The Best One Yet - 💗 “Dislike of the Like” — Insta’s Like button. Gap’s Walmart sleepover. Royal Caribbean’s test cruise.

Episode Date: May 28, 2021

In our last pod before the 3-day weekend (back at it on Tuesday), Facebook is giving you the option to disable the like. The Gap is moving in with Walmart because retail is a story of extremes. And Royal Caribbean just became the biggest test yet of the entire Reopening Economy.$RCL $GPS $WMT $FBGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is snacks daily. It is Friday. It is Friday. Wait, did you say Friday? I said Friday. It's the real Friday. Not too shabby.

Did you know it's also a three-day weekend we got coming up? Lovely Memorial Day. Thanks to the snackers who have served our country. We appreciate it. Did you know, Nick? It is also today National Burger Day. I'm sorry, Jack. It feels too good to be true.

It feels too medium rare. You know what I think we need? We need a little pedestal on a plate so that when your burger juices, it doesn't get the bun all sock. You got to keep a clean bun. You also want to make it the best one yet. It's also our last pod before Tuesday. Because Monday's Memorial Day and stock markets are closed Monday.

It's also the best one yet. Jack, what's our first story? Instagram and Facebook, this is a big deal. They're giving you the option to end like counts. Snackers, here's the thing. If there's friction, then there's intention. For our second story, the Gap has so many pairs of unsold jeans. They're turning them into denim pillow sheets and selling them at Walmart.

True story. The Gap, it's tucking you into a robe on a mattress in a duvet at a Walmart in I'll And Royal Caribbean, third story, has the CDC's blessing to sail on June 20th from the port of Miami with a condition. Cruising, it is the ultimate test of the reopening economy. Actually, we have lots of conditions. There's more footnotes in asteris than there are tickets. But stackers, before we hit those three fantastic stories.

It's a wonderful mix today, Jack. I love today's mix. This weekend, you may just finally switch out those movies you've been binging on Netflix for 15 months and go to an actual movie theater. Yeah, you're going to get off the camera. You're going to go into a darkly lit, sticky felt chair in a mediocre retail setting. That's what you're going to do. Because, Nick, there's nothing like the feel of crunched popcorn under your sneakers

as you tiptoe past fellow annoyed movie watchers. Excuse me? Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, thank you so much. Trying to get over there. Oh, I really appreciate it. One more just really appreciate it. Snackers, it's Memorial Day weekend.

And this year, Memorial Day weekend's the unofficial return to movie theater season. Yeah, like the entire industry. First off, you got Cruella debuting in theaters. the dark origin story of the animal-hating diva Cruella Deville. Okay, so Jack, not rated G like 101 Dalmatians, the Disney OG. This one, they kicked it up a notch, PG-13. A Quiet Place, too, is also in theaters, which is also rated PG-13. Fun fact, John Krasinski's beard, unrated.

Snackers, if you decide to go into the theaters this weekend, let's say you decide to keep your mask on. We got a pro tip for your drink situation. You're going to connect the straws. Two straws become one super straw. My personal record is connecting. Five straws. So you can get directly from your cup holder under your mask into your mouth without moving.

But Jack, like the bassinet, there seems to be no record or evidence of any of this. Big weekend for movie theaters. If movie theaters are the big screen. Then Jack, this pod, this is the great unseen. Is this pod PG-13? Honestly, we're probably G. This is good, clean family fun. Let's hit our three stories.

You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something illegal out the way. The snacks about to hear rain food. It's air candy. don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. We're not recommending any securities. It's not a research report or investment advice.

Not an offer or sale of a security. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Robberhood Financial, LLC, member FINRA slash SIPC. For our first story, the almost not quite death of the like button. Snackers, Facebook decides that it's going to let you disable the like on Facebook and Instagram, but only if you want to. Yeah, kind of a key asterisk there.

So we got to sprinkle on a little context here, Jack. Let's travel back to the old September 2019. We covered on this pod that Facebook was testing the end of like accounts. Yeah, kind of a big move there, trying to cure the like anxiety, which is a major concerning thing. All right, I want to post something. I'm first going to apply a filter. I'm going to tag a friend. I'm going to tag myself.

Why not? What witty caption should I use for this post? Okay, I'm going to finally post it. Okay. All right. Then only three likes in three minutes, Jack. So your heartbeat rises and then you edit the caption and then you repost the entire thing. 17 minutes later. You're only at 12 likes. Delete the post. Brutal. Hate it. You've been there, Snackers. We've been there. We've been there with you. It's an actual mental health issue, especially for young people. Facebook knew that the number of likes on your post was causing some people anxiety. But a tech company will not make a major change like that without first doing their own research. No, they won't. But guess what? That was nearly two years.

ago, now we're two years later, Facebook just finished up the research. Jack, can you whip up the abstract for us over here? Facebook brought out their spokespeople yesterday to tell us their research showed no significant mental health or well-being benefit from their test of hiding the like numbers. Okay. Snackers let that sink in. Jack and I jumped in snack style further to this lab report, and there was like a funny thing that Facebook's research found around the like button. In general, I guess there was no positive effect from their test. Yes. But there was a polarizing effect on Instagram's profit puppies. They're influencers. Influencers, they're the profit puppies of Instagram. It turns out that large, more established creators, they wanted to kill off the

publicly visible number of likes on their posts. And the people with the huge followings, they're thinking it would be a benefit of society if there weren't the light counts. It would depressurize the whole Instagram experience because you don't care about the number of likes. But then, Jack, I noticed you also got the smaller up-and-coming creators and they need the like counts. They want the like counts. Small creators told Instagram and Facebook, like counts are how they gain traction and how they get sponsors for their posts. Okay. So that's all the research. That's all the wild findings. And then Facebook just delivered this verdict on the future of like counts. We are going to let you decide. You have the option to hide the public and visible light counts.

Or you can just keep them up. It's your call. Jack, a powerfully bold non-decision. You got to love it coming straight out of Melo Park. Snackers, we see three different settings. You can now apply to your Facebook account or your Instagram account with regards to the like number. All right. So the first thing here, you could do nothing. Everything is the same as it's always been. You see the like counts. You get the light counts.

The second option is you can opt to not see the like counts on other people's posts and just judge posts by the witty caption and the image and don't look at the number of likes that have been. Jack, I can tell you one. Our buddy, Tim, Tim, is definitely not doing that one. The third one, you can hide your own like count from other people. So that when someone swipes past the birthday post you just made, they won't see the number of likes you have gotten for it. Right. So what they're going to see is the liked by Jess, liked by Ashley, liked by others. But it won't have a number there. So you can keep it private, the number of people who've liked your posts. Snackers, you're more than a number. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Facebook?

Facebook's friction in their app reveals their intentions. Snackers, Facebook interestingly added friction to let you hide the like counts. Basically, that's the kind of thing that could stop people from actually hiding their light counts. This wasn't part of Facebook's messaging. Nick and I noticed this. But any tech product manager, any tech engineer, any intern knows that friction stops users from doing things. Jack, you want to disable the like counts on other people's posts? That requires six separate taps on the Instagram app. Brutal. Jack, you want to disable likes on your own posts.

You must tap three times. That's right. And then you must repeat that tap sequence for each and every post. If you want to hide the like counts on your posts, you need to confirm it every time. There's no set it and forget it. If so facto friction, Snackers, Facebook says it's offering you choice, but the status quo is still just having like counts. No taps required to make that happen. To change that, it requires you tap through a whole bunch of friction in the Facebook and

Instagram apps. We're guessing that Facebook research also showed that likes boost engagement and engagement that boost Facebook profits. For our second story, The Gap, it's pulling off the rare double pivot that is unprecedented in its 52 years. The gap is going into your home. Yeah, they are. And it's getting there via Walmart. Since 1969, Gaps made jeans and sweatshirts with 1969 and Gap on the sweatshirts and the jeans. A Gap's financial history is a literal gap. Yeah, it is. Gap sales, get this, Dagger.

They are half of what they were 15 years ago. Half. The stock's all-time high was Y2K. We're talking people were afraid of a bug. at the same time Gap was doing its best. My favorite Gap products are when they offer you boxer shorts that are like normally $20, but $5 each if you get six pairs or more. It's the men's warehouse special, Jack. Now, because of all those issues, Jack and I just mentioned, Gap has a new CEO as of last year

who's doing one new move as of yesterday. Major announcement. It's called Gap Home. Yeah, it is. You got bedding. You got tabletops. You got a bath collection. They're going to just outfit the whole place, living room to bedroom.

Table tops? Is that like wood? I don't know if that includes vases. I assume it includes vases. It could just be linens. Yeah, it could be like napkins and placemats. They only had a press release. We couldn't browse the website yet.

It launches next month. We noticed it wasn't just one move. This is actually a double move, a double pivot. Gap products are going to be sold in another store, Walmart. Gap home is not going to be sold at any gaps. And that's because Gap is going where the customer is. They're at home and they're at Walmart. We've said this before.

You go to where the customer is both physically and psychologically. They're not in jeans and they're not at the mall. No, they're not. So Gaps whipping up, 400 items of organic cotton launching next month. Ideally, they'll do a sweatshirt, autumn in, but we're still waiting on all the details. They got products like a $16 denim pillow up to their most expensive product they listed, a $65 comfort. Now, Jack, I don't like denim, but it is technically a Chambray pillow. I can get on board with Sean Bray.

It is a better version of denim. I'm going on the record. Chambray, Nick, that's just what New Yorkers call denim. It's a New Yorker denim, and I'm down for it. This strategy reveals Gap is recognizing that you're splurging right now on your home's body, not your body's body. Now, and Walmart, that's purely distribution. And it is fantastic distribution.

Gap Home is going to start off for sale on Walmart.com. But eventually, they're going to get to Walmart's infamous, famous, 4,743 U.S. location. I mean, Jack, can you share one of our top 10 favorite Nick and Jack snack facts? 90% of Americans live within 10 months. of the nearest Walmart store. Boom. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the gap? Retail reflects the real economy and the middle is getting squeezed.

Retail is extremes right now. You got Louis Vuitton and you got dollar store gap in the middle. It's been getting squeezed. Unfortunately, Snackers, growing inequality in the United States is as reliable as the sun. Yeah, and the gap, it's been hanging out with Jay Crewee serving the middle of America's income bracket. And since that bracket was getting squeezed, two years ago, the gap tried to move up. launching a high-end brand called Hill City. Well, Gap was targeting Lulu Lemon shoppers, but Hill City didn't work out, ended up getting

shut down. This deal reflects Gap going in the other direction. They're moving down market here, trying to access Walmart shoppers. And honestly, Jack's smart move considering the post-pandemic economy. Another unfortunate here. A consumer confidence report last week showed that the confidence gap between the wealthy and the poor has tripled in the past year. Snackers, the middle is getting squeezed in this economy, and that is why you're

gap is double pivoting. For our third and final story, Royal Caribbean is the first U.S. cruise line blessed by the CDC to return to the seas, but it's actually a mock move. We're talking about a mock cruise, which reflects some issues with the reopening economy. Okay, Snackers, you thought airlines had a rough pandemic? Have you seen the cruises and the concerts numbers? As a reminder, Royal Caribbean and Carnival were ineligible for the government bailout. Karzak. This is wild. Because they're technically based in Liberia. One on the taxes, you don't win on the

bailout. Win on the minimum wages. Yes. You'll lose on the wage support during a crisis. Instead, get this, Royal Caribbean cruises had to mortgage off 28 of their cruise ships as collateral for loans they desperately needed last year. To make matters worse, in the last 12 months, revenues for Royal Caribbean were 2% of normal levels from 2019. I mean, I had to sit down, stand back up again, 2% of what they were two years ago. And the U.S. is the most lucrative cruise market for these companies. Yeah, it is. And for 15 months, no cruises have been allowed to take off from U.S. ports. Well, all that's about to change because 15-month cruise cleanse, it's now over. It's ending on June 20th. Because Royal Caribbean got the CDC's blessing on one condition. If Royal Caribbean

and Carnival Cruises or Norwegian cruises can verify that 98% of their crew and 95% of their passengers are vaccinated, fully vaccinated. Then the CDC says you can return to business as usual. But Jack, we got ourselves a little problem here. Most cruises take off from Miami and Tampa Bay. Yes, they do. And a new Florida law forbids these cruise liners from asking customers for proof of vaccination. If so fact, they got to verify you've been vaccinated, but they're not allowed to verify you've been vaccinated. The CDC is like, ugh. Yeah. Fricking federal is a man. So instead, here's what the cruises are doing. If you can't verify the vaccination, you got to do a test run, a dress rehearsal, a simulated sale.

That's what the CDC says. Yes. So next month, volunteers 18 years or older. This is wild. They can cruise on Royal Caribbean's mostly empty Freedom of the Seas. If you are 18 years old, Snackers, you can go to this actual Facebook page and just do a test run on a ship of which you are just a few people. The Facebook page is called Volunteer of the Seas. A nice little play on their ship names.

That's what you got to do. And they're looking for volunteers because this isn't going to be your normal cruise experience. So you're going to get tested before you aboard, then when you're disembarking, and then you're going to get tested a few days later through tests. And you're going to dance in a conga line. Yeah. That's a very short conga line because the ship's going to have like 10% capacity. Jack, the all you can eat shrimp buffet is going to be very all you can eat.

People are going to go overboard on this. And then if 1% of passengers or 1.5% of the crew test positive for COVID, Royal Caribbean has to cancel the rest of the crews and return to port. Jack, I think a lot of people are going to do this just for the shrimp buffet thing. But if COVID positivity is low, then the CDC is like you passed and they will consider giving a full green light to resume business as usual. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Royal Caribbean Cruises? Cruise Line show the painful economic cost of missing herd immunity.

All right. Great news here. This week, the U.S. hit 50% of all adults fully vaccinated unreal. Bad news. every day in the U.S., the number of people getting fully vaccinated is smaller and smaller and smaller. So Joe Biden set July 4th as the goal to get 70% of U.S. whole adults vaccinated, which is like close to herdish immunity. Until we get there, though, physical companies like Royal Caribbean or gyms or restaurants, they're going to be playing business handicapped. And that's why Ohio is given away

a million bucks a week in a lottery for people who get vaccinated, backs you a million. New York is incentivizing people with free college tuition to 50 lucky high schoolers who get vaccinated. Governments and companies will keep offering these golden carrots because they really want everyone to get vaccinated so that we can finally end the lingering economic pain of the pandemic. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the three-day weekend. Facebook and Instagram have reached a decision on like counts. Non-decision. It's your choice. But the friction to disable like counts, it suggests Facebook prefers like counts. Friction reveals intention. The gap is getting into home goods and getting into Walmart. Yeah, the middle, it's getting squeezed.

So the gap, it's going down market. Royal Caribbean has conditional approval for a Mott Cruz on June 20th. And it reveals the lingering economic costs of not hitting herd immunity. Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one's sent in by a trio of hosts, Helen Wu, Janet Wang, and Meldy Chang from lovely Los Angeles. Hi, everyone. This is Helen, Mel and Janet from the podcast, Asian Boss Girl. We want to honor the women before us who broke through the glass and bamboo ceiling, an invisible barrier that systematically keeps Asians out of leadership positions in spite of success in the workplace and

school. For example, passing me was a Japanese American who began the first woman from any ethnic minority group to be elected to the United States Congress in 1964. She worked to amplify the voices and rights of immigrants, women and children, and also aggressively championed Title IX, which brought greater equity to American educational systems. She was also the first Asian American to run for U.S. President. Great way to cap off Asian American and Pacific Islander Appreciation Month. Thank you, Helen, Janet, and Melody. Snackers, if you got any snack fact for us, we got a link right here in the episode description of today's pot. You're can submit your audio file using the Google form. Have a fantastic long weekend. Jack, should we do this

on Tuesday? I'll see you on Tuesday. I'll see you on Tuesday. Snackers, have a great memorial day. Celebrate the wins. Maybe I can be named the Podfather. Nick, when we name you the Podfather, we will celebrate that win. And before we go, thank you to our veteran snackers who've been serving. Thanks to all who served, past and present. And happy birthday to Brandon Spurbeck over in Narragansett, Rhode Island. And Ori Kaufman in Tel Aviv, Israel. And Jay Estabees in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And Samantha Bada Pudi in Santa Clara, California. And Sue Yash Pard, happy birthday over in Seattle. And Peter Suggaloos

in Montreal. And Amanda Gabbai turning 40 over in Brooklyn. And Steve Schiff in Saginaw, Michigan. And happy birthday, Aman Jekani, over in Austin. And Natalie Roberts and Rachel Hurst in Atlanta, Georgia. And Ari Berkowitz in Los Angeles. And Yusuf in San Diego, California. And

Wayne Elkins in St. Pete, Florida. And Angela Chow in San Francisco. And happy birthday, Julie Enfield, in Tucson, Arizona. Congrats to Linda and Jeff, who just had a new baby girl in St. Augustine, Florida. And Veronica Angulo graduating in Panama City, Panama. Congrats to Ali Blake for moving to Paulo Alto Orange Hummus Country. And Jan Burke Passner, CPA. Happy anniversary to Hildy and Dom in Pullman, Washington. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix.

The Robin Hood Snacks podcast you just heard reflects the opinions of only the hosts who are associated persons of Robin Hood Financial LLC and does not reflect the views of Robin Hood Markets, Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a recommendation to buy or sell any security and is not an offer or sale of a security. The podcast is also not a research report and is not intended to serve as the basis of any investment decision. Robin Hood Financial, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. It's a New Yorker, DEM, and I'm down for it.