The Best One Yet - 🛍️ “Black Friday Football” — Amazon’s TNF trick play. Ocean Spray’s cran-opoly. Microsoft’s OpenAI victory.

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Amazon is about to host Black Friday NFL football on Prime — This is the Holy Grail of American Capitalism.The most controversial dish at your Thanksgiving table? It’s cranberries, specifically canned cranberries — So we have to tell you about Ocean Spray’s wild (and surprisingly legal) cranberry monopoly.And the latest twist in the OpenAI drama? The coup has turned into a mutiny — 97% of OpenAI employees have threatened to quit, which reveals the real winner (Microsoft).$MSFT $AMZN $WMTSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Saviche Wednesday, November 22nd. And today's pod is the best one yet. It's a T-boy, Jack. It is the last pod of the week because we're taking a four-day weekend. We're going to miss all of you yetis out there. We'll be back on Monday, November 27th.

In the meantime, Jack, are you wearing two sweaters for Thanksgiving again this year? No. Oh, I'm wearing my turtleneck. There we go. Okay, all right. I'm here for it. I fully support it. It's a fashion statement.

I've already cooked a couple pies, by the way. Oh, yeah. You always make sure to have the best dessert at the party, don't you? Key lime, chocolate moose. That's so aniogram three of you. And a mystery pie. First story for today's show. What are we got, Jack?

For our first story, we're about to get the most Black Friday, Black Friday ever. Because Amazon just got its own NFL football game on Black Friday. For our second story. The biggest family drama this year isn't at the dinner table. It's at Open AI. The latest update on Sam,

is that a coup has turned into a mutiny. And our third and final story. It's the most controversial dish at Thanksgiving, cranberries. Turns out Ocean Spray has a monopoly on cranberries. A legal monopoly. It's a legal monopoly. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful Thanksgiving mix. That's how you go into a Thanksgiving break.

That is a perfect mix, man. 160 years ago, America had its first official Thanksgiving holiday. 1863, that is when Abraham Lincoln, President Lincoln, made Thanksgiving an official U.S. holiday. Honest Abe, it's a great legacy. Got a bowl to do it in the middle of a civil war. Love the sentiment behind it, Jack. But even before tomorrow, officially Thanksgiving, there are other holidays we want to talk about. For example, Yeti's last weekend, you celebrated Friendsgiving.

Friendsgiving. It's a Thanksgiving potluck, but before Thanksgiving and with buddies. And the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, you also may celebrate drinks. Today, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Everyone's back in town, so you go to the bar to see friends. Drinksgiving, it's tonight, enjoy your drinksgiving. But Nick and I think there's even more Thanksgiving holiday spin-offs in this Thanksgiving industry. Jack and I think that we can scale the stuffing on the Thanksgiving holiday, right, Jack?

Nick, are you ready to go full Marvel Cinematic Universe and franchise this thing? Jack, let's franchise Thanksgiving. What do we got, man? There's also Link'sgiving. Link'sgiving, when you play a round of golf before dinner. Or rinksgiving. When you go out of golf before dinner. When you go ice skating after the dinner.

And Shrinksgiving. When you see your therapist before seeing your family. Nick, how about stinksgiving? When you take a shower after you cook for nine hours. Or the controversial pinksgiving? It's when you don't cook a turkey, you cook a flamengo. I think this year I'm going to need Inksgiving. Ah, Inksgiving.

That's when you write in your diary about how weird Aunt Linda's comment was. What did you mean by that? I'm not really sure, but I kind of don't want to bring it up again, Jack. But of course, Yeties. there's dinksgiving. Dinksgiving. Double income, no kids, Thanksgiving. Dixgiving means you're not flying to see family.

You're flying to Fiji. Casserol in Cleveland. We're having paella in a biza. Yet is whatever you are doing this holiday. From Dinksgiving to Shrinksgiving to drinksgiving to drinksgiving. Make it the best one yet. Nick and I are going to hit the three stores. Have a great Thanksgiving.

We'll see you Monday. That was a little bit. It was very conclusive. of Yetis, we're thankful for you, but we're still going to do the rest of our podcast. Yeah, let's do the show, Nick. Let's hit our three stories. Fifteen 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. 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. Start the show. For our first story, Yeties, prepare this year for the,

most Black Friday phenomenon ever. You ready? Thursday night NFL football. Okay. On Black Friday. Okay. On Amazon. Okay, Yeties.

That is a lot to absorb all at once. Don't worry, Jack and I are going to repeat it and we'll sprinkle on some context. Let's break down each piece of that headline slowly in the rest of the story. All right, Jack, let's start at square one here. Yeties last year, Amazon won the rights to the NFL's Thursday night football game. It was a 10-year deal for 10-Benough. billion dollars. Well, Jack, what's the problem with that Amazon NFL deal exactly? That Thursday night deal conflicts with the NFL's annual Thanksgiving football tradition.

Yeah, he's hold the stuffing. Every NFL game is on Sunday, except for one game and one game only every year, Thanksgiving Thursday. Actually, more than one game. Because for 40 years, both the Lions and the Cowboys, they always get to play a game on Thanksgiving Day. And for 40 years, none of us really know why that's the case. Why the Lions and the Cowboys? Like, what is it about them that gets Thanksgiving games? And yet is this Thursday night football game? It works.

Last year, 42 million people watched just one of those Thanksgiving Day games. 42 million people watching one game. That is numbers you don't see in the media industry. So because of this Thanksgiving tradition, Amazon got every Thursday night game for the NFL, except on Thanksgiving. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we got to pause the pod for a second. Jack, did you just say the word, I did. Amazon doesn't like the word accept. Yeties, Amazon's lawyers really don't like the word accept. So Amazon actually convinced the NFL to make up for it. Yeties, Amazon convinced the NFL to put on its first ever Friday night football game.

Jets first dolphins this Friday on Amazon Prime video. How convenient, by the way. Yes, how convenient, Jack. The NFL's first ever Friday night game is happening on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the whole. year. And for Amazon, the world's biggest e-commerce company, this is a Christmas miracle. I mean, Jack, the only thing more financially larger than this would be if, like, Santa played the halftime show of the game. Or if Bezos convinced him to ship via Prime. Jack, the elves are going to go on strike. This deal is so good for Amazon. So what this means, instead of visiting Walmart on Black Friday, some Americans are going to stay home and tune in to Amazon Prime video instead.

Because they're watching a football game hosted by Amazon on Black Friday. And here's the biggest news. Yeah, it is. Amazon is going to be showing commercials on this Black Friday with exclusive deals and QR codes. Here's what you're going to see. A Domino's commercial showing that wings are 30% off if you scan this QR code that's on your screen right now. But Jack, let's say you want to make wings in the future, but you don't want wings today. They're going to show an ad for an air fryer.

50% off, but only if you scan the QR code because you're watching Friday night football. Besties, that air friar is going to drop directly. into your Amazon shopping cart while Zach Wilson fumbles the football. And it'll be at your front door before Sunday's games even begin. Oh, check it out. Aaron Rogers is ordering mushrooms from the side of the way.

So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? Amazon is shooting for the holy grail. Content merging with commerce. Okay, Yeties, remember like 20 years ago, Budweiser did those famous frog commercials, like the Budweiserer, like those commercials? For that commercial to convert into an actual sale,

customers must remember those frogs days later when they're at the grocery store. That's a problem in the marketing industry because that is a big gap. It's actually one of the biggest gaps there is between an ad and the purchase. But the QR codes that Amazon is introducing on Friday, it eliminates the gap. It connects the content to the commerce directly. So, Jack, let's say you see a commercial for a snuggy blanket on Friday. If you're watching the football game, all you have to do is pull out your phone and scan the QR code. Yeties, when Amazon acquired the rights to,

Thursday night football, we thought we might finally see it. Content merging with commerce. Well, this Friday, it might actually happen on Black Friday with football and Amazon. Nick, pour some gravy on that ensemble. That's the holy grail of American capitalism. For our second story, the biggest family drama this year, isn't it your Thanksgiving table? It's over at OpenAI. Microsoft has won with OpenAI's collapse. But here's the shocker. They don't want to be the way. They don't want to be the winner. We'll tell you more in the takeaway. Jack, there are decades where nothing happens, and then there are weeks

when decades happen. This week felt like the latter. Okay, this week we have been up late yet,ies, because in Monday's show, we covered the coup that was staged by the board of OpenAI against their co-founder and CEO, Sam Oman. When the dust settled, Sam had been fired by OpenAI,

but hired by Microsoft. Two days ago, Sam got a new job. CEO of the new AI division over at Microsoft, not to shabby, his parents are proud. So that's what happened to Sam Alman. But what happened to Open AI? Well, in the 48 hours since then, Open AI has gone from a $90 billion dominator of artificial intelligence to a disaster of artificial intelligence. And the biggest issue remains. And what's the biggest issue, Jack? Open AI hasn't explained themselves. Why did you fire Sam Alton, the most

valuable asset at the company? They've said it has something to do with their non-profit mission, clashing with Sam's for-profit focus. Right, because remember, Open AI was founded as a nonprofit, focused on humanity and harnessing AI for good. But they thought that Sam Allman was moving too fast and breaking things, although they've shown no evidence of it. They haven't explained publicly why they made that huge decision. But yet is it has now been five days.

We have digested a lot of Twitter. We've stayed up late, a whole bunch of nights. And now this is how Jack and I see the story. Open AI first staged a coup. But now they face a mutiny. Because there are still 770 people who did not get fired from OpenAI and who still work at OpenAI for now. And for Open AI to survive and justify their high valuation, they need those workers. But the employees of OpenAI just saw their boss, their co-founder, their CEO, their visionary leader get fired.

And they see that as a colossal error. The employees of Open AI are so. upset at what has happened to the company in the past week. That they just did what anyone does when they get really, really upset. They signed an open letter. They wrote a letter. And the letter was an ultimatum. It was actually a pretty big ultimatum.

Jack, what else was in that letter, man? The board must rehire Sam Altman as the CEO and then resign or we all quit. Get this yet. He's 97% of Open AIs remaining employees have now signed that ultimatum letter. If the board doesn't rehire Sam and then resign as a board, then OpenAI loses 97% of their employees. If they don't do all this, everyone's going to quit the company. That's basically it. And it's a credible threat, too. This coup has now turned into a mutiny.

Because Microsoft already hired Sam Altman. They could hire everyone else at OpenAI. They could take the biggest assets from OpenAI. And they could rebuild the entire OpenAI company, but under Microsoft. And here's the crazy thing, Eddie, that's not like the only drama going down in the streets of San Francisco right now. Every AI company in San Francisco is trying to poach the OpenAI disgruntled workers. Over at Salesforce, like in Salesforce Tower, Mark Benioff has promised to hire and give raises to any Open AI employee. Honestly, you can be the janitor.

So now Open AI is so desperate. They reportedly asked their biggest competitor, Anthropic, to merge. Jack, that was a lot. I feel like I need a breath. I need a water. I need to take a shower after we covered all that. What a colossal mistake firing Alpin was. And the consequences after, I feel like they didn't think about it.

Yeti's so many twists and turns, and it's just like Jack and I told you on Monday. Artificial intelligence is powered by human intelligence. And now it's a field day in San Francisco for that human intelligence. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies over at OpenAI? Open AI can still undo this. And that's actually what everyone wants to happen. Yides, you know who looks like the clear winner here? It's Microsoft.

OpenAI's downfall means they got their prized wonder kid, Sam Altman. And if they want, they can hire Sam Altman's entire old staff that used to work at OpenAI. But here's the interesting thing. Microsoft much preferred everything before this. Like, they preferred the status quo, and they would like to go back to that. Yeah, because when Microsoft was merely an investor in OpenAI, they got the best of both worlds. Back then, Microsoft benefited from OpenAI, but it wasn't responsible for the negative consequences. If Microsoft takes over OpenAI completely, then it's responsible for the moral and ethical burdens of this dangerous new innovation.

Oh, and guess who else wants the status quo from last week, Jack? Um, all the investors in Open AI who've put a lot of money into that company and are afraid it's going to go to zero. So yet, he's don't be shocked if Open AI ends up rehiring Sam and going right back to the status quo. Because literally, every stakeholder except Open AI's competition, wishes they could go back to last week. The only question is, will Open AI's board members push control, Altman, delete? For our third and final story, the most polarizing dish of your Thanksgiving, it's cranberries. Ocean Spray is the OPEC of Cranberries, and Ocean Spray is a legal monopoly.

And we were going to tell you all about it. But, Jack, last month, didn't we cover, like, the most controversial food of Halloween? What is it again? It's candy corn. It's pretty controversial. It still divides people. But the most controversial food of Thanksgiving is cranberries. Specifically, canned cranberry sauce.

Canned cranberries divides us like the Berlin Wall. It's the most contentious side dish since you put a prune in the stuffing. Now, on the upside, it is sweet, it is flavorful, and it adds a much-needed color to that plate of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. But on the downside, it is gelatinous, it jiggles, and it awkwardly holds the cilantro shape of the can. Or is the jiggle a pro, not a con? It's the only side dish at Thanksgiving that looks like it has its own pulse, Jack. But we can all agree on one thing. There's only one brand in cranberries.

And that brand is Ocean Spray. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ocean Spray produces 65% of the world's cranberries. Two out of three cranberries, not granola of yours? That's an ocean spray cranberry people. They sell trillions of cranberries bringing in an annual revenue of $2 billion. We're not even going to compare. that to lifts. It's a lot of cranberries. And Thanksgiving, this week is the cranberry industry Super Bowl. Because the average American this week is going to eat a quarter pound of cranberries.

That's a lot of cranberries. But yeties, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Ocean Spray actually has the most unique business model in America. Ocean Spray is a monopoly. Yes, it is. But it's a legal monopoly. Yeties, Ocean Spray isn't just a farm. It isn't one company. It isn't even one business. Ocean Spray is actually 700 different farms. It's a co-op. It's a cooperative of 700 different family farms that go way back to 100 years ago. All the way back to 1933, Plymouth, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. Cranberry farmers in New England were doing the hard work of flooding their bog so they could harvest their cranberries. They started thinking, hey, why waste money competing when we could make money collaborating?

Because collaborating is illegal. Jack, this feels like it's across a line. Like, you know not have to do this, right? If two companies, like, collaborate on prices, that's called collusion. Yeah, you can't collude and you can't have monopoly. That's fundamentally illegal in this country. Turns out there's a loophole. Get this, Yeties.

In 1920, there was a new federal law that lets agriculture companies team up to create cooperatives. And that's exactly what they did. The farmers teamed up and became. shareholders in one giant giant cranberry company. And that giant cranberry company is exempt from antitrust laws. And instead of one big bad company who takes profits from us,

it's 700 wholesome farms who are the monopoly. It's actually a really good, feel-good story you want to tell your kids. It's the OPEC of cranberries, and it tastes good. But it kind of jiggles, too. It's not but it jiggles. It's and it jiggles. But yet that's not

even our favorite part about this cranberry story. Our favorite part is our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Ocean Spray? One scary year drove Ocean Spray to innovation. All right, you want to know the worst year in cranberry history? We actually know it. It's 1959. Because in 1959, there was a cranberry scare and they had zero canned cranberry sales. In 1959, the federal government warned Americans that cranberries might be associated with cancer. It scared everybody into not buying them that Thanksgiving. Well, that scare made Ocean Spray realize their greatest risk. They only sold one product and they only sold it like one time of the year. So that's the year they decided to innovate beyond Thanksgiving. So in the 1960s, Ocean Spray

launched their first ever cranberry juice. In the 1980s, they launched their first cranberry juice box. And in the 1990s, Ocean Spray launched their most successful product ever. Dried cranberry. Also known as crazins. Crazons. And today, you're tossing frozen cranberries into your morning smoothie ball. So one bad year, one scare, catalyzed Ocean Spray to innovate and reinvent their berry. Add it all up, Yetis, and Ocean Spray has one of the most unique business models in all of America. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for our last pod before Thanksgiving? Amazon is putting QR codes on the screen for the NFL's Black Friday game.

Because Amazon wants the whole. Holy Grail, merging content with commerce. For our second story, OpenAI has gone from coup to mutiny. But it's not too late for Open AI to undo all of it. And our third and final story is Ocean Spray. With 700 farms, it's the world's largest legal monopoly of cranberries. One scary year drove decades of cranberry innovation. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, CZ, the founder of the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, is stepping down in a shocking move. He pleaded guilty to federal anti-money laundering charges, and his company has to pay $4.3 billion. And second, speaking of AI, NVIDIA, the computer chip company powering artificial intelligence, just reported huge earnings. And NVIDIA just announced quarterly revenues tripled. Their chips are the brains that power AI. And finally, Ciped. San Francisco's only private island is now available for sale for $25 million.

It's an entire island in the bay, and it could be yours. It could be yours. For $25 million. You just got to put down a little bit of money. Oh, is there a house on it? You actually have to build your own house. That's in the fine print, Jack. You could have Fire Festival 3, though.

There's actually a Fire Fest Clause, Jack. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by Savannah Westwood from Lovely. Orlando, Florida. You think that 16-pound bird on your dinner table tomorrow is big? It's not. No, it's not. Here's the trivia for your Thanksgiving dinner yeties.

What is the biggest turkey ever? According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it's an 86-pound turkey. It's an 86-pounder named Tyson. That's how big this turkey got. It was sold at an auction in 1989 for $7,000. I think you put that thing in the oven because it's coming after you. I hope you have a fork and knife in your hand. Fork and knife, Jack, you need like a flamethrower with that thing.

I really wish a turkey was a flightless bird now. Yeties, you look fantastic for the three-day week. Jack and I, we're not going to see until Monday, but we do this pot for you and we got to give thanks to you. As always, we are so thankful for you to listen to the show because it's why we get to do the show. And Jack, I'm so thankful that I have you have a co-host because this is the most fun job you can do on a daily basis.

100% agree, man. That was so much fun. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. We'll see you on Monday. Have some turkey. Have some gravy. Maybe even some jiggly cranberry sauce. That jiggle is some razzle-dazzle.

Jack and I, we'll see you on Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday and congrats to Yeti's Rachel and Rex Spence. A couple with the same birthday celebrating in Cambodia. Happy birthday to Avery Kamalzada, a first lieutenant marine officer stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Lieutenant Avery, thank you for your service, celebrating. that win. And a happy birthday to Luis Hiran Hua on his way to work in Santa Clara, California.

Happy birthday to Vicki Gabbard in Charlotte, North Carolina. And Anna Parada, happy 50th birthday down in Houston. Happy birthday to Geronimo Serrano in Lafayette, Louisiana. And Maryland in Encinitas, California, celebrating a wonderful birthday. Happy birthday to Allison Sherman in Glendale,

California. And Lauren Ginsberg, enjoy that birthday with some lacrosse down in Baltimore, Maryland. Happy birthday to Ryan Hardy in Woodbridge, Virginia. And Minaj Vermeula is celebrating the birthday in San Ramon, California. Happy birthday to Jamarion B in Seattle. And Alejandro Lopez from Venezuela, now living in Norway, is turning 38, but he's feeling like 28. Congratulations to Sue Jean Kim, who's returning to work after a year of traveling the whole world.

And Alex and Joyce are no longer in their dink era. This couple is expecting a baby in Washington. And Todd and Grayson and Ewan are driving to Nana and Pappas for Thanksgiving. Celebrate those wins. And to anyone else celebrating something this long weekend, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon.

Or if Bezos convinced him to ship via Prime. Yeah. The reindeer's are like on the 20-yard line for this game, Jack. Dude, him was reference to Santa because you had just said it. Yeah, yeah. Jack, the elves are going to go and strike. This deal is so. good for Amazon.