The Best One Yet - 🕺“Fridays Off Forever” — 4-Day Workweek’s biggest win. Nike’s jersey-gate mistake. Ukraine’s 2-year anniversary investment.

Episode Date: February 23, 2024

Need advice? Got a question? Write-in to get it featured on our new podcast series: “TBOY Hotline” — Email: [e-mail] Subject line: TBOY Hotline. We just got the results on the biggest 4-day workweek experiment ever… the results were huge — But the biggest challenge to the 4-day workweek is the same as your Middle School dance.Nike just made the biggest mistake in sports fashion history: “Jersey-gate” — Because you shouldn’t get feedback from fair-weather fans.And tomorrow is the 2-year anniversary of the War in Ukraine — So we’re looking at the rebranding from “aid” to “investment.”$NKE $LMT $NOCSubscribe 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 Friday, the real Friday. February 23rd, and today's pod, today's pod, it is the best one yet. Nick and I are serving up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Apparently, we're also serving up the biggest day for stocks in a year. The S&P 500 hit a new record high yesterday, and it's all because of NVIDIA's incredible earnings we told you about yesterday. Jack, what was that wonderful quote from the NVIDIA's CEO?

He said that artificial intelligence isn't just part of tech. AI is a whole new industry. Wall Street got too excited about that quote. Jack, first story for today's show. What are we got, man? For our first story, Nike just made the biggest mistake in sports fashion history. Jersey Gate. Nike tried to turn baseball jerseys into athleisure.

For our second story, this weekend is the two-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. So Jack and I are breaking down the different. between aid and investment. And our third and final story is about the four-day work week. It just got its biggest win yet. But now the four-day work week is facing the same problem as your middle school dance. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories to go into a weekend with, Jack.

Love the mix. A-B-L-E. A-B-L-E. What does it stand for, Jack? Always be launching. Everything. Always be launching. launching everything. Nick and I believe that our business should always be launching everything.

So our next big thing is... The T-Boy Hotline. The T-Boy Hotline. Jack and I are going to answer your questions. The T-Boy Hotline. It's a special podcast series where their Yetis run the show. The T-Boy Hotline. It's a special Q&A where we are here to listen to you.

If you have a question for us, this is your chance to ask, and we'll answer it live on the pod. Yeties, we love you. Besties. We got your back. For example, you can ask us, when should I sell my Starbucks stock? Or how should I ask my millennial manager, Millie, for a raise? You can ask us, what's the best personal finance budget for a dink?

Or what's the best vacation destination for a former dink? You can ask, what's your advice for someone who just got rejected for a job? Or what's your best tip for speaking in front of 50 people? You can ask us something very specific and close to home. Like, should you start a company with a best friend as your co-founder? And we'll tell you that you should start that company with the best friend. friend as a co-founder if and only if they can perform a cookie crisp. Cookie crisp.

That is the DeVoy Hotline. It is where you can ask us any question we are here for you. Nick and I are going to be chilling on a couch, comfortably answering your questions on this episode. Think of it like a call-in show. Like I'm picturing Jack as Delilah right now. I'm Jerry from Queens, actually. First-time caller, long-time listener.

You can text us your question that you've been dying to ask. Or you can send us a voice message and we will play it on this show. Literally, we want you to leave us a voicemail. So, Yetis, we want to get your voice on the pod. We want to get your questions on the show. We're recording our first T-Boy Hotline episode next week, coming out soon. So send in your questions ASAP. Email us right now at Nick and Jack at T-boypod.com.

That's Nick and Jack at T-boypod.com. Email us your question. Attach your voicemail, we want it. The new T-boy hotline. Don't delay. Call today. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm

It's the best two percent 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 For our first story As baseball season begins

Nike is in major trouble For ruining the jerseys Nike tried to turn baseball jerseys Into athleisure Instead it learned a lesson about feedback Yetis take off the Canada goose and put down the earmuffs, it is almost baseball season, baby. Yesterday, spring training kicked off in Florida and in Arizona.

Well, last week, Major League Baseball unveiled the new jerseys for the 2024 season, the new Nike Vapor Premier jerseys. Nike went bold with this redesign of the MLB official uniform. And what did these look like exactly, Jack? Well, the uniforms look mostly the same. Like the Yankees jersey looks like the Yankees jersey. It always has. But they're thinner, they're lighter, their stretchier new jerseys.

The New Jersey is an engineering marvel. It's been developed over years to improve the mobility, the moisture wicking, and the fit for the players. But before we proceed, besties, a quick little note about baseball fans, Jack, could you sprinkle on some context, please? Baseball fans hate change. My dad still hasn't forgiven the Yankees for tearing down the old Yankee Stadium. So, Yeties, these all-new, redesigned modern makeover baseball uniforms, that is a risky move for an organization that loves tradition. Well, like we said, yesterday the first spring training games happened. And these jerseys have already turned into a huge fashion controversy.

This is the biggest fashion controversy since Mugatu in 2015. Everyone hates the New Jersey's. Those aren't our words. Those are the words of the Philadelphia Phillies infielder Trey Hunter. Because yet he's here's the problem. Nike tried to turn the pro jerseys into athletic leisure. They like tried to Lulu lemon the jerseys. And the players described the material of these new jerseys as papery and sheep.

only the letters and the logos are too small. And the white color for home uniforms, it's actually off white, which like, what the heck? Jack, what's going on with the Chicago Cubs signature shade of blue? It's the wrong shade of blue. And what's going on with the Atlanta Brave signature trimming? The signature trim is missing. And what is going on with the Los Angeles Dodgers New Jersey? So you know we love the Dodgers jerseys, that script-written Dodger across the chest?

Classic. The opening of the shirt cuts the letter D in half, which is just ridiculous. Yeah, it is. fashion faux pa it is a crime of fashion the players hate both how it fits for them and how it looks for them anna wentor has canceled baseball over this jersey controversy all right major league baseball's commissioner had this to say about the new jersey controversy he said after people wear them a little bit they're going to be really popular oh yeah MLB commission is that how it's going to work out but jack and i think that if players don't like them then fans won't like them and that is a big business problem it's a big

business problem because jersey sales are a big source of revenue. Because 64% of sports fans bought a jersey last year. But Red Sox fans don't want no athleisure nomad jersey. But Yeti's this is about more than just baseball. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are anyone building a product? You can't get feedback from fair weather fans. Yeti's customer feedback is helpful if you want to design a product that people actually like. Early in the development of the jersey, Nike should have tested out prototypes with a diverse mix of baseball players to make sure they actually like it. But here's the funny thing. Instead, when Nike unveiled those jerseys, they quoted three players who loved those new jerseys. And what was the problem, Jack?

Those three players were all Nike endorsed athletes. They were fair weather fans. They were all biased. They were going to tell Nike whatever they wanted to hear because they're all players paid by Nike. What's the lesson here? Not all feedback is equal. Some feedback you have to take with a grain of salt. If Nike wanted true authentic feedback, it should have asked unbiased, uncompromised, and impartial players for feedback. Nike's Jersey gate reveals a customer feedback failure. You can't get feedback from fair weather fans. For our second story, tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, and Congress is weighing weather to provide Ukraine with more aid right now.

But economically speaking, funding for Ukraine isn't aid at all. It's actually an investment. Yeties, on February 24th, 2022, almost exactly two years ago, Putin ordered Russian tanks to invade Ukraine. Putin tried to spin the whole thing as self-defense, but that didn't work. Now, the whole world knew Russia was the aggressor of the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. Now, two things happened economically right after that, and we covered it on this pod. First, Russia was economically canceled by the West. For economic and financial sanctions, there were seizures of Russian yachts, and every Western company exited Russia. Now, the second thing that happened was that aid poured into Ukraine from the United

States, Europe, and Japan. Well, this month, the United States Senate passed a bipartisan bill to send Ukraine more aid, but House Republicans are balking on that bill. So here's where things stand President Biden is for more Ukraine aid and former President Trump is against more Ukraine aid. Meanwhile, Ukraine is running out of money and they're running out of munitions. And Putin is pushing harder than ever to take over. So here's the interesting thing. Yetis. Now the White House, the Democrats, and even the Republican Senate leader are changing that message for Ukraine. They're rebranding the word aid. Instead of calling funding for Ukraine aid, which sounds like we're giving away our money, they're now calling it an investment.

We're going to whip out the white board here. Follow us on this one. The United States has sent $75 billion of aid to Ukraine since the war began. And guess what? Sixty-one percent of that money was for military supplies that were made in the USA. Well, two years later, the $95 billion of aid to Ukraine that the Senate just passed? 64% of that money is for military supplies made in the USA. So yeties, when you jump into the numbers, T-boy style, actually, based on those numbers, aid to Ukraine is also an investment in the United States defense industry. Which is an industry that employs 2 million Americans.

And an industry that's done pretty well in the stock market since the war in Ukraine began. True. So Jack, on the two-year anniversary tomorrow, what's the takeaway for all our buddies thinking about the war in Ukraine? The United States is still the arsenal of democracy. Yetis, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called the United States economy the arsenal of democracy back during World War II. Back then, Michigan stopped building cars for like five years, and they started building tanks instead. Oh, 80 years later, the United States defense industry has again become the arsenal of democracy now defending Ukraine. Because European countries have ordered $50 billion worth of U.S. arms in the past two years.

Get this, Poland ordered $30 billion of Apache helicopters from American-made Boeing. Germany spent $9 billion on some Chinook helicopters, also made by Boeing. And the Czech Republic bought $6 billion worth of F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin right here in America. There's a foreign policy reason for more aid to Ukraine, and that is, without it, Putin will take over the country. But the economic reason for more aid to Ukraine is that it's not aid at all. It's actually an investment. Because the United States is still the arsenal of democracy. For our third and final story before the weekend, the four-day work week just landed its biggest win ever. The only thing stopping the four-day work week from being a thing is the middle

school dance problem. Funny thing about the four-day work week, right, Jack? If your company had one, you wouldn't be working right now. Yeah, it's the fifth day of the week, Yetis, but you are working today because the five-day work week goes back 86 years ago. Are we going to mention FDR second time on this podneck? Boom, let's give them the credit, Jack. What's going on with FDR? In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Act, which standardized the five-day work week for the United States. And since then, Americans have wished for the four-day work week like it was a mythical creature.

Supporters say that the four-day work week, whether it's in office or remote, the four-day work week is best. for both employees and the business. Limited time boosts productivity, expanded weekends, boost creativity. Everyone wins. But detractors say that the four-day work week is just lazy, and it's going to make you lose your competitive edge. 52 fewer work days every year. That's a lot fewer work days getting work done every year.

What is this, France? What's next? Free healthcare? Crapes for everyone. But yet is, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Exactly one year ago to the day, Jack and I covered the biggest four-day workweek trial ever done on planet Earth. So now we're giving you a one-year update. Back in 2022, 61 companies in the United Kingdom took part in a grand experiment with Cambridge University, Oxford University, and good old Boston College. Those 61 companies

were spread across a variety of industries, from advertising to retail, from construction companies to healthcare companies. And Jack, what exactly did these 61 companies sign up for in the four-day workweek trial? They'd let their workers work 80% of the... hours they used to work, but they'd have to still produce 100% of the output as before. And they'd still get the same pay. They basically just squeezed you into four days instead of five days, but everything else had to stay the same. Yeah, you still have to do the same amount of work. You still get the same amount of pay, but you only have to come in four days a week. Wednesday's new Thursday, Thursday new Friday, Friday's now a week. And after six months,

the results were shockingly good. Get this yet? Of course the employees loved it. But here's the surprise. The bosses loved it too. Because revenues at the 61 participating companies, revenues increased by 35% over that six-month period. Sit down, stand up, and take a day off. 35% jumping revenues for the four-day work week. Not too shabby. People worked fewer hours, but produced more revenue for the company. So 91% of the companies decided to continue the four-day work week for another year.

And here's the news from this week. 89% of those remaining companies are doing it for another year. And 51% of the participants, companies are making it permanent. They're marrying the company to the four day work week. At this point, if someone told us the four day work week reduced your cholesterol, we would believe them. Nick, for once though, England is having a revolution. Yeties, this British experiment, it makes the four-day work week seem like a no-brainer. But...

The takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are considering a four-day work week? The four-day work week faces the same problem as your middle school dance. Nobody wants to go first. If you did a blind poll of both the managers and the employees at your company about the four-day work week, most would probably be like, yeah, I want the four-day work week. The four-day work week is actually way less controversial than the remote work debate was. And yeah, despite the evidence and despite the support for the four-day work week,

Jack and I know zero company is actually doing it. I don't know a single company that's doing the four-day work. I don't know a single company that's actually doing the four-day work week. Because nothing scares companies more than being the first to change a standard practice. The way Jack and I see it, it's just like middle school. Like everybody wants to dance, but no one's stepping in to dance, man. They're all on the sideline. The four-day work week, it won't happen unless one major company makes that brave first move onto the dance floor.

Just like no one got jiggy with it until Jason started dancing up a storm in the middle of that empty gym room. For the four-day work week to actually become a thing, someone's got to make the first move. Someone's got to be brave. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday? Nike botched the new MLB jerseys by attempting to do an ath-leisure-style makeover. The lesson here, you can't take feedback from fair weather fans. For our second story, it's the two-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

So the word aid is being rebranded to the word investment. Because the United States is still the arsenal of democracy. And our third and final story is about the four-day one. work week. The experiment in the United Kingdom continues to perform swimmingly well. But for the four-day work week to become a thing, someone has to be brave. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Reddit just filed to IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The Reddit IPO is coming likely next month. We're jumping into the S-1 this weekend so we can tell you more about it on Monday. And second, the United States just made its first moon landing in 50

years, not too shabby. The Odysseus spacecraft landed on the moon. It's the first Americans to walk on the moon since Apollo 17. And finally, we got a pand diplomacy update for you. Yeties, remember when we told you China uses pandas for diplomacy? And they took like all the pandas recently out of American zoos? Well, we're getting the pandas back. It's really nice news. China is going to send two pandas, a male and a female, to the San Diego Zoo this year. What a nice gesture. We owe you some bald eagles, Beijing. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one's sent in by producer Adam Macias from Sacktown, California.

Did you know that Jack Black's mother was a rocket scientist? Like a literal rocket scientist. Judith Love Cohen is Jack Black's mother, and she is responsible for the development of the abort system for the Apollo space program. The same abort system that saved the astronauts on Apollo 13 and saved Tom Hanks in that movie. She built that. Oh, and guess what? She finished the plans for that abort system on the day that Jack Black was born.

Mrs. Black, what a mama. She is tenacious. Yeties, you looked fantastic all week. Jack, you are going to look fantastic for the T-Boy Hotline Pod. Besties, we want you to send a question to the T-Boy Hotline by emailing us right now at Nick and Jack at T-Boypod.com. If you want to know why we still own Peloton stock, if you want to know how Jack keeps his face so do. We're going to answer it on this pot. Well, you've got a cupcake recipe we can drop on you.

Send us a question in text or send us a voicemail as an attachment by emailing us at nick and Jack at t-boypod.com. Longtime listener, first time calling. Nick and I will see you on Monday. This weekend, celebrate some wins. Before we go, a happy 23rd birthday on the 23rd of February to McKenzie celebrating down in Mississippi. Happy birthday to George Zellifro, who's turning five years old in Chicago with a big bowl of delicious. Lucky Charms. Doing some logistics in that bowl. And Kevin in Fort Worth, Texas is celebrating a birthday and one year of enjoying this pod. He's now officially a Yeti. Happy birthday to Raghav Kohli,

who's working at Lockheed Martin celebrating the birthday with a big slice of tiramisu. And Sean Anbia is celebrating a dirty 30 with his wife and his son Zion. And a big shout out to Jesus Santayan, who's celebrating the best birthday at just that child of Chicago. And Arnie Josie is turning 14 years old, also in Chicago, and he's wearing his T-boy crewneck sweatshirt doing it while rooting for Chelsea. Congratulations to Kelsey Black and the Bookboro of Austin, Texas. They just got their 100th five-star review. And Satya Jitpatra just got promoted over in Ohio.

Congratulations to Farron Shaq and Kevin Dun of Miami. To get married this weekend on the coldest act where Farron grew up. How beautiful. Farron and Kevin send us some picks. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock in Peloton and Lulu Lemon, and we both own ETFs with the S&P 500.

And honestly, I'm also upset the Yankees tore down the old Yankees theater. You're right, Dad. I'm really into the snapping thing. You know, I've always been a really good snapper. You know my like drum roll thing I can do, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like my only variety show. Yeah.

Jack's like one of those circus bears in the Russian circus. They bring them out on a tricycle. And Jack's like, they're like, great. We're all a little uncomfortable, but it's entertaining.