In the Media

Media inquiries | Featured commentary | Archives

Media inquiries

Making sense of brands, consumers, and the marketplace.

Why do consumers boycott brands they once loved? How do companies navigate controversy? What makes marketing campaigns succeed, backfire, or become part of popular culture?

As a professor of marketing and consumer behaviour at the University of Ottawa, I offer research-informed perspectives on branding, consumer trends, marketplace controversies, and public policy. Over more than 25 years and 400 media interviews, I’ve helped journalists make sense of the forces shaping consumer behaviour and the marketplace.

Media inquiries: Journalists and producers are welcome to contact me at mulvey@uottawa.ca.

Explore the University of Ottawa’s Experts on Call database, featuring more than 500 researchers available to provide expert commentary on current events and emerging issues.

Featured commentary

A. Brands, Identity & Controversy

IKEA’s Cultural Heist
Newsweek | 2025
How can brands use humour and cultural references to engage consumers and strengthen brand identity?

Tesla’s Identity Crisis
CFRA | 2025 | 11-minute interview
How does a brand built around innovation and disruption respond when its leader becomes a source of consumer polarization?

The Great One’s Brand on Thin Ice
CP24 | 2025 | 5:42-minute interview
How can a celebrity’s commercial and political associations reshape the meaning of a carefully cultivated personal brand?

Nike Gambling That Controversy Will Sell
CTV News | 2018
When does taking a stand on social issues strengthen a brand rather than alienate consumers?

B. Marketplace Changes

Consumer Activists Rally to Boycott a Grocery Chain
CBC News | 2024
What motivates consumer boycotts, and when can they influence corporate behaviour?

The Rise of De-influencers
CTV News Ottawa Morning | 2023
What happens when social media influencers gain credibility by discouraging consumption rather than encouraging it?

Cross-Border Shopping in the Age of E-Commerce
BNN | 2016
How is e-commerce transforming cross-border shopping and competition among retailers?

Marketing Smackdown
The Star-Ledger | 2002 | Front-page feature
How did professional wrestling turn storytelling and fan engagement into marketing success?

C. Marketing, Public Policy & Society

The Threats of Sports Betting
CBC Radio | 2025 | 10-minute interview
How does sports betting advertising affect vulnerable consumers, and what safeguards are needed?

Black-Market Cannabis Edibles
CBC’s The National | 2018
How do marketing and product design shape consumer perceptions of cannabis edibles?

The Business of Cannabis
CPAC | 2018 | 12-minute interview
How do businesses build brands and cultivate consumer demand in newly legalized and highly regulated markets?