This month's Everyday Person is another friend to Pop-Culture-Corn…and someone with unique insights into the media world. Emily Dunne works as a media planner in the advertising industry and she graciously agreed to give our readers a glimpse "behind the curtain" into the glitzy advertising underworld. Forthcoming, frank and glamorous-that's our Em. She's also got some strong opinions on movies, music and living life as the girlfriend of a rock star. Her boyfriend's band, the Jesters, is always gigging around Chicagoland. If you're in the area, come out and see them sometime. Who knows-you might just run into Emily too, and you can argue with her about how George is actually the best Beatle.

Remember, if you know of an Everyday Person who would enjoy being grilled by the crack team of PCC interrogators, drop us an E-mail (matt@pccmag.com). We'd love to hear from you.

What inspired you to go into advertising as a career? How long have you wanted to be in the ad game?

I've wanted to be in advertising ever since I took an introductory advertising course at Northwestern during my freshman year. It was a basic class that covered all different aspects and departments of an agency. So while I didn't know what area I wanted to focus on, it sparked my interest in advertising as a career. And as I've always enjoyed great, creative ads, I thought that being involved in this field would be exciting. Boy, was I wrong! (No, just kidding.)

I know you studied journalism as well to get your marketing degree. What turned you off about journalism?

Actually, my degree isn't in marketing, but in journalism. Unfortunately, there is no undergraduate advertising or marketing program at Northwestern. What turned me off about journalism? It just didn't pique my interest the way advertising did. I found that the journalism students I knew were very into the field as a profession and even as a lifestyle, and journalism just didn't do it for me. I also found writing under deadline to be extremely stressful - not to say that there's not stress in any field, but as a person who typically thrives on stress, this was a kind of stress I did not enjoy. I also didn't want to begin my career writing obituaries at some podunk newspaper.

What does your job entail? Is it fun?

I'm a media planner for Orville Redenbacher and Swiss Miss. The old adage of media planning is getting "the right message out to the right people at the right time." So basically, the media planner decides how to best reach a certain target. Say for example that a product has a target of men age 21-29 - we would decide what is the best media vehicle or combination of vehicles to reach that target. If we select television, we need to determine what time of day these guys are watching TV, which programs, which cable channels. Which magazines are they reading? We decide how to allocate our client's advertising budget to efficiently achieve their goals. This might sound simple enough, but you wouldn't believe how much research and number-crunching goes behind it. It's not as easy as saying, "Oh, I think men age 21-29 are reading Sports Illustrated and watching ESPN." You always have to back it up with numbers and explore a variety of options.

I enjoy what I do. I'm more of an analytical, strategic thinker, so I enjoy this process of media selection. And there are definitely a lot of perks. Magazine sales reps who want us to recommend their books to our clients sometimes take us out for lunch or manicures, throw parties, bring us little tchochkies. Some of my supervisors have even gone on fully-paid ski trips or spa weekends. It's a nice bonus.

What was your favorite of this past January's big Super Bowl ads? Why do you think it worked so well?

I personally liked the Tropicana ad with the grandmother jogging and flipping over cars. Although I've read some reviews that said it was unclever, unfunny and uninteresting, I happen to think it was quite funny. I like seeing things that are unexpected, like an old lady doing flips. I also liked the Oldsmobile parody of the Gap commercials, the one with the group of sullen-looking teenagers singing about cars against a stark white background. Advertising that makes fun of advertising is always good in my book.

What's your personal feeling on what makes for great advertising?

With the proliferation of media outlets and advertising, it has become increasingly difficult to make a meaningful impact with advertising. Good advertising has to somehow rise above the clutter. It can't be the same old thing that has been done a million times before - it needs to be fresh and novel. It also can't take itself too seriously. But what do I know, I don't create ads, I just decide where to place them.

What's it like to date a rock star? Does he get a lot of groupies?

It's fun to go to shows and see him perform. There's something very attractive about a talented musician. It helps that I actually enjoy the music they play. But groupies? Not any that I know of...

I know your favorite Beatle is probably Paul…why is that?

It comes down to John and Paul, of course. To me, Paul is much more of a gentle soul than John was. I once read somewhere that John used to sit in bars in Liverpool, get drunk, and yell racial slurs. I also have a problem with his and Yoko's treatment of Julian vs. Sean. Sean was their golden child - John took time off from music to help raise him - yet he was a shitty father to Julian. And now Yoko treats Julian as if he's not really John's son. Both John and Paul are geniuses, but there's something about Paul that seems more genuine and likeable to me strictly on a personal level. His relationship with Linda was inspiring, and his grief after her death was quite touching.

What other kinds of music are you into?

You know the Beatles are my favorite. I also really enjoy Irish music - The Pogues and The Chieftains particularly. I like a variety of things - Madonna is great - I've always liked Bad Religion - Liquid Soul - practically anything from the '80s (yes, it's true) - and of course, The Jesters (I've gotta plug them, you know!).

What was your favorite movie of last year?

Hands down, The Matrix. It was absolutely brilliant, both visually and conceptually. It not only explored complex issues such as reality, perception and conformity - but it had great special effects, bleak urban landscapes and people with cool names in cool outfits.

Who do you think should win the Best Picture Oscar?

Although I haven't seen many of the movies that have been nominated, I'm a big fan of American Beauty. It's so funny, dark, tragic and edgy in its examination of what goes on behind the well-manicured lawns of suburbia. Not too mention that the acting and cinematography were brilliant.

Have you ever shot a man for snorin'?

No, I haven't, but I'd get pissed at a man for falling asleep while I'm talking - don't you hate when that happens???