The Best One Yet - 🏎️ “Bieber’s blacklisted” — Ferrari’s rules of ownership. Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk. DOGE vs. CFPB.

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

If you customize a Ferrari, they won’t let you buy another… even if you’re Justin Beiber.Coca-Cola’s biggest acquisition ever is Fairlife… because milk is having a moment.DOGE is targeting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… so we’re look at trim-cuts vs buzz-cuts.Plus, we wrote a heartbroken love poem ahead of Valentine’s Day… to Peloton.$RACE $KO $PTONWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food 🍦. Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“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 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 Wednesday, Savi-J Wednesday. February 12th, 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. Jack, grab me a napkin because Yiddies, we just visited Ben and Jerry's flagship store. We jumped in T-boy style.

We went to the original scoop shop yesterday to promote our episode of the best idea yet. We did a whole episode on Ben and Jerry's. You got the fish food in a cone, right? There you went? Yeah, I got fish food and a cone. And we went to, like, a man on the street interviews. Yeah, we did. Everyone we asked trivia questions about Ben and Jerry's. They knew the answers. They did, they did. Vermonters know their company. I was a little surprised you didn't get hot fudge, Jack.

We don't do that here. We let the ice cream do the talk. No, no, no. More is more, Jack. Yeah, these three fantastic stories for today's show, Jack, what do we got on the pod? For our first story, Coca-Cola's biggest acquisition ever? Milk. Coca-Cola bought Fair Life Milk for $7 billion. Why is milk their fastest-growing product? Because they stole an idea. from cocktails. For our second story. If you give your Ferrari a custom paint job, you can never buy one again. Ferrari has a blacklist,

and Justin Bieber is on it. And our third and final story, Doge has stopped all work at the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Well, Jack and I worked at banks back when the CFPB was invented, so we can explain what the heck is going on. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

Fantastic. mix of stories, a hot fudge-covered mix of stories, Jack. Hold the fudge. But yet he's warning to all lovers out there. We are 48 hours away from Valentine's Day. Yes, we are. It's probably too late to buy flowers or even make your own chocolate. But instead, we have a solution. Write a poem. A poem. To inspire you, Jack and I have actually written a poem about a company that we love. It's a tradition we started last year. We call it publicly traded poetry. Stock market sonnets. Profits and pros. It was IPO a tree.

So we just wrote one poem together about a company that broke our hearts. Yes, we did. I'm going to come to Nick's side of the table. Yeah, come over here we go, Jack. Here we go. Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap. Here we go. Here we go.

Silence, please. My heart beats for you around the clock. Once for the workouts, once for the stock. In a pandemic, you were innovation. Selling home gyms across the nation. But Peloton, oh Peloton, we speak now. to thee, for you broke our heart financially. We spin your classes every week, but the analyst reports look so bleak. I'm not sure which one you've burned more. Calories or investors, our losses

are still so, so sore. Wall Street gave you zero pity after killing big on sex in the city. In you, we still hold equity to the shock of Cody Rigsby. Is it too much to ask for a turnaround plan, please sell to Apple if you possibly can. The 90% stock drop, it ain't been fun, but we're still long on Peloton. Yetis hit us up with your own IPO tree, your own publicly traded poems out there. Poet laureates? Yeah, you know where to find. Just click the link in our episode description.

Send it our way and we'll get it on the bottom. Nick, it's our three stories. Let's see. idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. This 50% that's a fat tip. Tea boy city on your at list. If you know, 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, get this. Coca-Cola's biggest acquisition ever is a milk company, Fair Life Milk. Milk is having a moment.

Fair Life bottled it. Yeties, come with us over to Chicago. Because if you walk into the Coca-Cola office in the West Loop, you're not going to see a Coca-Cola logo, are you, Jack? You're going to see a cowbell. Yep. Because according to Bloomberg reporting, Coke employs a team of supertasters who test their most valuable new product line,

which is dairy milk. Specifically, Fair Life, dairy milk. That's right, America's biggest soda brand has gone all in on the utter. Coca-Cola acquired Fair Life in 2020 at a final price of $7 billion. Okay, you know what that means? That means Fair Life Milk is Coca-Cola's biggest acquisition and it's 133-year history. And the numbers return you lactose tolerance. What do we got, Jack?

What kind of stuff? Fair Life is selling a billion dollars a year now, which is up 10x from 10 years ago. All right, Jack, I'm going to need you to spore on a little context for us over there. What is this is a bowl of cereal for a podcast? It is. Now, Coke just announced their quarterly earnings. It's a $50 billion of revenue last quarter, so Fair Life is a small part, but it's the fastest growing part by far.

Fair Life milk is outperforming Coca-Cola sodas. It is outselling its juices. It is outpacing Coca-Cola's coffee brands. And even after 10xing in the last 10 years, there's still room to grow. Yeah, there is. Because only one-third of Americans have even tried a bottle of Fair Life milk. Yeties, Jack and I heard this story, and this is what we found fascinating. Fairlife milk is defying two of the biggest trends in America.

Not milk and honey. Milk and money. Okay, here you get this. Milk is a commodity. Like all milk is the same and all tastes the same and all looks the same. And yet, Fairlife charges three times more in this economy? On top of that, cow milk consumption, it is down 30% per capita since 2010. And yet, Fair Life sales are at an all-time high. How is that possible, Jack?

One key is those super-tasters in the Chicago's West Loop Milk Office. Yeah, good point, Jack. They have optimized milk. Fairlife has engineered their milk. They have filtered it to have higher protein and less sugar, and that has opened up a whole new audience. I didn't realize milk had sugar, but it naturally does. It does.

And they've managed to, like, filter out the sweets that you don't want. Which created a new customer base for them, OZMPIC users. OZMPIC users love Fair Life milk because it's got 50% more protein. Basically, Fairlife has engineered milk to be nature's protein shake. It's the first milk to brand itself as a sports drink. Fairlife is positioning itself like the gatorade of dairy. So while alt milk sales like Oatley are dropping, Fairlife's real milk sales are soaring. Yeah, Jack, by the way, do you know what my family used to feed me when we were growing up, my parents?

Milk. My soda. You know what that is? Milk and soda mixed together. Yeah, it is, and it works. What do you mean it works? I don't know. We loved it on his age.

Well, Jack, I got nipples. You milk us a takeaway over there? What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Fairlife? Milk has taken a lesson from margaritas. Yeties, the number one type of alcohol performing well these days, it's ready to drink cocktails. Basically canned cocktails are the top selling alcohol. And the reason is the convenience.

A canned cocktail unshackles you from the bartender and lets you crack open a six-pack of nagronies at the beach. Well, we noticed that Fair Life has strategically applied that same formula to mills. Milk is the most at-home product of all time. It is. People used to deliver milk to your home with milkmen. Even today, Jack, like think about this. Milk is literally designed for your fridge.

It's sold in gallons in a rectangular shape. And the fridge has a shelf on the door designed for that gallon of milk. Which requires two hands just to pour. And a glass to pour it into. But Fairlife recognized a wider opportunity to sell milk on the go, basically, are ready to drink milk bottle. Fairlife is the only milk sold in an ergonomic bottle that fits in your hand. It also fits in a cup holder, and it's got a cap that twists on securely, not pops on, like most gallons of milk.

That's how this company's bid a billion dollars. The core value prop is convenience. Fairlife's disruption wasn't just engineering a super milk with more protein and the sugar. The disruption was making milk portable, inspired by the ready-to-drink cocktail. For our second story, Ferrari is considering a wild-noburn. new policy. If you give your Ferrari a custom paint job, you can never buy another one. The Ferrari Blacklist shows the power of tastemakers. All right, so last year, remember when I read that book about the founding of Ferrari when I was in Italy? I'm so glad you did because you brought a lot of lessons

out of the show. Okay, so Enzo Ferrari was such a control freak that a royal prince once showed up to pick up his like green Ferrari and Enzo said, I'm not doing it. And the guy said, I bought a green one. He said you're getting a red one. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Ferrari does have a thing about redness, don't they do? Well, Jack, for most of its existence, 90% of Ferrari sold were red Ferraris. It's part of the brand, basically. It is, but today, just 40% of Ferrari sold are red. Justin Bieber's got a baby blue Ferrari. Black China, she's got a pink Ferrari. The famous DJ, Dead Mouse, great guy. He painted a cat with like a rainbow tail behind him on his Ferrari. Well, that leads to the news. A hundred years.

after its founding, Ferrari is doubling down on being a control freak. The CEO sounds a lot like Enzo Ferrari. He said, I don't like strange Ferraris on the road. He doesn't like these color customization. He actually said that twice. He said, I don't like it is a strange Ferraris on the road. I think it's an English language limitation. Yeah, we were reading the earnings report. So he says that he's worried about the secondary market for Ferraris. He wants Ferraris to maintain their value, and he thinks that these crazy color combos hurt the value of all Ferrari. He actually compared this strategy to the fine dining industry. Some restaurants have a fixed menu. You have to go with what the chef says. Others let you choose

off the menu. Well, Ferrari, there are a very particular Michel and starred chef. They want to set the menu. But here's the problem. America is a free country. America. If a customer buys a Ferrari and wants to paint a rainbow on that thing, they're allowed to do so. So get this. According to some reports and a tad bit of rumor, Ferrari has created a blacklist. And according to Fortune Magazine, if you're on that blacklist, first of all, congratulations. That's pretty cool. It means you bought a Ferrari. Yeah, it must be nice.

Good for you. Impressive. But you can never buy one again. Sure, you can paint the words, my other car is a Lamborghini on your Ferrari, but that's your last Ferrari. You can add a purple paint job, put your initials on the back of it, but that's your last Ferrari. In fact, Justin Bieber is reportedly on the Ferrari.

Blacklist. And why is that, Jack? Because of news reports that he had wild partying one night and lost his Ferrari. Oh, also Dead Mouse, the DJ, he's also on the Ferrari blacklist. Because of that cat with the rainbow. It makes sense. When he posted it on Instagram, he called it his Ferrari. Oh, Mr. Ferrari, no like any. No, Ferrari doesn't like any. No me piach. Now, here's the ironic part, though. Every other luxury car brand is doing the opposite when it comes to customization. And Jack, remember we did the story last year about Rolls-Royce? They built a whole new factory for custom, extravagant Rolls-Roy's features. And those personalized perks are their profit puppy.

Yeah, they are. Rolls as CEO says, we're not the taste police. We'll help you and sell you whatever taste you want onto roll. On the other hand, Ferrari is the taste police. They're basically like, I don't know, straight out of mean girls. On Wednesdays, we drive red. And despite that control freakiness, Ferrari stock is at an all-time high because of our takeaway.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Ferrari? Ferrari's blacklist is straight up Miranda Priestley. Yeties, the devil wears product. Great movie, Merrill Streep, Ann Hathaway, 2006. It's all about fashion. It's kind of a comedy. It's fantastic. I actually had to watch it at Michigan Business School.

Had to? Yeah, well, it was part of the curriculum. Oh, you did? Yeah, it was part of my marketing class. It was really cool. Well, in the movie, Miranda Priestley runs an iconic fashion magazine. And she says this about the blue sweater that Anne Hathaway is wearing. Push and play.

You're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff. She's talking about the role of tastemakers in fashion. Exactly. And last year, we said that Rolls-Royce positioned its cars as art. They can price them high because they're customized just for you. On the other hand, Ferrari has repositioned its cars as fashion. Priced so high because their brand is controlled by them. Going so far to protect its brand that they may blacklist you, that is a tastemaker.

you'd pay for. Ferrari is borrowing from the fashion industry. They're borrowing from Miranda Priestley. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, our government's youngest agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was just told to stop work by Doge. And the best way we can explain this is with a barbershop analogy. Now, Yeties, when Jack and I were like fresh out of college, first-year jobs. We were working in banking, and a brand new government agency was created. This was fresh after the financial crisis. Fresh after it. Nick and I had to walk through Zaccati Park where Occupy Wall Street protests were happening every day to get to work. In our suits. That's the context that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created. The CFPB, it was meant to

ensure that financial products are fair and transparent. Now, we already have a consumer protection agency. It's called the FTC. Good point. But, Finance is a different animal. Yeah, because we can tell you from studying finance and working in finance, banks have a long history of dishonest marketing, taking advantage to the poor, greed, Gordon Gacko, you've seen it. So this new agency, it investigates banks, credit card companies, and credit rating agencies for dishonest practices. Now, when the CFPB was created from the start, banks opposed it.

And so did some politicians who were worried about over-regulation. But here's what they actually do. Last month, they sued Capital One for advertising high-yield interest rates, but not actually paying those interest payments to customers. They actually got Capital One to pay out $2 billion back to consumers. The CFPB deposited that money back into customers' accounts. Basically, it gave customers what they were promised. So add it all up, and banks say that the CFPB creates more paperwork,

more friction, more challenges for them to do business. But the CFPB says its mission is to be a check on the big power of banks. by protecting consumers from having their money unlawfully taken. But here's the news. The CFPB's future is in question now that it's been targeted by Elon Musk's doge. On Monday, Trump's new head of the CFPB told all staff to, and I quote, stand down from performing any work task. The new head of the agency, he told workers to say home. He even deleted the social media accounts for the whole agency.

And then Elon tweeted, CFPB, RIP. Which leads to the big question, Jack, is the CFPB gone? No. Technically only Congress can eliminate a government agency because it's Congress's job to create them. In fact, the new head of the agency said he's actually going to announce a new direction for the agency. What kind of direction? Well, Mark Zuckerberg and Mark Andreessen, those techies, they've complained that the CFPB harasses tech companies that try to get into finance. So the CFPB actually could reopen with the same mission, but a different approach. A different approach, like being friendlier to both finance and tech companies. But in the meantime, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is shut down,

but not out yet. So, Jack, what's our takeaway for the CFBB? Does the E and Doge stand for efficiency or elimination? Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency. We think it's a great idea to eliminate wasteful government spending. And with an annual budget of almost a billion dollars, there's definitely money to be saved at the CFPB. So a renewed culture of cost effectiveness, yeah, we're all for it. And so are the majority of Americans.

But gutting an entire agency to the point that it can't function, that's different than efficiency. Yeah, that's a de facto elimination of it, which requires a bill from Congress, not Doche. Making an agency whose job it is to protect consumers from financial firms, more efficient, is very different than eliminating it. Honestly, reminded us of barbershops. There is a difference between a hair trim and a buzz cut when you're talking to your barber. Just like there's a difference between trimming waste

and eliminating the agency. Which leads to the fair question, does the E&Dose stand for efficiency or elimination? Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Coca-Cola's star product is cow milk. It's a brand called Fairloge. It's a brand called Fairloge. life, and they're trying to be the gatorade of dairy. Milk just took a lesson from margaritas. They're now sold ready to drink. For our second story, it's Ferrari. They have a blacklist.

If you impugn the brand's purity, you may never buy another Ferrari. Miranda Priestley, she'd approve. Ferrari is a tastemaker. And our third and final story is Doge. It's turned its attention this week to the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So does the Ian Doge stand for efficiency or elimination? But Yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, if you are willing, waiting, hoping, begging for interest rates to come down, don't hold your breath.

The Fed chairman Jerome Powell testified yesterday to the Senate. Yeah, Jerry said he's in no rush to lower interest rates given the risk of inflation sparking up again. Second, if you're in New York at the South Street Seaport, look out for the new leaning tower of New York. Yeah, this tower leans. It goes three inches to the side compared to the bottom. How does that compare, though, to the leaning tower of Pisa? It doesn't compare. Now, the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy leans at four degrees, not one degree like the tower in New York. So Pisa is four times more leanier than the New York leaner. Oh, a couple other things you got to know today. The Gulf of America has officially arrived on Google Maps.

And the Super Bowl ratings just came in at an all-time high of 128 million viewers. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Alisa Stearman from lovely Austin, Texas. Yesterday we told you that the U.S. Treasury will stop making pennies. Yes, so we suggested that because of inflation, the U.S. Treasury should bring back the $1,000 bill. And America used to have a $1,000 bill. Three different versions, actually, with three different men on them. Okay, so we had President Cleveland on one version, the mayor of New York DeWitt Clinton on the other version. And Robert Morris. a founding father from the state of Pennsylvania.

And guess what? Robert Morris happens to be Elisa's fiancé's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather. I think you put him one too many grades. I had five. Did I hit that? I hit that and I round up on that one. Oh, Elise, I'm sorry.

Soon to be, Alyssa's great, great, great, great, great grandfather-in-law. Right? Yeah, it is. You look fantastic today. I just want to say your iambic pantameter reading that publicly traded poetry was he stuck the landing on that thing. Snap, snap, snap, snaps. It's IPO tree. Fesies, if you've got a lovely poem about a brand you're in loved with, send it our way.

We may get it on the pod. You got two more days until Valentine's Day. So get those pencils sharpened. Pelot time. You broke our hearts. That's all I got to say. Jack and I will see him on. And before we go, a happy 27th birthday to Abdul Malik Ful.

It's belated in Tacoma, Washington. And happy birthday to Greta Jean Kramer from Brattleboro, Vermont, who is turning five years old. I'm checking the list, jack, and that is the eldest of the next generation of Kramer children, am I right? She's got, I think, seven cousins right now, soon to be nine. No, not true, because two of them are her sisters.

Actually, she's the best ballet dancer in the tri-state area. Happy birthday to Abraham Lincoln, from Leroux, Kentucky. And Brandon Arbiter in Denver, Colorado. Happy birthday, Brandon. And happy birthday to Kara Inos in Franklin, Tennessee. And Jack, Richard Hayes and the whole Zarb School of Business at Hofstra, enjoy this pod because Professor Richard puts it on. Thank you, Rich.

Go pride. And Rascal the Doxins, thank you for living such a good life for your parents. This wonderful dog Rascal would listen to this show every day with their owners, and Rascal lived a wonderful life. And besties, if you would like to get a shout out on this show or you want to get one for your buddy, just fill out the form in our episode description. or go to tboypod.com slash shout-hap.

This is Jack. Nick and I still own stock in Palatown. And we also own stock in Apple. Legal tender is a great, a great name for a company. True. Legal tender. It could be a meat company. Yeah. Tender meat.

Yeah, legal tender.