The Best One Yet - 🩱 “85% off Ozempic” — Ozempic’s weight-loss dupe. Burger King’s free-tuition strategy. Red Lobster’s shrimp bankrupt-sea.

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, & Burger King are all pursuing the same marketing strategy: Pay your tuition — Companies are dishing out scholarships because brands are the new institutions.Ozempic is facing its first ever dupe, a version that costs 85% less — Hims & Hers found a loophole, and are launching a weight-loss business line off it.And The Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy yesterday, so we’re comparing the seafood chain to The Olive Garden — One gave away carbs (and thrived), while the other gave away protein (and died).Plus, Costco is officially hosting birthday parties in aisle 6 — So we want to know which retail chain you’d hit up to host a party.$KO $HIMS $NVO $DRIWatch us on YouTubeGet the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Submit Shoutout Requests Submit The Best Fact YetFollow us: on InstagramAnd connect with us on Nick’s LinkedIn & Jack’s LinkedInAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 15 minutes on the 3 biz stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, May 21st. And today's pod is the best one yet this is a T-Boy. We're living up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But first, on Friday, Jack, we're also going to whip up a little something special, aren't we, man? On Friday, we're dropping T-Boy Hotline episode two. Hey, Jack and I sit down on the couch.

We get comfy and we answer your questions with or without sweatpants. We slip into something a little more comfortable as you head in to Memorial Day weekend. But that's on Friday. In the meantime, Jack and I whipped up the most fantastic show we've ever done. Jack, three stories for today's T-boy. What do we got, man? For our first story, one company is selling OZempic, the miracle weight loss drug, for 85% off. Yet is Ozempic is facing its first ever dupe. For our second story, Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy yesterday. So we whipped up the perfect case study to compare. The Olive Garden is thriving, but Red Lobster is done.

dying Jack and I found out why. And our third and final story, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, and Burger King are all part of a growing trend. Corporate College Scholarships. We're going to tell you why scholarships are the new advertisement. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. Love that mix.

We'll take three Os Empics, please. Is it your birthday this upcoming month? Well, you could be celebrating at a restaurant or a backyard barbecue, or you could have a party in the park. Lovely. Or you could celebrate your birthday this year at Costco. Get this. According to Business Insider, Costco is the hot new destination for throw a birthday party.

Costco is the new Chuckie Cheeses. Costco, it's the new laser tag. Costco. It's the new DZ Discovery Zone. Mom, he threw me in the ball pit. Yet he is apparently one woman in Georgia organized a surprise birthday party for her husband who happens to love Costco. And she had 30 of his friends and family members hiding throughout the store. 30 of his friends and family members were hiding throughout the Costco.

Party in the food court who wants a hot dog Coke Congo. That surprise birthday party got 11 million views on TikTok. The Costco birthday. The party is an aisle 6 right next to the six pack of six gallon laundry detergents. So stick a candle in that double chunk chocolate chip cookie you found. Because everyone leaves the Costco party with a rotissory chicken party favor. But there's one catch you should know about if you're planning a Costco party. Jack, I'm so glad you jumped in T-Boiced out to the fine print.

What is the one Costco catch? Members only. You got to be a card-carrying Costco member if you want to be partying over Costco. Those 30 family members we mentioned, they were all Costco members. Oh, and the stores? They're not making exceptions to the member guest policy, are they, man? No, seriously, Costco said they will not make an exception, even if you have a birthday party. Play by the party rules, or you end up in the parking lot.

Don't try to bribe the Costco bouncer. I know from experience. Like we said, this is the new Chucky Cheese, but, this ain't chucky cheese so for t boy tuesday nick and i want to know from you yeah it is if you can have a birthday party at any retail chain what would it be would you turn 21 at target would you have your sweet 16 at spirit hallelujah bot mitzvah over at bloomingdale's leave a comment on spotify or youtube we want to know it comment at instagram at t boy pot happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday mr kirkland brand happy birthday to you let's see that card jay

It's at our three stories. found a loophole. That one company, Hims and hers, just ozempiced, Ozembeck. They just Ozempiced the Wegg OZemphi out of Ozepic, Jack. But let's start with our protagonist, right, Jack? Who are we talking about here? Hymns and hers, the only company we've ever heard of that's named after a pronoun. They put their pronouns up front. They went with two of them, why not? Not too shabby. Hymson and hers is an online pharmacy that will ship you generic prescription drugs. Generic drugs. The same recipe as a name brand drug, but at one-tenth the price. Hems and hers is a publicly traded company making a billion dollars a year in revenue, and it's

still growing fast. But the latest news from this company will ironically balloon growth. Because the new product they're selling, ironically, has gone viral. Fasties, here's the news. Hymns and HERS now sells an Ozempic version of Ozempic. And they're charging 85% less than what OZempic. costs. 85% off the biggest weight loss drug since the carrot. It includes the same GLP1 drugs as Ozempic, but it costs only $199 a month. Jack, could you sprinkle a little more context of those savings, please? Like we said, that is an 85% lower price than Ozempic, and it has the same active ingredients in the drug. Jack, this is like finding Ozempic on Xi'in or TEMU.

Now, our first thought when we saw this headline, isn't that patent infringement? I mean, look, Jack and I are lawyers. But it sounds like, patent infringement. Pretty sure it's patent infringement. Now, the answer is yes and now. It's kind of patent infringement. Let's talk about the yes reason why it is, Jack. OZemek and Wagavie are owned by Novo Nordisk.

And Novo Nordisk does have a patent on their GLP1 weight loss drugs. And since this Danish company has a patent-protected monopoly on their weight loss drug, they're able to charge $1,350 a month for it. Unless your insurance covers Ozempic, which it probably doesn't, you're paying $16,000,000, $1,000 a year to have this weight loss drug that all the celebs are taken. You want that car or you want a weight loss drug? But despite that crazy high price, there is still blockbuster demand for Wagavie and OZempe. So there's been a shortage of these epic weight loss drugs for months now.

And therein lies the loophole, the shortage. This is what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Since there is a shortage of these drugs, other companies are legally allowed to make it? Yeah. It's a legal loophole called compounding in the drug industry. Nick and I had never heard of it until we read into it for this story. Literally, we jumped in T-boy style and Jack Calvee on the phone and he goes, Nick, you're not going to believe the loophole I just found.

Here's the word of the law. Pharmacies are allowed by law to copycat patented drugs if there is a shortage of that drug. We repeat, you're allowed to suck another drug and Uncle Sam will let you do it because of this little loophole. This hymns and hers weight loss drug is a government sanctioned. patent infringement that we've never seen before. So Hems and hers noticed that loophole and they said, you know what? Let's jump into that loophole and make a little bit of more money. Let's launch Ozempic asterisk and charge 85% less.

Ozempic Zara style. 85% off the biggest weight loss drug in history. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at Ozempic? Is it worth building a business on a loophole? Yet he's and her stocks searched 30% on Monday. On Word, they're going to sell Ozempic at this huge discount so many people can afford it. For Hems and Hers, it's a wonderful growth opportunity. It's going to attract a ton of new customers to the website who are all going to sign up.

But Jack and I should point out, this big opportunity is based on a loophole and eventually that loophole will get closed. Once the shortage of Wegavilla and OZempec is over, Hymns and HERS won't be able to offer this Ozempic knockoff anymore. And in fact, Hems and hers actually admits this. Once the shortage ends, they said they'll direct customer. to a full-priced version of OZemPEC that'll cost them seven times more. Legally, once the OZempic shortage is over,

they'll have to shut this product down from their website and just put OZempic up there instead, which is seven times more expensive. And then a whole lot of customers are going to be upset because they got hooked on this weight loss drug that now they can't afford. So this brings up a big business question. Is a growth opportunity worth pursuing if it's based on a loophole? Yeah, the upside of a loophole is that it's a huge business opportunity

that emerges in the market. The downside of a loophole is that loopholes are temporary. And once the loophole gets closed, you could really frustrate the people who really loved that loophole. So yeties and besties, that's Jackson, my big business question for you today. Is it worth building a business on a loophole? Let us know what you think.

For our second story, Red Lobster has officially filed for bankruptcy. So we whipped up a case study on two chains with different outcomes. Red Lobster versus the Olive Garden. But Yetis, you know what? Jack and I noticed that something is fundamentally wrong with your company when Beyonce can't even save your business. Back in 2016, Beyonce dropped the album Formation,

and she name-checked Red Lobster on one of those tracks. Jack, what was the exact lyric that she said? We're not going to share the exact lyric, but we'll paraphrase. When I get treated well, I take him to Red Lobster. And that Beyonce lyric is a lot better than a Super Bowl ad when it comes. to commercialization. But eight years later, Red Lobster is looking less Beyonce, more Destiny's child. Here's the news. Red Lobster just filed on Monday for bankruptcy. Why? Well, foot traffic at the restaurants is down 30% since 2019. Unless Shamu pops in for like a last minute acquisition deal.

Red Lobster's in trouble, man. The Red Lobster already announced their closing 93 locations last week, and they just asked the bankruptcy judge to let them close 108 more to save the rest of the company. And I like how you said the Red Lobster, Jack, because I feel like that upgraded the company. The brand just got totally upleveled with that the, the, you dropped in there. Well, the CEO of the Red Lobster, he was flopping like flipper yesterday on the bankruptcy announcement. He blamed the macroeconomic environment. He blamed new competition. Honestly, he almost blamed Ursula for what was going on as Red Lobster. But let's remember the bright times before we talk about the dark times for the Red Lobster.

Daddies grab a bib and jump in T-boy style. Red Lobster. Red Lobster. is a commercial chain that is doing $3 billion a year in revenue. It's the Popeye of prawns. It's the McDonald of mollusks. Jack, can we say it's the cheesecake factory of coral? I don't think so. Well, it's the Outback Steakhouse of the Seven Seas. Red Lobster doesn't just sell lobster.

This happens to be the biggest seafood chain in the entire country. In fact, still today, red lobster sells 3% of all shrimp sold in America. We repeat 3%. of all shrimps sold in this country is sold by Red Lobster. That's jumbo shrimp right there. So besties, Jack and I had to ask, what really went on at Red Lobster to cause its $3 billion downfall? Well, last year, we warned you in an episode on the show.

So we're going to go back to the culprit from December 7, 2023 on this pod. Then in July, Red Lobster made a bold promotional move. Yeah, they did. They came up with something called the ultimate endless shrimp. deal. They expanded their endless shrimp deal from Monday to all days. And then in their press release, they said this deal is here to stay all day, every day, forever. We're like, are you kidding me? I'm kidding about the forever. They didn't say forever. They didn't say forever, but they may have because yeties, everyday endless shrimp has become so popular at Red Lobster. It's become an existential

financial problem. They have a shrimpstrophy on them. hands. Okay, Jack, let's first talk about the good numbers here. How about we do that, Jack? Traffic to Red Lobster jumped 4% as a result of this ultimate endless shrimp every day. Because you came for the shrimp and you stayed for the shrimp. And that was part of the plan. They wanted more people to come to Red Lobster because of this deal. But yet, here's the problem. The existing diners wanted never-ending shrimp too, and that was not part of the plan. According to management, a much higher proportion of diners. ordered the endless shrimp deal than management expected, much higher.

It appears the chief marketing officer was not talking with the chief financial officer when they pulled off this deal, Jack. Yeah, and when too many people take advantage of an endless shrimp deal, that's not good for profits. Get this, Yeties. We just found out that the new endless shrimp deal at Red Lobster cost the company an $11 million loss. Red Lobster lost $11 million in three months this summer just because of the endless

shrimp deal. It's like apparently the endless shrimp should have ended. It was a problem that they did not end. Red Lobster even told their servers to hand out extra biscuits at the beginning of the meal to try to fill up your buddies with those cheap carbs. They want you to carboload so you wouldn't eat as many shrimp. So yet he's nearly one year after that strategic shrimpastrophe, Red Lobster just declared bankruptcy. To understand what Red Lobster should have done instead, let's look to Red Lobster's former sister restaurant The Olive Garden. The Olive Garden, because both the Red Lobster and Olive Garden had similar revenues, similar number of locations, and they were even owned by the same company just 10 years ago. But today, one of them is thriving while the other is dying.

So, Jack, put on your aerial human legs, and let's talk about the takeaway. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Red Lobster? Always give away carbs, not protein. Yadies, Jack and I, we told you about the freebie economy. In this economy, people want value. So we've noticed a trend of more and more companies offering free things to promote the value. For example, the Olive Garden, their endless breadsticks and endless pasta pass, that is their freebie giveaway. For Chipotle, they've done a lot of free chip promos.

And Krispy Cream, they've been doing free donuts every single month. Notice the trend? The Olive Garden, Kris cream, and Chipotle. They're not bankrupt companies because they chose carbs as they're free and unconstitutional. limited product. Call us Dr. Atkins, but we're pretty sure all these companies are given away carbs when it comes to their freebies. On the other hand, the red lobster gave away shrimp, a much higher cost ingredient than those carbs we just mentioned. Protein is demonstrably a more calorie dense and cost-dense material than anything else. It hurts the bottom line much more giving away protein than it does giving away carbs. So besties, it's a simple observation, but it is

an observation with big implications. The red lobster gave a the financially wrong item. If Red Lobster versus the Olive Garden taught us anything, it's you give away carbs, not protein. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, a new form of advertising has emerged, and Jack and I call it scholarship marketing. Companies are promoting their brands to connect with Gen Z through college scholarships. Yeah, it is, if you work in marketing out there, we feel for you. Gen Z is making your work right now.

They're not watching TV. They have ad blockers on their computers and their smartphones. Yeah, you do like an influencer thing on Instagram, those Gen Zers, they're just flipping through. They're not even paying attention to it. You can't throw a commercial on Sunday night news and expect 22-year-old Emma to see any of it. Yeties, like we said, Gen Z is making marketers work for it. So marketers have a brand new strategy. We call it scholarship marketing.

Scholarship marketing. Big brands will pay your tuition. They want to reach you through your syllabus. Coca-Cola, Burger King, Microsoft, Toyota. Even the weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, they have scholarships for college students. Jack, don't stop there. We found more, didn't we? Dr. Pepper, Ford Motor Company, Dow Chemical Company.

There's no official list keeping track, but most of the blue chip companies we found have scholarships. Odds are even Red Lobster, who he just covered, probably was running a scholarship program. Not just blue chips, tortilla chips. Yeah, Taco Bell gave away $1 million in scholarship money just last year. First semester at UVA brought to you by Pepsi. Yeah, the guacks extra, because it's paying for the tuition, man. Budweiser is actually paying for your beer money now. But yet is, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story.

When you dive into the details of scholarship marketing, it actually gets even more interesting. How does Burger King budget for 4,000 college scholarships a year? How do they do it, Jack? With your pocket change, actually. Burger King funds their scholarships with the rounding up of what you pay every time you go to Burger King. Like you buy a whopper and they say, would you like to round up to the nearest dollar? Apparently those extra couple dimes sent Dennis to Duke University. Other companies fund their scholarships the old school way through profits.

For instance, Adobe offers scholarships for women in tech and it's all paid for by Adobe Premier profits. And it's not just big brands that are offering scholarships. No, it's not. Startups are pursuing scholarship marketing too. All right, Jack, when you and I have gone on the occasional ski trip, we have played a card game called Cards Against Humanity, which is a startup who has a card game for really fun evening. They also have an annual scholarship where they put a kid full tuition through college each year.

So yet he's Burger King is doing scholarships and Cards Against Humanity is doing scholarships. Now, a big key to these corporate scholarships is that there's no strings attached. You don't have to work at the company after graduating if you accept the money. But Jack and I got to sit back and ask the question here. Did these companies suddenly get touched by an angel and decide to side hustle in benevolence? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Burger King ain't UNICEF. Oh, no, it ain't, buddy.

Burger King knows that scholarships make customers and employees feel good about themselves. And they're hoping that Gen Zier is applying a college, see the Burger King scholarship, and then opt for the Whopper the next time they're craving a Big Mac. Corporate scholarships. It's really corporate marks. but with books instead of billboards. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are applying to college? Businesses are the new institutions.

Actually, all our buddies in marketing too. Yet these companies jumping in to offset the cost of tuition, it actually illustrates a brand new reality. That we trust brands more than we trust institutions. According to an Edelman study, Americans trust businesses more than they do government institutions or the media. Now, in the past, companies paying for your tuition, that's a lot of the media. that may have felt strange, but today it actually feels pretty normal. We want Patagonia to pay for the National Park cleanup when Congress can't fund it. And we need Burger King to offset the price of universities when academia won't keep the prices down.

Corporate scholarships, it's part of the bigger trend. Americans now expect businesses to fill in gaps that our institutions can't. And companies are increasingly doing it because it benefits their brand. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Sims and hers just launched an Ozempic dupe. It's the same active ingredients, but it's 85% lower price. It's based on a loophole, which leads to our question, should you base a business on a loophole? For our second story, the Red Lobster is now bankrupt, and the coup de grace was their all-you-can-eat shrimp giveaway.

The lesson from The Red Lobster, don't give away protein, giveaway carbs. And our third and final story, companies are offering corporate scholarships to connect with Gen Z and to market their brand. businesses are the new institutions. But Yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, OpenAI, the biggest artificial intelligence startup on Earth has just had an awkward update. Sam Altman's company just disbanded their long-term risk team.

The entire team focused on the existential risks of artificial intelligence is gone over kaput. Open AI was founded with a nonprofit mission, but now they seem to be eliminating anything that gets in the way of profits. And that sentiment was supported by two top employees who resigned last week in protest. And second, the dating app Bumble is expanding further into friendships

by acquiring a community app. Bumble just acquired Geneva to help you build one-to-one buddy relationships. You're losing love for dating apps, so dating apps are turning into social networks. A swiping more friend. And finally, because Sam Alpin is everywhere. We actually have another open-a-I headline

we want to tell you about. Yes, we do. And this one is related to the movie Her. When Open Eye unveiled their latest product, GPT40, a lot of people noticed the voice from the chat box. Yeah, the voice of this new AI bot sounded a lot like Samantha, who was voiced by Scarlett Johansson from the movie Her. If you've seen her, you know things get a little sultry with Samantha.

So Open AI is changing their bots to avoid that situation. Siri, you know what we're talking about. Now, time for the... Best fact yet, this one sent in by Zach Way from lovely London, England. Last week, we talked about how Pizza Hut is making burgers in the restaurants. Well, our buddy, Zach, in the United Kingdom, has a surprise about KFC's menu outside the United States. In the United States, you think of KFC as Kentucky Fried Chicken. They only sell chicken and chicken associated sides.

Well, in the United Kingdom, they also sell veggies and rice boxes, which look a lot like sweet green at KFC. And in China, KFC not only sells fried chicken, but also dimsums and porridge for breakfast. Plus, the hugely popular beef wrap only at the KFC in China. I guess that's why they changed their name from Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC. They dropped the chicken. Jack, the only protein they won't do at KFC outside the U.S. is shrimp. Yeties, you look fantastic for T-Boy Tuesday.

And remember, we want to know. At what retail store do you want to host your next birthday party? I would do Spencer's. Remember Spencers at the mall? all those crazy, like, variety products. Jack, if you find dispensers, I will show up there with a sheetcake. Yeties, besides Costco, where do you want at turn 21? Maybe it's forever 21.

That's an option for you. Let us know in the comments on YouTube or Spotify. Bot Mitzman Bloomingdale's Kienzineer at Coles. Let us know. And hit us up on Instagram at T-BoyPod. Let us know, and Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy 11th birthday to Yeti, Mason Stokes, in Atoka, Tennessee, listening since kindergarten.

And happy birthday to Mudit Matal in San Francisco, California. And Tyler Sumral in Houston, Texas is a new road cyclist celebrating a birthday on two wheels. And happy 20th birthday to Lauren Valley in Castle Rock, Colorado. And Troy Weaver in Atlanta, Georgia, is getting his general contractor license. Troy, you've got this license. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack.

I own stock of Krispy Cream, Ford, and Bumble, and Nick and I both own stock of Chipotle.