Sounds Like A Cult - The Cult of Costco

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

Settle in with a Kirkland brand sparkling water and a rotisserie chicken because this week, Amanda and Chelsea are going IN on the us/them dynamics, strange rituals, manipulation tactics, over-the-top passion, and lore of your favorite membership-only cathedral of affordable excess, Costco. Based on this episode’s fervent listener call-ins alone, it’s clear Costco is more than just a place to buy 500-packs of plastic cups, gold bars, and even your future casket (???) ⚰️ Costco is some people’s entire personality. But has it crossed over into full-blown cult? Tune into our lol-filled analysis to find out.   Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod @amanda_montell @chelseaxcharles @reesaronii Watch the new season of Sounds Like A Cult on YouTube! To order Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, click here. To subscribe to Amanda's new Magical Overthinkers podcast, click here :) Thank you to our sponsors!  Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch, go to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CULT.  Shop the SKIMS bras at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, select "Sounds Like A Cult" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code CULT at checkout

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Hi, my name is Kate. I'm calling from Cincinnati, Ohio. And I think the cultiest thing about Costco is that they sell all of the other culty things, like Disney, everything, vacations and clothes, essential oils, air fryers and paleo, everything. So I feel like they are a gateway to a lot of other cults. Hi, I'm Emily, calling from Girls Point, Woods, Michigan.

I think the cultiest thing about Costco is how loyal people are, including myself to the brand and lifestyle that Costco offers. I've been shopping at Costco my whole life and still remember the day that I got my own Costco membership. It was a day of pure bliss and happiness. I was so excited and I just feel so much joy

when I think about Costco and I go to Costco, it is unmatched. I talk about Costco so much that my friends actually threw me a Costco themed birthday party. My name is Natalia and I'm from Southern California. And I'd say the cultiest thing about Costco are those rotisserie chickens, the ones that used to come in a plastic box, and now they come in a bag and everybody freaked out when that happened. There's even this viral video of this man singing about how the boxes are back because they hated the bags so much.

This is Sounds Like a Cults, a show about the modern day cults we all follow. I'm Amanda Montell, author of the books Cultish and The Age of Magical Overthinking. And I'm Chelsea Charles, an unscripted TV producer and Sounds Like a Cults new co-host. Every week on our show, we analyze a different fanatical fringe group from the cultural zeitgeist,

from Peloton to Purity Rings, to try and answer the big question. This group sounds like a cult, but is it really? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! And if so, which of our three cult categories does it fall into? A live-your-life, a watch your back, or a get-the-fuck-out level cult? After all, in 21st century America, cultiness is everywhere. Cultishness is culting all around. It's not simply on your manson-ass compounds and your satanic basement circle jerks. Cultish influence and manipulation and rituals and the rest could be found in your consumer spending, your consumer habits, cult brands. Have you heard of them? Cult of Trader Joe's, cult of Starbucks,

cult of Amazon. These are episodes that we've done in the past. Today, we're doing another consumer cult. We're doing the cults of Costco because I think we can all agree that there is a frenzy surrounding this wholesale turned retail, buy more fricking coconut waters than you could ever drink in your whole entire life ass grocery store turned religion. And yet the question remains, is there something sinister? Is there a sinister underbelly to Costco? Because it's culty, no doubt about it.

But how bad is it really? I say this as I slowly lift a Kirkland lime sparkling water to my lips. Yep. Electricity in the mouth. Just an electric chair on the tongue. That you don't even like. I fucking hate it. But we're here. We're here. And I'm sweating.

Are you? In my armpits. And I usually don't sweat. Okay. Chelsea's like, get to know me. I'm Flola. JK. You are a Costco member. I am a Costco member.

But what is your relationship to slash impression of this cult followed brand? Okay, so first and foremost, yes, I am a member. The lowest tier though, because I only go for the gas. The gas specifically. Oh, you go for the gas? Yes, only, exclusively. tier though because I only go for the gas. The gas. Oh you go for the gas? Yes. Only. Exclusively. I will park on the curb and wait in the very very long time

consuming line just so that I can save a few extra bucks weekly. And this is what gets me and it's the example that I was going to bring up. When I see people waiting in line for the gas as if they're about to take the splash mountain ride of their lifetime to save what? $3, $4? $3.52. Yes. I'm like, this is clearly about something more than the gas. This is about some transcendent promise or something. Is this about the American dream? Is this about gaming the system? This is about some transcendent promise or something. Is this about the American dream? Is this about gaming the system? Is this about sticking it to the man? I'm not sure, but there is something culty about this zealotry specifically surrounding the gas.

And I find the pizza, a food court in a big box grocery store. What is it? IKEA is another cult followed brand. Absolutely. That we have never done on the show, but there's something about spending so much time while grocery shopping that you need a food court. It's giving compound. You know what I'm saying? It's most definitely a compound.

Okay, but so you're in it mostly for the gas. I'm in it for the gas only. You never step foot in the store. I used to go into Costco and then I realized that it's really, really time consuming. Yeah. I hate being pushed the snacks. I hate it. Because I love snacks. Sure.

And I will buy them all. And I just kind of feel like it's instead of fighting all the moms in the Costco I much rather just go to another neighborhood grocery store and then I'm going to the Costco specifically for the gas That's a boundary that you have to set with Colts. Oh, absolutely my Costco membership is Reluctant I would say and this is why I have this Kirkland drink in front of me. It's not like I stan the Kirkland sparkling waters. The thing is I hate them.

I am a Topo Chico bitch at my core, at my soul, in my heart. But I threw a clothing swap brunch last weekend, okay? I highly recommend this as a friendly activity, a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Call Tiba Go Off. Yes, I do love to host, I highly recommend this as a friendly activity, a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Call Tiba, go off. Yes, I do love to host. I mean, I do love to control my friends.

I'm just kidding. No, no, I'm completely kidding. But I did throw an event where I had my friends come over, bring their gently used camisoles and trousers and whatever, and we all swapped them. To make the event pleasant, I promised that there would be bagels and mimosas and fruit and a little bit of sparkling water for the Cali sober folks. I placed, admittedly, an Instacart order for the Costco sparkling waters in a 635 pack.

I'll be working through them until the day I fucking perish. And I got some fruit, more cotton candy grapes than a person could ever stomach. And then I actually, I did something strange. I got two bottles of non-Costco brand fake champagne, the Corbells, you know? Got it, okay. Yeah, I have my standards.

Anywho, so, and I instacarded the order because not to give it away, but I think this is the great con of Costco is that they lure you in with the promise that you're gonna be saving money, but you walk in there and much like the cult of Trader Joe's, you're entering a sort of sanctuary. It's the church of Costco and it's very unique looking this big warehouse space. It's ugly.

Yeah, it's got some grunge. It does. I think of it as sort of like the Reddit of grocery stores. Yes. And there's a pride in that. Yeah, because it's not quite Aldi. Okay, or regional reference. Well, I mean, there's an Aldi here. Is there an Aldi here?

Yes. It's actually next to the... It's next to the Costco. Are we talking about one in Burbank? Yeah, yep. To me, Aldi, that's a little too grungy for me. A little too jank. Aldi is like a hoarders walk in closet. Eww. Yes. And Costco is like, Oh, this is a business. This is like a professional business. Absolutely. That is masquerading

as this opportunity to have like everything you could ever want in life with no catch. But the catch is you're going to walk out of there with the ugliest 600 square foot blanket you've ever put on your body. Is it soft? Yes. Does it take a whole day to pull out of the basket? Yes. Absolutely. And I don't know if I need that in my life. And now a quick word from our cult followed sponsors who make the show possible. This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform that is behind soundslikeacult.com,

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of a website or domain. Babe, it is back to school season and you've got to stock up on stuff. I like to get school supplies even though I'm not even in school anymore. But you know what I don't like? When I check my bank account and my money is gone. And that is why I enjoy the glorious free app

that is Abbata. I will tell you how it works. Abbata is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. Earn on hundreds of items from groceries to beauty supplies, even toys. The average Abbata user earns $256 per year. That could cover the cost of an entire shopping trip

or that flight that you've been eyeing or just a fancy dinner to treat yourself. What I love is that Abbata doesn't give you confusing points. It gives you literal cash back, which you can withdraw to your bank account or gift cards, PayPal. I am also very impressed by the selection of brands and retailers that they partner with,

including plenty of grocery stores and my guilty pleasure, Sephora, hello. There is truly no downside to Abbata. It's a free app that pays you money. Right now, Abbata is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Abbata by using the code COLT when you register. Just go to the app store or Google Play Store

and download the free Abbata app to start earning cash back and use code COLT. That's I-V-O-T-T-A in the Google Play or App Store and use code COLT. All right. So obviously there are some Colty behaviors within Costco. But before we dive into that, we need to know the history of Costco. Costco Wholesale Corporation, often just called Costco, is an American multinational company that runs a chain of membership-only, that's a little foreshadowing, warehouse stores. By 2021, Costco had become the third largest retailer in the world.

Oh my God. It's also the top retailer for Prime Beef, Organic Foods, rotisserie chicken. First of all, have you had that rotisserie chicken, girl? No, I can't say I have had the Costco rotisserie chicken. How is it? No, it's actually pretty bomb. Okay, I thought you said you went for the gas.

Okay. But I have had it before and they're pot pie. You know what? I was shading the cotton candy grapes because of the quantity that they came in. Yeah. And it is true that I will never work through the volume of cotton candy grapes currently within my fridge, but I had never even seen a red cotton candy grape before. They're red. I didn't even know they existed. And this is something that I would call transcendent.

It did provide me with a religious experience, a sweet sphere in the mouth on a Sunday, Costco gave me something that you can't put a price on, which is a new experience. It was just too much of it. Spoken like a true member. But you know what I also find super interesting? Costco is the highest retailer of organic foods, but they're selling cotton candy grapes. I feel like they're organic. No, no, no.

That can't be. I'm hearing it and there's no way. Hashtag genetically modified S5. But that's okay. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Breaking news. We have just learned that cotton candy grapes can indeed be organic. Again, cotton candy grapes can indeed be organic and the red ones are called candy snap.

How all of this is possible, we do not know, but this is your breaking news fact check. And now back to the episode. Tell us more. So the roots of Costco trace back to Price Club, which opened its first door on July 12th, 1976. The 1970s. Okay. Pete Colt era. Okay. Period. Some of us are in Woodstock. Some of us are in Costco or Price Club. Sorry. We're searching no matter where we are. We're seeking. Yeah, no, we were searching for our home base. We needed to find who we were. The government wasn't going to tell us a compound founded by a soul price. I love that. His name is soul. His name is soul soul

cycle soul price. It gives it it away his soul is dollar sign okay so when i think think of the 1970s a man named soul price i would give him my blood i would i would give him a vial of my blood that's all i'm saying yep soul price and his son robert founded price club after a fallout with the new owners of their previous venture, FedMart. Okay, conflict. Price Club was a pioneer in the retail warehouse club industry.

The first store was located in a series of old airplane hangers once owned by world renowned Howard Hughes. Oh my God, that is a fun fact. That is a fun fact. And a a fun fact and a little tidbit this first store still operates today as Costco warehouse number 401. Okay as our other co-host and coordinator Reese or resident Gen Z taught me this would be called a lore drop. All right a Costco lore drop. I'm gonna add that to my uh Gen Z glossary. Yes, put pencil it in.

So Costco's predecessor price club initially catered to small business owners offering bulk items at discounted pricing along with a very small annual membership fee. The company went public in 1980 and had grown to 24 locations with 1.1 million members by early 1986. Price Club expanded into Canada in 1986 and into Mexico City in 1992. You know, this is how these capitalistic, quote unquote, cults have to go. The reason why we're discussing the cult of Costco and not the cult of like the little indie shop down the street is because if you're if you're starting a business already, you're like, yes, we're playing this game. Absolutely. And you become a household name such as Costco. Even even if it's dramatic to call it a religion to call the warehouse like the Church of Costco, even if it's dramatic to call it a religion, to call the warehouse like the Church of Costco, whatever, there is something cultish about a brand exploding this much.

Absolutely. Like what is going on? Like who is responsible for this cult-like growth? I'll tell you. Okay. Who are our cult leaders? Sol Price. We got to talk about him.

He was the son of Jewish immigrants from Minsk, Belarus. And something about me is that I am also the descendant of immigrants from Minsk, Belarus, a cultish homeland. Listen, you started your own cult. Yes. So did Sol Price. I know. It's kind of like it's in the bloodline a little bit. Maybe I should 23 and me, maybe he's my seventh cousin, twice removed. It could be. Could be. Would I get a discount on the cat and candy grapes?

Probably not. Probably not. No. So this is what happened. Sol Price immigrates to the Bronx, grows up there, good New York Jew. He later relocates to Southern California. He goes to law school, okay? So cult of law school, cult of lawyers.

After passing the California bar, he was like, lawyer? Boring. The law? No, I'm an entrepreneur and I'm gonna pursue business. And that's when he founded FedMart and later Price Club, Costco's predecessors. Now, Sol Price was kind of an innovator, high key, in the business world. And that is because of his idea of the relationship that a brand should have to its consumers, which was like a radical culty idea for the time and very effective. According to an article in Farnham Street,

the writer Shane Parrish said, quote, Price's fundamental innovation was his approach to the customer relationship. Whereas most retailers saw customers as adversaries, okay, this is so interesting to me, bodies to be sold to, Price saw the world differently. He felt he was on the consumer side. He felt his job as a retailer was to become the customer's greatest friend and advocate.

And in return, the customer would pledge his loyalty back. He understood that trust given is trust earned, which I find so fascinating and really ahead of its time because I feel like brand founders today know that millennial consumers are incredibly skeptical. We have an eyebrow raised when it comes to patronizing brands. We don't want to be manipulated. I'm going to shop around until I find a brand that comes with identity benefits. I want my static electricity water to say that I am hip but humble. I am like a Costco bitch, you know? Like I am one with this community. We want to enter a space and feel like the people

running that business care about us as much as we care about them. And that is something that Price foresaw and honestly followed through on. Yeah, which is actually a throwback to one of his tenants. It's important to be your customer's greatest friend and advocate. And in return, the customer would pledge their loyalty back. As seen in places like your neighborhood, Trader Joe's or your favorite nail salon. When you go into a space and it feels like everyone has a cheery personality, some people may know your name, they remember you, it establishes that sense of brand loyalty that we keep talking about in that us versus

them dynamic. Because you walk into a space and you're like, I'm a part of something exclusive that you're not. And like, I'm special because I showed my little card with my little face on it at the front door. You mentioned that soul price broke ground by aiming to position himself as a friend to the customer. customer. And that has clearly worked because a New York Times piece just came out titled How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche. Perfect timing. And it said the following, quote, By and large, Americans do not trust corporations. But when asked which companies they do trust that consistently rank Costco near the top." So due to certain policies like no questions asked returns, love that, cheerful customer

service, love that, and the store's quote, no frills presentation, the brand, according to this piece, transmits a reassuring signal of benign intent. We're not trying to seduce you, which is its own kind of come on. I love that line. So, Soul created a few simple principles while running FedMart and Price Club that I wanna read because every cult brand,

whether we're talking about SoulCycle, Amazon, they always have a mission statement. And the cultiest brands have almost like a 10 Commandments style mission statement that sounds like really highfalutin, really formal, really vague. It's hard to know what the fuck they're talking about. Like with Amazon, their leadership principles are like,

have grit. What? Like, what do you mean by that? It's like, what is that? But I have to. What do you mean by that? It's like, what is that? But I have to be honest, when I first saw these price principles, they like seemed pretty to the point to me. Is that what you thought too?

Yeah, no, I felt like there was nothing clouded underneath anything. However, I will say the word friend to me, always, I don't know, when people use the word friend or family when referencing like their relationship to a consumer, it just does something to me. It gives you pause. It gives me a little bit of pause. Yeah, it's maybe not a red flag. It could be a beige flag. It's beige.

It's maybe beige-ish red, which now that I'm thinking about it is the ugliest color that exists. But Colte's, formulate your own opinion. These are the Costco principles. Number one, provide the best possible value to the customers. Groundbreaking. Excellent quality products and the lowest

possible prices. This has no ring to it. You could not chant this like a Hare Krishna through the streets. It just means something. No, no, no. Absolutely. To the point. That's what I love about him. It's straight into the point. Listen, all we're doing is selling. We're selling some good shit. We're selling some good shit and excellent quality. Excellent quality. At the lowest possible prices. We're saying what we mean. We're meaning what we say.

Tenant number two, pay good wages. It's not a Bible verse. It's just plain English, okay? Pay good wages and provide good benefits, including health insurance to employees. All right? I know what this means. It doesn't even rhyme.

That's actually first of all, that is that's a little anti-American. Not to rhyme. No, no, no, no, no. Including health insurance employees. Wait a minute now. Yeah, no, I don't know about that. What is this? Canada?

Finland? All right. sole price. All right, principle number three, maintain honest business practices. Whoa, can you believe it? And principle number four, okay, here we go. We're changing the vibe. Make money for investors, right?

Period, point blank. Point blank, this is ultimately a business. And you know what? I looked up how much Costco is currently worth because I was like, so price is a good man. Is this even a goal? Why are we doing this episode?

And then I looked up what Costco is worth according to current market estimates and it's $366 billion. So I'm like, okay, we're friends, we're loyal. Are we? Are we? The second, I'm like, this whole time I'm like, Costco, this is such a bullshit episode.

It's clearly just to live your life. But the second the word billion enters the picture, I'm just like, dude. Yeah, and there's also, when you do research on Soul and you look, you know, just looking up photos of Soul, the only photos that you can find of Soul are when he is in his later years, right? So he was born 80 years ago.

And he's just like, there are no baby photos. He was just like immaculately conceived as an 85 year old goal leader. That's what I'm saying. So there's something that's super endearing about this just little frail, old Jewish man that his face looks just so trusting and his name is Sol.

And it's just so sweet, but Sol wasn't always a trillion years old. And Sol wasn't always a billionaire. Exactly. And Soul wasn't always a billionaire. Exactly. He got that way. Exactly. And how did he get that way? Let's talk about Soul.

Let's analyze him through a culty lens. Okay, so in every article that dissects the personality of Soul Price, there is one common through line, charismatic leadership. Soul is described by having an innovative and different perspective on customer relationships. Words like friendship and this is a community. Right. Vision. Innovation. I mean, some of the best cult leaders, obviously they're well spoken and they have so much charisma.

Even if they don't have true innovation, they're skilled at Frankensteining a bunch of other different spiritual practices, business practices, whatever it may be in order to seem like they're generating something brand new, which like is honestly just what any successful business leader does. You evaluate the market, you see what's resonating, what isn't, and you create a better product. Cult leaders though, can't ultimately put their money where their mouth is most of the time, because it's like a sham religion or like a sham promise. Hashtag the cult of Elon Musk.

Literally, they have to stop. He did not invent the Tesla. Like, come on. Which I also kind of feel is like, he's not a genius in that sense, but he is a genius to the point of the whole Frankensteining thing. For sure.

So to be able to pull together all the best minds. He's a curatorial master, for sure. And this is why it's so interesting to have multiple of these consumer cults discussed on the show because like we have done the cult of Elon Musk and we have done the cult of Starbucks. And it's so important to be able to put them on a spectrum because from the outside,

those people standing in line for gas, like I gotta be honest. Those people. Y'all look like Elon Musk's stans. We do, we do. But like, we do. But you know, it's like in the way that we can sometimes be a little too hard on Disney adults,

can we truly equate the Elon stans with the Costco stans? Like it says something that Elon Musk has entered celebrity territory, just as like a business leader. It says something that he is occupying so many different public positions. Whereas like, I'd never heard of Sol Price. And I think that is another like beige flag. Or it's like, if you can name and easily call to mind

a business leader, they've become a celebrity and that's culty and sus, right? That's fair. That's fair. But it can't be denied that like the word charisma is so present in all of these descriptions and biographies of Sol Price. And I feel like his charisma is represented nowhere more than his relationship with his protégé, Jim Senegal.

Senegal? I'm sorry. The word soul is in the name of the founder of Costco and the word sin is in the name of his successor. I'm just saying not to be like an angel numbers hoe, but like the language is something else. So here's the thing. Costco was the brainchild of soul and his son, Robert via price club, but it was ultimately brought to huge success by this dude named Jim Senegal, who was hired at that original fed Mart, the one where soul fell out with the new owners. And he just started out as a grocery bagger and then worked his way up from there

to be taken under Sol's wing as his like next little mastermind, which I think is a charming pill. So I started off as a bagger, got my first job at 14. Oh my God, that's right. Wait, what grocery store did you work at? It's called Bro's Mart and it's not B-R-O. Okay, okay.

B-R-E-A-U-X, okay? Hello. Yes, because famously Chelsea is from Louisiana. Yes. Where there are silent X's happening. There are definitely a lot of silent X's. Most of my X's are silent. Um.

That is my favorite type of joke. That is my favorite type of joke. So, do you have a favorite type of joke. That is my favorite type of joke. So, do you know? If that joke came in a 342 pack at Costco, I would buy it. All right, we're back. We're here. Do you know how hard it is to work your way up? And listen, you're type A, I'm type A.

Whatever ladder it is, I'm climbing it, okay? Do you know how hard it is to work your way up from bagger to now like to podcaster? I worked my ass off to podcaster. I worked my ass off to get here. No, like the years that Jim must have put in to become not just a manager. He became the successor of the brand that is Price Club. Now Costco. I would watch the vow style HBO doc docu-series about this relationship.

Jim fucking put in work. Jim put in the work. You know, first of all, I think it's so funny that, well, we are, what is your Myers-Briggs personality type? Do you know? I think you're an ENFJ like me, cult of Myers-Briggs. This is like my astrology, cause like I can't with the whole, you know, cancel me, but like

I can't with the sun moon arising. I'm just like, I'm over it. But for some reason, well, actually, oh my God, have I told you about my, oh my God, my personality system? No, tell me. It's so stupid. It came to me in like a fully formed, albeit imperfect thought while I was high on mushrooms last year.

Perfect. Let me just deviate from the subject for a second because you're talking about being type A and rising through the ranks. Although I famously hate having a job, which is the Aquarius in me. I hate it. I'm sorry.

I hate astrology so much. Never been prouder to be an Aquarius. I believe that everyone in the world can be divided into three categories. We all have all three, but some of us, most of us have a dominant one or two. And the categories are creator, preserver, reflector. OK?

OK. And a creator is someone who's very future motivated, innovative. I think like some cult leaders would like to think that they're creators. They are very compelled toward what's next, but they can also be kind of destructive and not have respect for what came before them.

And then there are the preservers who are very into like protecting the beauty of what's come before, but they can also be maybe a little conservative or stagnated. And then there are reflectors who are amazing at bringing out the best in other people. They're fantastic listeners. They could make good therapists or photographers, you know? But they could also get sort of lost in other people's vision or become like obsessed super fans or something like that. So I'm gonna bring this back to cult. I think that most cult leaders are actually reflectors

who think that they're creators. Ooh, you know what I'm saying? Okay, wait, I have a question. So I know without a doubt that I am a reflector. Oh, you're a reflector. And that I am... Which is amazing. That is the quality that I'm jealous of. Okay.

Being a reflector. Because you are definitely a creator. I think I'm creator dominant, which can also be unhealthy because they're so... They can also be divided into like future, past and present. And reflectors are really, really present. Okay. Okay. But tell me more about you.

Okay. No, no, because that is such, first of all, this needs to be in an app and online. But the reason I'm saying that is just because I've started to like analyze different relationships that I have with people. Yeah. I know for a fact that I am a reflector because obviously I'm a good listener. I have to be because of the field that I'm in and work.

Oh my God, yeah, of course. A producer role is like the perfect reflector role. Yes, I'm also a person where I can spot a creator and let's just say that they have this very innovative idea. I am the person that says, how can we make this come to life? How can I help facilitate what your vision is? I often get lost sometimes in other people's shit.

Then lastly, I know that I am a reflector because I can change people's perspective of people, which is kind of a toxic trait that I have. Wait, wait, like, like you can say more. Okay, so let's just say we're in a room full of people and I hate this one person, but I'm not going to be out outwardly like, I hate this person. You can subtly turn the room. Absolutely, I am without a doubt the thermostat always.

And it can be a little toxic. So I try to reserve my, because people will often be like, what do you think about this person? You wanna know what I really think? I think this person is a dick. Okay, so you're highly observant. Yes. I think this person is a dick. And this is wrong. So you're highly observant, and you know how to wield that. So I swear this connects to cultishness.

Because A, if I made an app, I could start a call about this. It's like, Casey hates it so much. It's important to have a hater at home. It's important to have a hater at home. Absolutely. Public haters, all you Apple podcast reviewers. Yeah. Useless to me.

Matters none. It's important to have a hater at home. Yes. To tell you that you are annoying. Yep. Yep. At home. So that you can be reeled in.

And also tell you that he loves you so much. We are living in a time, particularly now, when there's an incredible pressure to self-brand at all times. There is an incredible pressure to have a fully formed identity, but we are so isolated and so lacking community as American individualists,

that we will latch on to whatever is shiny and resonant of the moment to help us feel like we understand ourselves so that the world can feel more manageable. And so, for some people, that's fucking Costco. Yeah. You know? And I think that it's cool that there is this

American dream story and that like this bagger you know was taken under Sol Price's wing and like made the brand what it is today and like there is such an aesthetic to Costco. There is such a vibe. We will talk about the membership aspect of it all and like the card carrying Costco identity and why that can be problematic. But like I genuinely think that some people have made Costco their entire personality in the way that like you might make Enneagram your entire personality or Astrology your

entire personality or Elon Musk your entire personality because we just want the world to feel more legible and predictable. That is a really, really profound take. I'm just trying to bring it back. Just trying to bring it back. But the thing is that with this whole soul gym relationship, I feel like you see this in a sinister way with cults all the time where someone very eager will join at the bottom of the hierarchy and the cult leader will clock not necessarily

their skills, but their devotion and they will exploit that. But this does not seem to be what happened here. Sol Price seemed to notice some sincere potential in Jim and then Jim is who really blew up the Costco brand to what it is today. And so much of that Costco brand surrounds the us versus them mentality of the goddamn membership. So exactly, taking it a little further back to us versus them, but also tribe mentality in retail. When listening to the Business Brain Show podcast,

the host spoke about tribe mentality. And I didn't know what that was. Not gonna lie to you. In business. In business. I didn't know what that was at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So apparently it refers to a strong sense of belonging

and loyalty within a group, often characterized by shared values and a sense of identity. And this mentality can create an us versus them dynamic often characterized by shared values and a sense of identity. And this mentality can create an us versus them dynamic where members feel a strong connection to their group and may view outsiders with skepticism or opposition. Which is so funny because actually I realized

that my Costco credit card, cause I have the, do we all have a Costco credit card? Or just me? No. Didn't I tell you I go for the gas? Oh yeah. In the pot pie. They got me with the Costco credit card.

And it is fascinating to me that Costco operates on this membership model. Membership started at $65. I think it is too expensive. And I also think that it creates this sense of superiority a little bit where when you are a Costco member, you feel like you are hashtag adulting. Oh my God, without a doubt. When I say, oh yeah, I'm going to go get some gas at Costco because I have a membership. There's a sense of I'm a little bit better.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Yes, and there is also this sense, again, it says something about your identity. When you say I'm a Costco member, it means you have your shit together, you know? Like you knew how to sign up. You know how to do a little bit of paperwork. You got in your car and you drove somewhere

and you applied. It means you are fiscally responsible. LOL. That is like what it seems to suggest. And then it means like you're a planner, you're organized. Maybe like you have a nice looking spice rack. Maybe your laundry room has many, many large bottles of Tide in it or whatever, Kirkland, whatever the fuck. And I think there is an American dream sensibility in that. It's like, I am doing my like little boxes on the hillside thing as a Costco member. There's a conformity. Does that make sense? Absolutely. How does it feel when you save $4 on gas? Absolutely. How does it feel when you save $4 on gas? I feel like I'm doing the Lord's work.

You know what I'm saying? Just in my home specifically. Just because it's like I'm an adult, I'm saving money. Anywhere I could save just a little tinge of some coinage. Sign me up. I hear that very much so. What gets me is the great con of the time. If you like carry the one and do the cult math, you see that like, you could like sell a shirt

on Poshmark that would take you 10 minutes to list and make more than $4. You know what I'm saying? You're right. I'm not telling you how to live your life. No, no, no. Follow for financial advice. You're right. But truly where the cult influence comes in, I think, and makes us feel like we're saving even though we're actually wasting time and accumulating more than we need. And on the real, like I am teasing about the gas, but obviously this whole thing

like absolutely gets me to it is purposeful manipulation on Costco's part for their bottom line. And they accomplish this in a very specific way that we have to talk about. All right, coltis, I got gotta tell you about my favorite bra brand. It's Skims. These are the only bras I wear. I hated wearing bras. I was not a bra person for, I don't know, 10, 15 years of my life.

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when you shop better hydration today using promo code CULT at liquidiv.com. Hi, my name is Alex and I'm from Florida. And I think the cultiest thing about Costco is that it feels like the movie WALL-E, the by and large corporation that sort of like destroys the earth. It gives me those vibes. It's got the late-stage, capitalistic hellscape kind of vibe going for it. And it just feels like over-consumerism on steroids. And honestly, the first time I went to a Costco, I felt so overstimulated by it. Hi, my name is Cody and I'm calling from central Florida. I think the cultiest thing about

Costco is the exclusivity of some of the items. It becomes this really big deal of like you have to go at this time or before this time so you can get this item before it disappears forever, which puts you in the cycle where you have to keep coming back in order to be a part of the next new exclusive thing, which keeps sucking you in. This is Hannah calling from Alberta, Canada. I think the cultiest thing about Costco is how difficult it is to even physically enter the store without a membership. Similarly, you can't even leave the store without someone checking your receipt, which I've never understood.

I get that you need to be a member to shop there, but the fact that there's zero chill around this is a bit culty. So we learned in that same New York Times piece about Costco's treasure hunt effect. It's a strategy where Costco constantly changes product offerings and fucks with the illusion of supply and demand in order to encourage impulse buys. What the fuck?

And guess what? This simply doesn't just apply to little snacks and things, but also high priced items. In 2017, Jim Senegal admitted that they created the treasure hunt atmosphere to generate a sense of urgency. That if you see the product there, you better buy it, because chances are, they won't be there next time. Okay, Jim.

The article said that treasure hunt items have included a thousand dollar Burberry purses, $10,000 bottles of wine, and one ounce gold bars, which were sold for two thousand dollars apiece. Before we get into some worst case scenarios, I do want to kind of more formally talk about the cult of consumerism aspect that is so present within Costco. Kind of how like Trader Joe's will do the like limited edition product thing, not because the ingredients are in short supply, but because they know that people will be whipped up

into a fucking tizzy to get that holiday, la la fuckity, la la la. All the pumpkin spices. When it comes time. Scoundrels, scoundrels. There is obviously such an encouragement to bulk buy within Costco. It is seen as the superior way of consuming. A Reader's Digest piece titled 13 Ways Costco Tricks You Into Spending More Money by Kelly Bryant suggests that their buy in bulk model makes you think you're getting a great deal.

However, people do not take into account that sometimes they do not use everything they buy from Costco and stuff goes expired or to waste, which is my fucking experience. Look, if you need to buy in bulk because you're a dugger, like buy in bulk. But it's literally just me and one other person. Yeah. I don't see the benefit in buying in bulk unless I'm prepping for the end times. Right, right. For sure.

Which like, fair enough, they may be upon us. Exactly. But I do think that that is the risk because when you go in there, you are just like overwhelmed with happiness chemicals. The ceilings are so high. The coconut water is so pink. The low prices are so big. Those little green price tags,

it's brat summer, you know what I mean? In Costco. And I think it really is exploiting our like American sensibilities and also our straight up dopamine to be like, you are saving money, but actually you're spending more than you ever would. Yep. Had you just purchased what you needed. Yeah. With all of the time you could be saving pumping your generic brand gas. I'm just saying, I feel like you could start a billion dollar business. generic brand gas. I'm just saying I feel like you could start a billion dollar business.

This is the follow-up for more financial advice. Which brings me to a question having to do with the demographics of Costco because you can't have us versus them mentality and you can't have a sense of conformity without appealing to a very specific demo. Can you tell us about that? Yeah. So according to Business Insider, Costco's target demographic includes higher income millennial and Gen Xers whose professions include doctors, dentists, senior engineers, business owners, and heads of hospitals. Oh, okay.

You want to know what I also find super interesting is like with the okay boomer rhetoric that a lot of the things that we usually put on boomers is really like the Gen Xers. My mom is a Gen Xer. What year was she born? She was born in 69. Okay, so she's like canonical Gen Xer. Yes, and a lot of people forget about that entire generation. They do.

So I consume a lot of clean talk and homemaking, TikTok. And those are Costco shoppers specifically. And they're mostly Gen Xers. All people in my mom's age bracket who feel particularly special about being a part of something that's exclusive. They're the Mary Kay people. Yes. Oh, you're so true.

And I think something that's culty about Gen Xers, this is a broad generalization. So please take this with a grain of salt. But like something that I notice about the Gen X generation, again, I say this with love, is that there's a chip on the shoulder of that generation because they're sort of like less in the discourse and less in headlines than Boomers and Millennials and Gen Z. And there's nothing about being like a latchkey kid that nobody talks about.

No one talks about. Like they have such like middle child syndrome with Gen Xers. If this were the Brady Bunch, they'd be- Jan. The Jan. They would be Jan. Like who ultimately had beautiful hair, but like what was her personality? I don't recall. Exactly.

And that type of inferiority complex will push you into cultishness. You are absolutely right. No one is talking about this. But I do find it quite interesting and reflective of this $366 billion figure that Costco is going for these white collar consumers who just love an exclusive club.

They're like, let me go to Soho house. Let me go to Costco. Absolutely. Members of exclusive clubs often come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds, professions, and social circles. This can reinforce a sense of elitism, as members interact primarily with others who share their status and worldview.

I straight up had not considered this as an element in the whole Costco membership. I was just like oh it's clearly for profitability, a membership thing, but no it's for insularity too. Yes. It's for exclusivity too. Yes and it reinforces the again us versus them and the tribe mentality. Hey there, I live on a small island in Hawaii in Lahaina and one of the coldest things about Costco is that when you are in kind of like a smaller rural town, you kind of got to go and stock up.

But it also becomes this like status symbol of how much you can acquire and hoard and store of your Costco haul and you know obviously it takes a while to drive there, stock up and drive back but yeah it's just almost become this like status symbol of being able to afford buy in bulk and to store the excess and to flex with the snacks and we just need to return to a more like substantial sustainable system, you know. Hi, my name is Izzy. I live in DC and I think the cultiest thing about Costco is that you have to show your receipt when you leave. It feels a lot like an exit cost and that barrier to being able

to leave always makes me feel pretty trapped. We've got to get into some worst case scenarios because everything we've been talking about so far feels like no one has died. Fair! Chelsea, please tell us how far the cult of Costco can really go. So it can go very, very far, Amanda. In an article posted by Daily Mail in January of this year, Costco is the centerpiece of yet another TikTok conspiracy theory about doomsday prepping. Oh my god.

The place literally like I should have known because you go into Costco and it looks like the basement of a QAnon in cell. No absolutely. Okay, so I do have a follow-up question. Are you a prepper at all? No, because we're trying to downsize in this home. Okay. So yeah, no, we're not prepping like,

I'm notoriously not crafty. I have no green thumb. I cannot keep basil alive, much less grow and can peaches. You know what I'm saying? But does my family have a plan for what to do if like the end really is nigh? Yep. Yeah, we're going to meet somewhere. Yes. That's what I'm saying. I mean, you strike me as the type to have a plan. Are you a, do you have prepping?

I have a few prepping vibes. I mean, I'm a very country bitch. So I have some, I have some skills. So you can cannapeach. I can cannapeach. Will it potentially turn to sploosh? Who knows? Oh my God, is that a holes reference?

Stop that. Oh my God. That's an underrated film. I fucking love holes. I love holes. I love everything about holes. Holes is so good. Holes is great. Anyway, tell us about the Costco doomsday prepping scandal. God damn it. So this one prepper by the name of Charmingly Frugal used her platform to urge her followers to purchase emergency kits being sold at Costco. Then it led people on the internet to question if the store knew something they didn't and that they were potentially hinting at something big that was going to happen.

Like the Price family, whatever. They knew the tea. They had some insight. What was that movie that we all watched just recently? Don't Look Up? Not that one, but with Mahershala Ali as the, oh my God. It was crazy, but yeah. Like there was some like rich meeting amongst people.

Yeah, and like Zuck was opening up his New Zealand bunker. Yes. And he was like, got to swing by Costco first. Yep. And Costco was like, oh, shit, we got to put out snacks for Zuck. Yep. They they they tipped off Jim and Soul. Well, Soul has gone home to glory, but they tipped off Jim and Jim, you know, now is starting to put out all this doomsday prep pretzels. Yes, exactly. Exactly. The main one they sold was a ready wise emergency kit, which was $63.99. And it offers 132 servings of various pasta-based meals. Mamma Mia, that's a lot of pasta.

And so then I went to YouTube and I looked up how you would prepare the food in the ReadyWise Emergency Kit. It comes in a powder form. Sure. I'm not gonna lie. If that was my final meal, I would just- End it now.

I'm not eating powdered anything. Powdered gosee-ly. No. I'm not doing it. What would be your like doomsday prepper final meal? Like if the asteroid was about to hit, you can take one last bite of something and it has to be Kirkland.

Oh my God, pot pie. The pot pie. Or the rotisserie chicken. Yeah, this I feel like I could have guessed about you so far. Yes. Listen, I'm shoving a handful of half rotten cotton candy grapes in my mouth and just GMO.

Okay, so essentially, the cult of TikTok, the cult of Preppers all collabed. Yes. To create a widespread panic. Yep. Is what I'm hearing. And Costco leaned in, allegedly. Love to hear that. Actually, in, allegedly. Love to hear that. Actually, you don't even know this, but I have an actual beige flag Costco story, cult of Costco story to share with you. I also learned about this on YouTube. So something unflattering about me is I love to watch CNBC slash Business Insider slash Wall Street Journal little mini documentaries about business on YouTube. I love that.

I like to learn about business. She's so studious. She's business-branted these days. Okay? I want to be financially literate. All right? I found a little mini documentary about a woman who goes by Costco Claudia. She is an unofficial Costco influencer. She is not employed by Costco. She has self-appointed as a Costco influencer,

and she makes about $7,000 a month for her services doing this. She bought all of her furniture from Costco and her entire aesthetic and personality is Costco. I would walk around Costco for a couple hours every time I went to work to wait off the traffic. It was a safe place for me and eventually if you're walking around stuff you eventually start to buy things. What gets me is when she says like she feels at home in Costco. She wants to recreate a Costco within the four walls of her apartment. And like her whole, I know that there are like unofficial Ray Dunn influencers and unofficial Trader Joe's influencers.

Costco for some reason feels like the next level because there is no aesthetic. No. Like you can't make it cute. It's Costco, but she is so profoundly comforted by I guess like the humble excess and the spirit of getting a deal. And like the humble excess and the spirit of getting a deal and like the fact that Costco

was always there for her no matter what, that it's like followed her out. It's a membership she cannot cancel, I'll put it that way. She is very far off the deep end because she said the words, even the smell comforts me. I'm sorry, I did not know they even had a signature scent she said the words, even the smell comforts me. I'm sorry. I did not know they even had a signature scent in Costco. It smells like air to me.

Costco Claudia inspired me to want to look up some of the most unexpected items that they have at Costco. Because when I think of like canonical Costco products, I think of animal crackers. I think of razors. I think of like these sort of staple home goods. But if you're as into Costco as Claudia, you can make anything work. You can buy your coffin at Costco. Did you know this? I didn't know that. There's Costco coffins. For $1,150, you can plan to be buried in Costco. And that's actually a really good deal. That's a good deal. Yes. If you start spending on the membership now and it's $65 a year

and I live for another, let's be optimistic, 67 years, just doing a little bit of math. $65 a year for a membership times 67 more years is $4,355. If you save $4 a year on gas, now we're at more like $4,300 or something like that. And that's still cheaper than a typical casket. Listen, how much did you say? $4,000? That's nothing. Nothing. For a funeral?

That's nothing. Tricked out Costco funeral. Funeral by Costco? Yes. It's cute. I like it. All right. Jesus Christ.

How did we get here? I feel like we have talked through the good, the bad, and the culty when it comes to Costco. We understand its origin story. We understand its charismatic leader. We've got some beige flags going. So here comes the question. Chelsea, out of our three cult categories,

live your life, watch your back, and get the fuck out. Which category do you think the cult of Costco falls into? I'm gonna be honest. I gotta say live your life. Yeah. How I spend my Saturday errands,

I'm not harming anybody. No. I'm just sitting in line for my gas. No one's even really harming you. Exactly. Yeah. I have to be honest. I was doing some keyword searches.

I was looking up Costco scandal, Costco murder. I was looking hard for some shit that had gone wrong. I was like, where has Costco wronged us in a culty way? And it was near daggone impossible to find. Even when I was looking up like Costco employee horror stories, like as something truly destructive happened on that end, no, it would be like once a lady with extra long fingernails like dug into the cheese samples and whatever, it was like, it was so sort of innocuous. I do think that like the cult of consumerism is always worth interrogating

no matter what establishment you're patronizing. I think ultimately it is. It's a live your life. Yeah. I mean, and I feel like that's a true testament to what Soul and Robert set out to create initially with FedMart and then Price Club and now ultimately Costco. Yeah, these were good natured people like Loki. Yeah, you know, like clearly because I can't I don't know who the fuck they were. No. And that's a good thing. They were humble. They were absolutely humble.

It's all about the deals with them. $1,100 for a casket. That's a fucking steal. I'm about it. Absolutely. If you want to customize it, you can just like spray paint it at home. Exactly.

You can pre-plan. We got there. Look, Cult of Costco, it's fanatical, it's ritualistic, it's us versus them-y for sure. But live your life. Live your fucking life. All right. That is our show. Thanks-y for sure. But live your life. Live your fucking life. All right, that is our show.

Thanks so much for listening. Stick around for a new cult next week. But in the meantime, stay culty. But not too culty. But not too culty. Sounds Like a Cult is hosted and produced by Amanda Montell and edited by Jordan Moore of the PodCabin. Our theme music is by Casey Cold.

This episode was co-hosted and co-produced by Chelsea Charles. Thank you as well to Reese Oliver and Katie Epperson and to our partner All Things Comedy. And if you like the show, please feel free to check out my books, Word Slut, A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, Cultish, The Language of Fanaticism, and The Age of Magical Overthinking, Notes on Modern Irrationality. If you're a fan of Sounds Like a Cult, I'd really appreciate it if you would leave a rating and review

on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.