The Best One Yet - 👵🏻 “Betty White Bump” — The Best Super Bowl ad ever. Waffle House’s egg fee. Shein’s tariff trauma.

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

The #1 Super Bowl ad? Snickers in 2010… because Snickers acted like a Freudian therapist.Waffle House is charging a 50-cent-per-egg fee… but we tell ya who to blame for Egg-flation is.New tariffs just hit Shein and Temu… hand it can all be explained with Barbie dolls.Plus, the newest job in America is “TikTok Coach”... because there is an “i” in “viral.”$CALM $MAT $SPYWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: “The Best Idea Yet” — The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with. From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. February 6th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. If enough yetis leave a comment today that they want a Super Bowl podcast, Jack and I will make an entire business-themed Super Bowl podcast. I got a few stories of mine already. I got a surprise for you, too. What do you got? Oh, well, yesterday we did the story about the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line. Yeah, yeah. They weigh one metric tons. those five linemen together? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know their specialty. The Brotherly Shove. The City of Brotherly Love does the brotherly shove with those five guys. It's a work in progress, Yetis. We're going to get on this.

In the meantime, three fantastic stories for today's show. Jack, what do we got on the pod? For our first story, Waffle House is now charging a 50-cent surcharge for each egg that you order. Oh, my omelet.

So Jack and I are going to tell you who to blame for America's current eggflation situation. For our second, story. Chinese tariffs began Tuesday, and they're hitting Timu and Cheehan with a double whammy. But the best person to explain the China tariffs is actually Barbie. And our third

and final story. How did Snickers become the number one candy bar in America? It's because of Betty White, a Super Bowl commercial, and Sigmund Freud, the therapist. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories love today's mix, Jack. The newest job in America didn't exist two years ago. Tick-Tock coach. Not tennis coach, not executive coach, not even life coach or coach coach. A coach for TikTok. That's it. There is no eye in team, but there is an eye in going viral, Jack. That's what a TikTok coach tells you. Get this, Yenetty's, CEOs are hiring TikTok coaches to help them sell on social media. Or to figure out how to handle a selfie at that perfect 37-degree angle. According to NBC News, one water bottle entrepreneur hired a TikTok coach. At the

time, she had zero followers. But that coach trained her on how to strategically post at the optimal time three points during the day. And the results were insane. Now she has 80,000 followers, a deal with Target to sell her product, and an appearance on the CNBC TV show, Shark Tank. Her TikTok coach turned her into a TikTok pro. Now, Coach TikTok won't make you run sprints. No, they make you record hook lines. Coach TikTok doesn't make you do push-ups. No, they make you do CTAs. And coach TikTok doesn't yell you from the sidelines. No, Coach TikTok will yell at you from behind a ringlight. The only coach we didn't expect is the most viral one.

The TikTok coach, whistle not included. Unless the algorithm wants that check. Yeah, it's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. You need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip.

Tea Boy City on your at list. No, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, Waffle House is taking a stand on the crazy high price of eggs by adding an egg fee. With egg prices close to a record high, we'll tell you who's really to blame. Now, Yeti is every morning, Jack and I wake up, we find dozens of potential stories for this podcast. We called our headline hammer.

And Jack, what was the wildest headlong? line we discovered yesterday? 100,000 eggs were stolen in Pennsylvania. The thief is still at large. Who steals 100,000 eggs? First of all, Jack, I'd spill 90,000 of them on me. I'm breaking all that yoke. Also, eggs are perishable.

Not a good thing to steal. I mean, is there a black market for eggs? Because egg prices are out of control again. Again, two years ago, Yeties, we covered this similar story, the egg-flation situation. We called it the Fertata fiasca. Oh, my omelette. Because in January of 2023, egg prices topped out at a record high $4.80 per dozen after tripling in just the last year and a half. Couple of reasons for this, the main one, supply.

The last two years, we've experienced the worst bird flu outbreak in American history. Farmers are having to kill one out of seven egg laying hens in America. Well, that bird flu that spiked in 2022, it's spiking again right now. Supply issue. Yeah, it's tragic, Nick. Farmers are slaughtering their entire flock to limit the spread of bird flu. It's not just supply. Meanwhile, demand for eggs just set a record high for the 23rd straight month. Americans love eggs. And side note, the OZempic effect is resulting in even more egg demand.

People on OZempic love eggs. It's like a light, lean protein. Well, you add it all up, and egg prices are about to tie an all-time high set in 2022 at $4.80 a dozen. But the USDA expects the price of eggs to increase another 45% this year because of bird flu. At this point, you don't put caviar on your eggs. You put eggs on your caviar. But, Nick, all the prices we've been discussing so far, $4.80 per dozen, that's the wholesale price of eggs. Right. Like, the average restaurant is paying $7.79 for a carton of eggs, which is up from $3 last year. And at Whole Foods, they're selling eggs for $11 a dozen. The farmers market in San Francisco, they take your children if you want eggs. That's the trade they make.

For Valentine's Day, Jack, I'm just making Molly an egg. Oh, that's your fancy display of love? Yeah, it's a candle and an egg. And Shukkah. But yet is here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The latest news is causing cultural chaos for eggflation. We have a Waffle House warning. Here it is.

America's most iconic all-day breakfast chain is putting a 50-cent surcharge on every egg that you order. The Waffle House is adding a frittata fee. That's what they're doing. For example, if you add an extra scramble, egg on your like triple play value meal? It's another 50 cents. If you order a two egg only, another dollar more. If you order a steak and eight eggs because you're that hungry? Jack, that is $4 and you're going to have to pay in cash on that thing. A $4 surcharge on top of the existing menu price that you see. If you bring a whole high school football team to a Waffle House in Alabama,

they would bankrupt the place if they didn't have this egg fee. Now, we ran the numbers, yeties. The typical Waffle House sells 143,000 eggs every year. And it cost them 65 cents in eggs. So, Each Waffle House spends $100,000 per year just buying eggs. A hundred grand just on eggs. So with the price spikes, they had to do something. But it didn't make sense to raise all menu prices. The problem is just these eggs. What we're saying, basically, is that eggs are the new guac.

Eggs cost extra. Waffle House, probably not the only place that's going to start doing this. Looking at you, Wendy. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the eggflation situation? Eggs are the perfect bipartisan reminder that presidents can't control prices. Yeties, this isn't a political story. It's actually a fantastic economic reminder for all American citizens across the political spectrum. Because under every president, there's one price that we freak out about and we blame the whole administration for it.

One price that reflects inflation. Like with President Biden, he got blamed for high gas prices. But the president doesn't control gas prices. No, they don't. The OPEC oil cartel controls the supply of oil, and the world economy controls the demand for oil. Well, now we've got high egg prices, so many are going to smirk and blame President Trump. But just like with oil, the president can't control egg prices. It's totally beyond his control.

In fact, no executive order can fix a devastating bird flu epidemic, or change our appetite for eggs, or force Waffle House to kill the frittata fee. There's some prices, we should say, that government policy can influence. Prescription drugs, for example. But when it comes to commodities and food, eggflation serves as a fantastic economic reminder. Presidents don't control prices. For our second story, it's the Timmu tariff. Stuff you buy on Sheehan and Timu will arrive slower and cost more

thanks to brand new tariffs. But the best way to explain the Made in China tax is with Barbie. With Barbie dolls. But yeties, if you're feeling tariff-fittance, these days? Well, sorry, you haven't felt anything yet. You saw a lot of headlines about Colombia, Mexico, and Canada. But those were tariff threats. Tariffs didn't actually ever happen. Exactly, because each of those countries offered concessions, so Trump canceled those tariffs this week. But with China, China is not an ally. And there are a much bigger and stronger economy that's less

likely to cave to President Trump's demands. So on Tuesday, real actual tariffs went into effect against China and they're happening right now. Now, the very next day, China retaliated with tariffs of their own on made-in-America goods. In fact, Beijing even threatened to investigate Apple because they use Chinese factories for iPhone production. And what president she wants, she gets. So Trade War II has begun between the U.S. and China. But yet is, if you're procrastinating on your phone doing a little online shopping right now, you may already experience the China tariffs that came into effect on Tuesday.

Because those tariffs already hit Sheehan's cute tops and T-Moo's coffee mugs. Sheen and T-Moo. The real-time, super-cheap shopping apps that have taken over America. One sec, Jack, while I buy this $3-Tancini and $2 pineapple pool float over on Shee-N. If you're buying something on She-N, shoppers are actually going to experience a double whammy thanks to this tariff news. And now, full disclosure, Jack buys his toilet paper on T-Mu. So this has already hit him hard. It's a personal story.

I really don't take good care of my butt. But Trump's China tariffs. also happened to close a loophole related to these two startups. It's the de minimis loophole, and here's what it is. Shimu and Tien send stuff directly from Chinese factories to American doorsteps, which allows them to ship shirts and shoe racks duty-free. It's a loophole. That's the loophole. That's why Sheehan and Timo are so cheap. But now that that loophole is getting closed, in the short term, your Timu Hall is going to arrive later than it usually does. Because for the first time, Timu products will have to go through American customs.

And in the long term, your T-Moo Hall is going to get more expensive. Right, because for the first time, you're going to have to pay duties and a new 10% tariff fee on those T-Mu products. So if you're shoppy-shoppy-tie-droppy-you're in for some bad news on Shian and T-Mu. But Jack, I got to ask for the sake of your T-Mu toilet paper. Who actually pays these China tariffs? We buy a lot of stuff from China. It's not Shih-Mu and T-N. But who actually pays the tariffs isn't always clear-cut.

So the best way Jack and I can explain who ends up paying the tariffs is through Mattel and Barbie dolls. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in America? Nobody wins with tariffs. Everyone loses a little. Nobody wins with tariffs. Yeah, it is a funny thing, but Jack and I actually first said that back in 2019 during the first trade war. And one of our legendary listeners actually put it on a pillow for. us. Amazing. We still have the pillow. No, we do. We don't. We left it at Robinette. Stupid mistake by us. But now that tariffs are a thing again with Trade War II. It reminds us who loses with tariffs. And the answer is Barbie. And we'll explain with Barbie. Mattel announced yesterday that

higher prices are coming since almost half of their toys are made in China, including the Barbie doll. So Mattel's profits could shrink if they pay the 10% tax as Barbie arrives in America from China. Or, more likely, the consumer is going to lose because Mattel is going to pass on that tax to us with 10% higher prices for Barbie dolls. Or the owner of the factory in China could lose if they lower the price of their manufacturing of Barbie dolls to offset the tariff. In practice, it's a mix. It is.

The factory lowers the price a little bit. Mattel's profits shrink a little bit, and us consumers pay a little higher price. The only winner, you could argue, is the United States who collects that tariff tax. But that tax revenue gets erased because China is retaliating on our tariffs with their own tariffs. So add it all up and overall, we end up buying less Barbies. That's the end result. Less Barbies get made and less Barbies get bought. And that's how tariffs affect the economy.

Because nobody wins with tariffs, everybody loses a little. Put that on a pillow again. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story. As the Super Bowl approaches, Jack and I found the most successful Super Bowl commercial ever. Here's how 15 years ago, Snickers used Betty White to sell candy bars to insecure men. We call it the therapy strategy. But Jack, back in 2010, what was going on?

Can you lay the economic context first place? The Great Recession was still happening in the wake of the financial crisis. Apple had just launched the iPad after the success of the iPhone. Yeah. And you and I were close to graduating. college. We were still in our roommate era. It was an economic feat. Well, for Snickers, 2010 was a bad year. What is it, Nuget? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. But sales of Snickers, they'd hit an all-time low back in 2010. This is a weird stat we found. Back then,

half of Snickers buyers wouldn't buy a Snickers the following year. So basically, the candy bar was getting crushed. Well, to fix that problem for the 2010 Super Bowl, Mars decided to throw a Hail Mary. Mars, the parent company of Snickers, spent $2.5 million on a 30-second Snickers Super Bowl commercial. Now, you may have heard this yet. He's you've definitely seen it. We'll play a little clip for you. Mike, what is your deal, man? Oh, come on, man. You've been riding me all day. Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there. That's not what your girlfriend said. Baby. Oh, boy. Use Snickers. Better? Better? So what happened is, after eating the Snickers bar, the guy transformed back into

himself. He was no longer Betty White. He was no longer Betty White, the 88-year-old golden girl, comically playing a tackle football in a muddy field. And what was the tagline in that commercial, Jack? You're not you when you're hungry. And what was the result of that commercial, Jack? Snickers sales surged after that commercial. Get this. After falling double digits for a decade, Snicker sales surged 16% after that ad. Suddenly, after the Saints won the Super Bowl, Snickers was selling out in aisle six. Within two years, Snickers had become the number one chocolate bar on planet Earth. So this was the year 2010, the early days of social media. Yeah, good point, Jack. Snickers commercial was so good. It got

400 million unpaid impressions. People love talking about it on Twitter and Facebook. And that unpaid media value was worth 11 times Snickers initial investment in the commercial. Here's a wild bit about this story. It wasn't just Snickers that got a bump. Betty White's career got a bump too. Yeah, Betty White got her own Betty White bump out of this. The Super Bowl ad resurrected the career of the late great Betty White. She went on Oprah. She went on Jay Leno. She went on Ellen. She even hosted Saturday Night Live at the age of 88. All because of a 30-second commercial on TV for a candy bar. Now, why was this such a powerful commercial, Nick? Well, the first thing we noticed is that it repositioned the job of Snickers in your daily life. Before this commercial, people thought of Snickers as a candy bar. It was a nice-to-eat-treat for yourself.

But after this commercial, Snickers was seen more like a protein bar. You need to eat it for critical energy. So after laughing about 88-year-old Betty White getting gang-tackled into a mud puddle, you changed your mind about that Snickers bar. But besties, Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style, and we discovered that it wasn't just Snickers' strategic repositioning that made it such an effective ad. It was actually something deeper.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Snickers? Great advertising. acts like your therapist. Lie down on our couch, Yetis, because there is a Freudian depth to an effective ad. According to the team that did that Betty White Snickers commercial,

the target for the ad was young men. So they touched on a common psychological insecurity among young men, being left off the team, like not getting to be one of the guys. So the deeper meeting of this Betty White commercial, if you're hungry,

you'll be seen by the guys as weak. So eat a Snickers and the guys will then hug you again and you can get right back into the game. That's a psychological level of depth that would make a Carl Young cry, wouldn't it, Nick? Yeah, would, Jack. In fact, that insecurity was so universal among young men, they redid that ad in 80 countries for Snickers. They actually made 10 versions of this commercial touching on other common psychological insecurities of both men and women.

Alex Snickers said the ones targeting women touched on the insecurity of looking like a diva. This campaign ended up being AdWeek's campaign of the decade and won awards at the Kans Line advertising festivals. But most importantly, it saved Snickers because Snickers thought like a therapist and capitalized on the insecurities of men. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Waffle House is reacting to the eggflation situation with a 50 cent per egg surcharge. But who's at fault? It's Birdflew's fault. Presidents don't control prices.

For our second story, Shian and Timu prices are set to rise, and shipping is going to take longer because of the new Made in China tax. Remember what Barbie taught us. Nobody wins with tariffs. In practice, everyone loses a little. And our third and final story, Snickers had the best Super Bowl commercial ever 15 years ago, and it starred Betty White. The Betty White bump. It was so effective because the commercial strategy was therapy. But Yetis, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, the Deep Seek scare isn't affecting AI companies in America with big spending plans. The big tech companies all announced earnings in the last week or two. Microsoft is spending $80 billion on CapEx this year. Google is spending $75 billion on AI splurges. And meta is spending $65 billion. They're all still craving Nvidia's expensive chips. And second, fewer Americans.

Americans are quitting their jobs. It's the highest level of loyalty at work since pre-pandemic. In 2022, the peak year of the Great Resignation, 50 million workers quit their jobs in America. But what about this last year, Jack? Only 39 million people quit their jobs. It's the lowest level since 2020. It's the great gonna stay at my job. And finally, Uber announced earnings, but the big surprise was actually Waymo Robotaxies. If you're in Austin, Texas right now, Open up your Uber app. You're going to see an option to join a wait list. Interesting.

For robo cab rides. It's now part of a partnership with Waymo and Uber. In Tesla's last earnings call, Elon pledged that this summer, self-driving Tesla's would be on the streets of Austin with no driver behind the wheel. So it's basically a self-driving race in the Lone Star State's capital.

Uber and Waymo versus Tesla. Now, time for the best fact. Yeah, this one sent in by Catherine Y in lovely North Carolina. Yesterday we did a story on Spotify, and we compared their earnings to the boy band Hansen. We said that Hansen was a one-hit wonder. But Catherine pointed out that Hansen is far from a one-hit wonder. They're a 30-year multi-hit wonder.

I think Catherine is one of the girls I went to elementary school with. Oh, yeah. We had like a dozen Hanson posters on their bedroom wall. With accompanying CDs. Get this. Hansen actually had three albums in the top 20 albums in the U.S., and they've been producing music for 30 years. They had an album coming out just two years ago.

They're not a boy band anymore, though, because they're like 50. They're a man band. Hansen also has their own record label, their own beer company, and they go on tour almost every year. Mbop. Those are the only lyrics I know from the song, Mbop. That's actually the only lyrics in the song, yeah. Yadies, you look fantastic today. Whether you got your TikTok coach coaching you are not.

The best way you can help grow the show is a couple things. First, tell a buddy, H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. Have you had the best one yet? Second, tell yourself there's no eye in team, but there is an eye in viral. And then drop us five stars because that TikTok coach would like you to do it. Make an eye. We'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait.

And before we go, a happy 42nd birthday to Sarah and sixth birthday to Camille in Ellicott City, Maryland, Jack, a mother and daughter of Yetis with back-to-back birthdays, baby. Nick, you know we're expecting our third kid. I know, you could be like that. The due date is February 28th. Alex's birthday is March 3rd. They could have the same birthday. And Chelsea McKnight is celebrating birthday in Harrison, New Jersey,

and a happy national school counseling week to all the school counselors out there. Congratulations to Stephen and Corey Hoffman in Chicago, who just had a new baby. Nothing like logistics when it comes to a baby. And Claire Ross and the entire MixEat-Up team in Detroit, Michigan, launched a personalized restaurant recommendations app, their fans of Gramercy Tavern, and it is fantastic. They bootstrapped their first fundraise and got a huge congratulations from us right now. Can't wait to check it out.

And Curl Dirk King and St. Louis is the MVP of his soccer team. O.G. Yeti turned the whole team into besties, Jack. Thank you, Carl. And our buddy Santi, whose Latin American shopping app, Sam Sam, is surging right now. Jack, I ran into Santi in the Ferry Building. You show me the app. It looks fantastic. And to anyone else, celebrate something today. Make it a T-Boy.

Celebrate the wins. is Jack. Nick and I both on stock and Apple and Spotify. Kish? No capish.