Popping Corn Under The Influence
• It’s been a minute since we caught up with reigning iHeartRadio super-influencers Rizzo & Jeff, former afternoon drive team on iHeartMedia Hot Talk WAIO (Radio 95.1)/Rochester, NY, who, despite being temporarily without a daily radio platform have not slowed down a bit in their daily digital endeavors.
Their latest major influencer victory is the culmination of six years of effort — the induction of the iconic Fisher-Price Corn Popper — the plaything of virtually every well-adjusted child on earth since 1957 — into the Rochester-based National Toy Hall of Fame — yes, it’s a thing. Other 2023 Toy HOF inductees include the NERF ball, Cabbage Patch Kids, and baseball cards.
The Fisher-Price Corn Popper, that push toy that encourages babies to walk, was finally chosen by fans — helped, in no small part by the ongoing efforts of Rizzo & Jeff, who freely admit to having a weirdly particular fondness for this item. As Rizzo explains to RAMP, “Since 2018 Jeff and I have been on a crusade to have the Corn Popper inducted, and each year, it doesn’t even make the finals, let alone the Top Five.”
Fast forward to 2023, and Rizzo & Jeff took their battle directly to the source, doing an on-air interview with Chris Bensch, VP of Collections and Chief Curator of the Toy Hall of Fame. Then, after losing their radio platform due to budget cuts, the guys redoubled their efforts as digital influencers of the year and used their power on social media to get the population of Rochester involved and their fans from all over to vote!
Rizzo added, “We lead the crusade for the Corn Popper, and it came out on top! And we did this while out of work — that’s the power of digital and our grip on this audience.”
BTW: Rizzo & Jeff are still looking for a new situation and can be reached at rizzoontheradio@gmail.com or via their agent, Keith Kauffman at Keith@workhousemedia.com. [Toy photo courtesy National Toy Hall of Fame]
