Walk through the office asking female co-workers who they think the office Christian Grey is. Once they vote, invite that person into the studio and play the audio for them to get their natural reaction. Then ask your office Christian Grey to read some of the naughtier passages in the book. Thanks to Ryno and Tracy, KYGO, Denver, for this terrific, very topical idea.
With the Oscars coming up, the appropriate member of your show should give the audience a happy ending. They describe to the caller the ending of a happy movie. The listener just has to guess the movie to win. Go to IMDB’s page for highest growing movies of all times (here) and cull the list for appropriate ones.
With winter in full force here’s a promotion you can do once March/April hits and your listeners cars are dirty from the weather. This especially works if you’re targeted at female listeners as “eye candy” is involved, partially naked men! It’s called “Hot Guys Cleaning Dirty Cars”. Find some male models from an agency in town and take over a car wash for a few hours on a Saturday. The guys, dressed only in speedos, clean listener’s dirty cars for a few dollars, then given to a charity. You’ll have an idea totally in sync with what’s happening at that moment (the turn in the weather and dirty cars) and a visual for the TV cameras.
With the not-so-shocking news that SkyMall is headed to bankruptcy court, it’s time to do your part in saving the company whose catalog kept us occupied on so many airplane trips. Find the three least expensive, silliest items in SkyMall. Ask listeners which one you should buy, learn a lot about that product, then craft a major, over-the-top giveaway on the morning show to give it to a lucky listener. The dorkier the item and the bigger way in which you give it out will make it cut through.
Who isn’t tired of the Rob Lowe commercials for Direct TV? If you are, why not put together (with help from listeners) some Rob Lowes they’d never do? A starter list: overly political Rob Lowe, uber-religious Rob Lowe, tourrettes Rob Lowe, I drink bath water Rob Lowe, and I once made a good movie Rob Lowe. Thanks to Kris Rochester of Tony and Kris for this idea.
The new year brings increases in the work salary of some of your listeners. Head off on a two-day mission to find one worthy kid in the audience, get to know him or her, then engage the parents on the show to negotiate a raise in the kid’s allowance. Bartering for an increase would be fun to listen to if you choose the right kid. Codify the raise by also getting a lawyer to draw up a document both kid and parents can sign in the studio to wrap things up.
You have a very short window to do something with resolutions, given how quickly people give them up. Why not choose a cast member who is committed to a resolution and find listeners doing the same. Make the listeners, along with the cast member, a support group, and check on them every day for the next week to see how they’re doing. Choosing fun listeners will make the bit lively and entertaining for all others to hear.
Many shows trade Christmas gifts on-the-air in their last week before the break. This tends to be rather boring for the audience because there’s no win in hearing someone else open a gift they’re not getting. Once you add in a unique angle, designed to create humor, you have a much different dynamic. “Dollar Store Secret Santa” does that. Each cast member chooses another on the team. They can only buy items for that person at your local Dollar Store (and make sure you get the very quirky stuff like off-brand macaroni and cheese or brake fluid).
This time of year, it’s typical for you to gather audio from kids about Santa and the holiday season. Edit together their cute responses and you have great breaks. Here are some new questions you can ask kids this year, which might get edgier, cuter answers: who do you think is Santa’s least favorite reindeer and why? Santa tells us your brother/sister is on his naughty list. What did they do to get there? What do you think Santa does in July? Santa is trying to lose weight and doesn’t want you to leave him milk and cookies. What will you put out for him that night? Your sister gets six gifts from Santa and you’ll get eight. How do you think she’ll react?
Something bouncing around on the web challenges parents to let their kids have four Christmas gifts this year. Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. For those who are parents of Santa-believers on your show, have them get their kids to call Santa to decide one thing in each of those four categories. They call St. Nick with the parent out of the room. You then grab the audio of the call to Santa to play for your listeners, with the parent attempting to predict the item the kid will choose in each category before you air it to see how well they know their children.