful of videos in a week, and here are my impressions, in no particular order. 

Costco: The examination of its success pointed out obvious things, yet they were things I didn't really consider about its business model. While Costco seems to be a flourishing company that is doing very well, the video shows how its business volume compares to other major companies, which helped me better appreciate how successful it is in the U.S. retail landscape. 

I'm no business expert, so I can't speak to how definitive the overview is, but I was skeptical about the analysis of its business model, and how important the annual membership fee is to the overall financial success of the company. 

Interesting tidbits, but overall an underwhelming video.

Toys R Us: An interesting analysis of how the company wound up in bankruptcy and why it's not simply Amazon's fault. I learned a few things about the once might toy retailer, mostly because I have never cared, for even a minute, about the company or its history. 

The mystery gimmick: This video wasn't what I expected. Instead of exploring the origin and growth of the mystery bag or box that fans of Disney, Star Wars or Marvel buy, with limited to no knowledge of what they'll receive inside, the video was about how and why companies produce mystery flavored products, such as the mystery flavor of Dum Dum suckers. There was a bit of interesting trivia behind the production of mystery flavored Dum Dums, but overall this wasn't a particularly informative video, or particularly entertaining.

MTV: This was the first video I watched, as I was curious to hear his explanation of how the cable network evolved from a music video showcase to another cable channel full of "reality" programming and scripted drama. 

The video suggests MTV wouldn't have survived as a video channel in this day and age of YouTube and other streaming platforms, and I don't disagree. I don't think MTV is ever praised for being a visionary network that was years ahead of the technological curve, but Company Man leads you to think that.

The video touches on early attempts at programming outside of continuous video play, but does a mediocre job of explaining the evolution. You would think it took years for MTV to consider programmed blocks, but the truth is the network knew the value of that in its earliest years. I'm no expert on MTV, but I do know that within a few years of its infancy the channel had programming blocks, just not in the way it does today. For much of the '80s there were daily programs such as "Closet Classics Capsule," "Dial MTV," "Yo, MTV Raps" and "Headbangers Ball." All of these were video shows, but they were either weekday or weekend programs that focused on a targeted genre.

I suspect MTV saw the value of programmed blocks early on. 

Eventually the game show "Remote Control" and the cartoon "Beavis and Butt-Head" were added. They appealed to fans of music, and became appointment television on the MTV schedule. The '90s would bring about non-music programming, such as the dating game show "Singled Out" and the reality show "Real World," and it wasn't long before videos were an afterthought. 

MTV didn't abandon videos in the '90s. "Total Request Live," often known as TRL, became a live, interactive daily request show that was a major late afternoon draw for young music fans, much like the less dynamic "Dial MTV" had been in the '80s.

I'm no TV expert, but I do know it's easier to sell advertising for big bucks when you have a proven commodity that will draw a proven audience on a recurring basis. If I can turn on MTV and watch music videos any time, day or night, there's no reason I need to tune it at 4 p.m. weekdays or 11 p.m. on Saturday. But if I know I can see all the latest, most popular videos at 4 p.m. each weekday afternoon, or can rock out at 11 p.m. on Saturday nights, I'll make a point to be in front of my TV. And that helps MTV sell advertising. 

Again, I'm no expert, but the ability to draw targeted audiences as specific times of the week is a benefit when it comes to selling commercials, and I've always been under the impression that MTV's shift to programs over continuous videos was driven by maximizing its commercial revenue and not due to its foresight into the evolution of how we consume entertainment. 

But Company Man never mentions this. We're left with the impression that MTV was simply ahead of the curve, as if it saw the writing on the wall. I doubt that, but even if the network could predict the future, I believe Company Man leaves out a major influence in MTV's evolution. 

Major fail. 

New Coke: I really enjoyed this video. If you lived through the '80s, unlike my producer, you remember this curious experiment with Coca-Cola in 1985. This chapter in Coke's history hasn't been forgotten, but it really doesn't come up a lot in pop culture conversations, although I suspect it has been a gag in '80s-based movies and television programs more often than I realize. 

I learned a few things about the how and why of Coke's reinvention that I had never heard, and I enjoyed this video a lot. 

Overall I enjoy this channel, I just wouldn't turn to these videos as the definitive word on any of its subjects, no matter how slick and authoritative the presentation is. And that's because, like my own podcast, plenty of things are presented as fact, without a lot of substantiation. 

I try to reference the online sources I look to when I research background and details on the topics of my podcast, but some of my sources are not indisputable, and I don't mention where I gathered every last factoid. 

Company Man doesn't provide much attribution for its information. That's not to say that it's wrong. I have no reason to assume it is, but thus far I've found little attribution, and that doesn't reassure me that every fact and figure cited is correct. As a matter of fact, financial data of bankrupt companies are shown to illustrate points, and the information is probably accurately presented, but I have no idea. I don't have a clue if the host is an expert who knows what he's talking about or making it up as he goes along, and if the sources of his facts and figures are reliable. 

Regardless, Company Man is doing something right. The channel is less than a year old, has nearly 250,000 subscribers and four videos with more than 1 million views. In the crowded world of YouTube, that's impressive. 

Overall I'm entertained and I'll continue to peruse videos with topics that interest me. I won't accept the information within them as gospel, but if the subject piques my interest, perhaps I'll be inspired to do my own follow-up research.

If not, then I'll hope that at minimum I've been the benefactor of great storytelling. And that's something I can really appreciate. 

Learn more about the Weinlicks

Here are links for items mentioned during episode 20 of Can’t Turn it Off.

I talked by phone with the Weinlicks for about 90 minutes, two nights prior to their vow renewal at Mall of America. And I was there to take photographs on that Friday morning last summer. The story I wrote about their marriage, and life afterward, can be found at the following link: tr.im/weinlicks

Christy Hallas, my guest during episode 20, noted that there’s a Caring Bridge blog dedicated to David. You need to be registered/logged into the site in order to read it, but that’s easy to do. tr.im/dweinlick

A GoFundMe campaign has been helping the Weinlicks make ends meet during David’s bout with cancer. tr.im/weinlick

Thanks to a Bloomington, Minnesota, man I'm a fan of Bill Mantlo

If you have listened to episode 18 of Can't Turn it Off, you know the basic connection between me and Bill Mantlo.

If you don't know, you will in a minute.

And if you don't know who Bill is, Google his name and read an article about him, or listen to my crude attempt to encapsulate his life in the Bill Mantlo episode of my podcast.

When I was contemplating the premise of the podcast more than a year ago, I had no idea who Bill is. The fact that I spent a recent episode sharing the story of his remarkable life is nothing short of serendipity.

I found Bill through his connection to a man I met in the fall of 2016. (Their connection may be indirect, but the two men may have met once upon a time.)

As a newspaper reporter covering Bloomington, Minnesota, I would up writing a story about Ky Michaelson. Known by many as "The Rocketman," Ky is a charismatic, colorful character who has accomplished incredible feats, from setting all sorts of speed records with his rocket-powered contraptions to stunt work in Hollywood films. His role in the recreation of Evel Knievel's failed jump over Snake River Canyon, more than four decades after Knievel tried, connected me to Ky. (The 2016 jump was successful, by the way.)

After meeting Ky and his son Buddy, I wrote a story about their participation in the stunt. (Neither of them flew the rocket, "Evel Spirit," over the canyon.) Ky has a website detailing his career, as well as a YouTube channel dedicated to an odd assortment of clips, including some of his many television appearances. I watched some of those clips, including one simply titled "Human Fly."

I was fascinated by the story of a 1970s daredevil whose identity was intended to be a secret. I soon learned through my research the reason why a 1970s television interview of Human Fly was on Ky's YouTube channel. Ky had been involved in the building of a rocket-powered motorcycle for one of Human Fly's stunts nearly four decades earlier. (It has now been a full four decades since that infamous stunt.)

Through my research I also learned that a deal had been brokered between Human Fly's representatives and Marvel Comics to produce a comic book series about the daredevil. As a former Marvel Comics collector, that series came before my time, and I'm not sure I had ever heard of it. But it was another interesting layer to Human Fly's story, which had fascinated me enough to make it the subject of episode 2 of my podcast.

My fascination with Human Fly could have easily ended following the completion of episode 2. But for some reason I was compelled to scour eBay listings to see what comics were available. I found an auction for a handful of well-read issues and bought them, including a copy of issue No. 1. I read issue No. 1, and in it I read a page explaining the premise of the comic, written by Bill, who happened to be not only the writer of the book, but the brains behind the character's origin in the world of Marvel Comics.

I didn't know Bill's name. While I've known a variety of names from the world of comic book publishing, Bill wasn't among them. I was curious as to what ever happened to the guy who penned the tales of a comic book character I was discovering about 40 years after the comic was first published, and that's when I started to learn the amazing tales from Bill's life.

I soon bought a copy of "Mantlo: A Life in Comics" and read it last summer during a vacation. I didn't have to read the book to know that Bill's story was far too good to pass up. I knew that when season 2 of Can't Turn it Off launched, Bill would be the subject of an episode. Since Human Fly was the second subject during season 1, it seemed appropriate that Bill was the second subject of season 2.

I hope my sharing of Bill's story will bring another ounce of appreciation to Bill's contributions to the comic book industry.

While I don't plan on collecting the complete written works of his career, I will finish assembling a 19-issue run of Human Fly comics this spring, one way or another. And I plan to uncover a few of Bill's books from my disregarded, disorganized comic book collection of yesteryear. I know I have a few of his stories in my collection. I have unearthed my copy of Spectacular Spider-Man 64, featuring Cloak and Dagger's first appearance, and I know I have the Cloak and Dagger mini-series Bill wrote. (Bill was the creator of Cloak and Dagger, by the way.)

I'm not Bill's biggest fan, and I'm far from knowledgeable about the man's career, but I have definitely become a fan, and I look forward to unearthing stories from his incredible career in the years to come.

And I have Ky Michaelson to thank for indirectly introducing me to him.