This isn’t the most important item you’ll read about here today, but I’ve been wondering about that very bizarre spot that seems to run every 15 minutes on every Toronto radio station, featuring financial guru and motivational speaker Tony Robbins tubthumping his upcoming visit to the city.
 
I would never pay a dime to see him, but the commercial irritates me because it sounds like he’s talking into a speaker phone. He’s so far off mic that every time it comes on, I find myself wishing someone would tell him to move closer to whatever he’s yelling into. As a former radio producer, it drives me crazy – and as most people here will tell you, that’s not a very long drive!
 
It’s possible they did it on purpose – it definitely does grab the ear, almost like an out-of-focus camera shot would during a TV newscast. But not in a good way, since I think it detracts from the successful image he's trying to project.

For a guy who supposedly made a fortune telling other people how he did it, you’d think he could afford a decent microphone.