The Best One Yet - 👗 “Gilmore Girl Inc.” — Reformation’s IPO listing. America’s game-of-chicken travel. Kevin Durant’s Cannes ad. +Pretend Websites

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

Sustainable fashion brand Reformation filed to IPO... thanks to the Gilmore Girls Strategy.America’s biggest events week of all time begins today… to avoid surge pricing, play chicken.The big winner of the Cannes Advertising Festival… is Kevin Durant’s loooong basketball legs.Plus, the wild new shopping trend in Korea?… “Dopamine websites” where you pretend to buy things.$REF $LRLCY $SPYGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, June 29th. The T-Dee's pod. It's the best one yet. This one. This is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Bestie is the final three shows of our IPO tour for 2026. We dropped them. We're going to be live in San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle in September, October, and November. But here's the big news. You can now buy all those tickets in one easy place. Our website. So go to T-boypod.com right now.

you're going to San Francisco. That's our next show. Grab your tickets why you can't. But in the meantime, Nick, it's our first San Francisco show in three years. Owen, it's the biggest show we've ever done. Palace of Fine Hearts.

We're playing a palace. We're playing in a palace. But three fantastic stories for the most interesting show in business. Jack, what do we got on the T-Boy? For our first story, it's Reformation. The Sustainable Fashion brand filed to IPO, so we dove into the paperwork.

T-boy style. And our one big question, will reformation end up like Patagonia or like allbirds? For our second story, the entire northeast of the United States is sold out this week. For America's 250th and Taylor Smith's first. So we'll tell you the money math behind playing travel chicken. And our third and final story, we decided our own winner of the Cannes Advertising Festival. Our winner, it's Kevin Durant and his two giant dry legs, which he now moisturizes.

If you know, you know. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, like we said, wonderful mix, best mix in the biz. Are you looking for something to do today that you've never done before? Well, besties, how about fake shopping? Fake shopping. It's a thing in South Korea. They're called dopamine sites.

We're talking fake shopping carts, fake dinner orders, even fake purchases of purses. They're online websites that let you shop, splurge, and feel the dopamine of pushing purchase. But you don't actually spend any money because you didn't actually buy something. You act like you buy it. But there is no... Dopamine sites give you the experience of online shopping without the actual shopping. Jack, you get a confirmation email, you get a tracking number, you even get a delivery date when you pushed by.

It's really bizarre. So you get the hit of the dopamine from pressing purchase, but without the financial pain of the actual purchase. Besties, you're shooting financial blanks on these websites. Now, there's some logic here, besties. If you have a shopping addiction, this website lets you shop without the financial consequences. Because Nick, it's the pushing purchase part that sometimes is the reason we shop. Jack, you don't even remember you ordered the thing.

I'll have one more cute top. It doesn't matter if I'll never wear it. Jack, let's hit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack, Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice.

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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, Reformation, the sustainable fashion brand for The Ladies just filed to IPO. And its success is thanks to the Gilmore Girls.

Jack, I got to ask, what's going to pair well with this hot IPO summer? What do you think? How about this sustainably made 2190? $95 silk sundress. Does that work for you? Yeah, is it made out of eucalyptus leaves? That's a bonus. Probably, because we're talking about Reformation, a clothing brand that calls their customers the ladies. No joke, that's in the IPO paperwork. We found it. And the IPO paperwork describes the company as beautiful, vintage-inspired apparel that generates confidence.

Because from Taylor Swift to Megan Markle, both of them, all of them, fans of the brand. It's anthropology, but for celebrities. Exactly. Reformation, it's what the A-listers are wearing on weekends. Reformation. It's if the gap and Captain Planet had a baby raised in Jen Aniston's guesthouse. Yeah, Jack, if your Hampton sharehouse also has a compost bin, there's a Reformation dress in that walking closet, isn't there, my friend? Founded in Los Angeles in 2009, it was just a vintage clothing shop back then. They didn't actually make their own clothing. But now, Reformation makes half of their own clothing in their own Los Angeles factory here in America. And the other half, in some Vietnamese factory that they claim has the same sustainability standards as they do.

So, the company is for the most part vertically integrated. They're making their own stuff, and they can control their own costs. And that's the business model that got acquired by private equity in 2019, but this company just filed to IPO. And we'll list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, REFRF. Last year, they did 507 million in revenue, and it was 20 straight quarters of double-digit sales growth. Jack, that's a profitable 20 straight quarters of sales growth. Now, Nick, can I sprinkle on some 1,000 thread context, please? Jack, it sounds comfy, sprinkle it on. 500 million in revenue is one-tenth of what Abercrombie and Fitch does.

It's one-fifteenth of urban outfitters. Looking good. It's one-twentyth of the gap. So, Reformation hasn't quite caught up to them, but still, nearly one-half of their customers spent a thousand bucks or more a year there. But what Nick and I find fascinating is what we call the Gilmore Girl Strategy. Ah, the Gilmore Girl Strategy. Because, Besties, do you know where the name The Gap actually comes from?

It's from Generation Gap. That's right. because when the Gap, a Reformation competitor, opened in San Francisco, 1969, they were focused on young people. They wanted to bridge the generational gap, hence the name. But Reformation's success, interestingly, it's been the opposite of the Gap's generation gap. They don't focus on one generation, they focus on all of them. That's right. It's not uncommon to see mothers and daughters shopping at Reformation together, maybe even grind something for Grandma while they're there. According to the IPO paperwork, 20% of new Reformation customers last year were under the age of 25.

while 20% of new customers were also over the age of 50. And the other half of new customers, they were in between. Gen Z, millennial, Gen X. But, Jack, the other half are Gen Alpha and Boomer customers. That's the entire clothing-wearing, living population. I mean, you know what that reminded us of, right? The Gilmore Girls. That's right.

Each lady in the Gilmore house, she could shop at Reformation, is what we're saying. Grandma Emily, daughter Lorelei, granddaughter Rory, they're all welcome at Reformation. It's like the cast of Gilmore Girls, that is the target audience of Reformation. The young Gen Z customers, their top purchases have been sweaters, by the way, followed by other tops like T-shirts. Okay, but then Jack, Gen X, they're doing a different top purchase, right? Jeans, followed by other pants like khakis. So Besties added all up, and we call this the Gilmar Girl strategy, and it's unique in apparel. And we think it's the source of their 20 straight quarters of double-digit sales growth.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over and Reformation? Will Reformation end up like Patagonia or Allbirds? Yeties, Jackson, my biggest concern about Reformation, it's that they mention the word sustainability 192 times in that S-1 IPO paperwork. To be clear, Nick and I are huge fans of sustainability. Yes, yes, yes, yes. But we've seen sustainability-focused businesses struggle recently,

from EVs to Allbirds. That's right, because environmental marketing, it just doesn't sell to the mass market. I mean, look at Allbirds. for pennies, and now they're an AI data center infrastructure company. Or at least they claim desperately to be. Okay, but on the other hand, Patagonia, their marketing message, like Alberts, has also been sustainability. And yet for Patagonia, customers have embraced them for decades. Ironically, sustainably, they've been embracing Patagonia. Patagonia is they're about to

celebrate their 55th birthday as a successful company. So sustainability is working for Patagonia, but it didn't work for Alberts. So this is our big question. Will this sustainably focused fashion brand reform, will it go boom or will it go bust? Will investors treat this green brand like Patagonia or like Alberts? Spoiler, we're thinking a little bit more like Patagonia, but let us know your prediction, dust off that crystal ball and drop it in the comments. For our second story, this is the biggest week in American history for live events since the Revolutionary War.

And it marks a new era for consumers. Everything is now a game of price chicken. Price chicken. But bestie is just to sprinkle on some more historical context. New York City, Washington, D.C., those two have been competing for East Coast relevance for years. But this summer, D.C. might take the cake. That's right, because it started two weeks ago with the UFC outdoor fight over at the White House. Parent company TKO spent $60 million for this loss-making UFC fight because the earned media, they said, was Super Bowl level.

But it ain't just that fight. This week, Washington, D.C. is hosting America's 250. And the city is going to set a world record for biggest fireworks display. Get this, the National Mall fireworks, usually they'll last 18 minutes and have 10,000 pirate techniques blown around. But this year, it's going to be twice as long. And get this, use 86 times more fireworks to break the record that the Philippines said a few years ago.

One sec, Jack, I'm whipping out the TI83 calculator on that. Is that 860,000 firework pyrotechnics this year? Yes, it is, Nick. The government's tried to stimulate the economy by blowing things up. And honestly, it's not the first time they've done that. But that's not all for D.C., is it, Jack? In August, our nation's capital hosts the Patriot Games, which is like the Olympics, but for America's high schoolers. And then we've got the IndyCar race, which is going to be cruising around the streets of Washington, D.C. too.

200 miles per hour for 250 miles. It happens August 23rd. So, Jack, let's add it all up for our buddies down in D.C. You got fireworks fighting and fast cars not too shepherds. for the Mid-Atlantic. But Nick, New York City? They're like cute kid. Because did you hear we got the fate of Ophelia this Friday? Get this besties.

The New York Times reports that Taylor Swift is getting hitched to Travis Kelsey in New York City at Madison Square Garden Friday, July 3rd. Remember, we told you last week, a bunch of Kansas City chiefs booked accommodations in New York City for this weekend. Those football players, they ain't there for the Broadway, are they, man? No, they're not, Nick. So the Times connected the dots. It hasn't been confirmed as of this recording, but...

This is our version of the Royal Wedding. I'm going to need three tickets for the linemen for Phantom of the Opera, please. And our version of the Royal Wedding, this is gravy on top of the cherry, on top of New York City's summer ice cream economic Sunday. Because Besties, the New York Knicks championship playoff run added 456 mil in economic activity for the city. Orange Knicks hats have been sold out of every bodega in Manhattan for the last six weeks. Yeah, you bought one to wear, one to keep forever, and then one because you lost. the first one. And last week, Nick and I recorded this show in Soho. Three stores around the block had lines out the door all because of the World Cup. Because Besties, New York is a melting pot

of culture, but right now it's a melting pot of soccer kit receipts people are buying. MetLife Stadium has already hosted four World Cup matches and has three more left, including the finals. And World Cup final tickets are already going as high as $32,000 each. That's triple the top price of the last Super Bowl. Plus Jack, add the 8.875% on everything sold in New York City that is going to the government as a sales tax. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is setting all kinds of live events records this summer. Philadelphia, they got 250 events going on this summer as well for the celebration. So the stock market winners of this summer extravaganza of live events in the United States,

they've been Live Nation, TKO, and MSG Sports. We've seen all those live event venue stocks go up. But with this summer's experiential hype comes also some red card worthy surge pricing. Because if you see pricing, you say pricing and surge prices are everywhere, including new industries right now. Hotels are doing surge pricing. Uber's are doing surge pricing. Airbnbs, even public transit systems at World Cup host cities are doing surge pricing. You're going to pay over 100 bucks just to take New Jersey transit to see a soccer game. But Yeties, here is what you can do as a consumer.

you can play chicken. And you can win in this game of chicken. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in this economy? Consumers are playing chicken more than ever and winning. They're waiting to buy until the last second. Yeah, usually the earlier you buy something, the better the price. You wait to the last second, you end up paying more. But for the World Cup, waiting until the last second has been the savvy move.

That's right, because FIFA, hotels, Airbnb hosts, they've all attempted to be. historic price rises leading up to this World Cup. But they all overshot, and they've all had to drop prices last second because consumers weren't biting. Here in New York City, hotels had to cut prices by 60% because fans refused to pay the World Cup surge pricing. We stated at an Airbnb for a live show in L.A., the host told us that he was disappointed no one was buying his World Cup prices, so he had to drop them too. And Jack, the same with FIFA. They overshot their surge pricing on tickets, caved to the last second, and then cut prices to fill the empty seats. It's been so bad for FIFA, they have a section on their ticketing website called last second deals. For the USA World

Cup, you shouldn't have last second deals. Shouldn't be a thing. Now, normally, Bastie's consumers, we lose games of priced chicken. If you wait to book a flight until the day before it takes off, that price is going to be crazy high. But this year, waiting till the last second has been an effective strategy for the Greed World Cup in America 250. As more businesses try out surge pricing to try to maximize their revenues, consumers are playing chicken. Bok, bach, bach, bach. That's right. That's the one. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, the big winner of the Cannes Lions Creativity Festival,

we think it's Kevin Durant, the basketball player, and Saravei, the Moistriser. Because this Saravet Moistrizer ad has legs. And numbers, and numbers. Besties, if you work in media like Jack and I do well, your whole LinkedIn and Instagram feed this past week, and they just turned French. because every big spender in advertising was invited by their media rep to the south of France last week.

Ah, Jack, we must be talking about the conf creativity festival. No? Is it can or con? This is the Davos of media dealmaking. This is the Super Bowl of schmooze and besties. This is the Coachella of

Can we get Naparel Spritz with the CEO of Netflix? Besties, Spotify, to Amazon, to Coca-Cola. Ad sellers and ad buyers are networking over Negronis for the whole week. They're not doing it

in a convention hall, though. They're doing it on an exotic beach. Yeah, actually, each one of those brands sponsors their own section of that beach, we should point out. The Cabana costs $8,000 a day, the guest pass costs $10 grand a day, and Rosei basically replaced water all of last year. Add it all up and check, what is the goal of this Cannes Creativity Festival? The ad agency spends a million dollars on a yacht to convince the client to spend $10 million on ads next year. But besties, this is also an award show to make it feel, you know, not too transactional. And the top award they gave out is Most Creative Commercial of 2026.

But Jack and I think the best ad of the year was actually Kevin Durant and Saraveh. Because Saraje didn't hire Kevin Durant for the ad. They hired his legs. And it's got maybe the best ROI of any ad we've ever seen. Jack. Nick, can I apply some context? Please spread it on, Jack. L'Oreal is a $250 billion personal care conglomerate based in France.

And in 2017, L'Oreal acquired Sarovet to become the skin cleanser of Gen C. recently passed Neutrigina in revenue. But Jack, what does Kevin Durant, the legendary basketball player, have to do with this skin care? Well, at 6'4.11, he's got a lot of skin. And five years ago, Kevin Durant's skin got dissed. A picture of his legs was posted in 2021 on Twitter, and it went viral because his skin was so dry. It looked flaky. It looked, as they put it, ashy. These are maybe the longest, driest legs in the history of epidermis. And those big dry legs became a a big issue for Kevin Durant in basketball. Who's in the business of making dry skin look smooth, saw this as a big opportunity.

Because five years later, they just hired those legs, didn't they, Jack? In a 30-second social media commercial, Kevin Durant's legs got computer enhanced to look like they were 10 feet long. So pretty simple concept here, right, Jack? The whole commercial was just one long scroll of Kevin Durant's really long legs, but this time, they were smooth. So Kevin owned his long legs. and had fun with what he used to be picked on just a few years ago.

Saravei made him the lovable new face of legs, as they called it. But pause the pod yetis because the results from this commercial were hall of fame worthy. One 30-second ad led to a 43% jump in Sarajevay sales since launching in February. We repeat, Saraje sales searched 43% on this one Kevin Durant commercial. Because men who had never even considered moisturizing their legs before are now suddenly doing it following Kevin Durant's lead because of his legs. The humor of this ad resulted in 4 billion impressions at 83 million organic video views, according to Saravet.

Do you know how much it would cost to get 83 million video views non-organically, like paid? More than they paid Kevin Durant, I got to imagine, Jack. But they nailed this ad and got organic reach because the video went viral. Hey, Mad Men, you need to make another season just on this commercial. If that means I get to see Don Draper's legs, I'm in. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in advertising? To market to men appeal to their invisible consumption. So, Yetis, we know what you're thinking.

Why did this one ad do so well? Well, first, you need to understand how men and women buy things differently. One scientific study in Sage Journal said that men perform invisible consumption. Visible consumption, especially with cosmetic goods, men, we don't seem to share or discuss our grooming habits at sears. It's not historically considered masculine to talk about your skincare products. But this Kevin Durant commercial, it blows that out of the water because it begins with embarrassment. The whole point of the ad is exposing Kevin Durant's very public, very viral, very embarrassing, dry skin. His dry legs, they were the opposite of Invisible.

Everyone in the world knew about the issue. So the ad publicized what's usually invisible consumption habits of men head on. And best to use that is why Kevin Durant's long legs ad led to a 43% search in Sarave sales. And it's why it deserves an ad award. made men's invisible consumption visible. Jack, could you all whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Reformation is the latest stock joining the hot IPO summer. We'll tell you when it begins trading. But will we treat this sustainable brand like Patagonia or like all birds? Let us know in

the comments. For our second story, America 250 in the World Cup make this America's biggest summer ever for live events. And everyone's surge pricing, but consumers who play price chicken can win. And our third and final story is the Cannes Creativity Festival. It happened last week in France. Kevin Durant and Saravei, they deserve the award. Because they recognized how men actually consume beauty. You do it. Invisibly. But besties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, the dating app Bumble is reportedly trying to sell itself. That's right. Bumble's putting itself out there, trying to find a match. Make the first move, guys. The stock gets down 60% from its all-time highs as Gen Z got sick of swiping. So who should acquire Bumble? And second, OpenAI reportedly will not be IPOing this year.

They're going to probably wait until 2027. Now, this could be a bad sign for the stock market. But more likely, OpenAI just isn't ready. Their CFO actually said publicly late last year that they weren't ready to go public. It's also very important that sale maltment hit a $1 trillion valuation on its IPO. So maybe he doesn't think they're ready for that either. And finally, the great state of Maryland now owns the wildest party in the state. the Preakness. Apparently, Maryland didn't want Churchill Downs acquiring the Preakness and messing with

this famous horse race. Besties, we're talking about the third leg of the Triple Crown. It is so important economically to the state of Maryland that they dropped $85 million to protect it. And if you want a YouTube video, search Running of the Urinals. The Preakness is famous for this extremely dangerous, extremely drunken ritual. If you know, you know, my God, I fell! Now, time for the best fact. yet, which because it's Monday, means T-boy trivia. Jack, what do we got this week? America turns 250 years old this Saturday. Yes, it does, and in those 250 years, there have been 53 human faces on our national currency, the U.S. dollar. Of the 53 people on U.S. currencies, who was the first?

That's right, whose face was the first face to appear on our currency? Here's a hint. It was not George Washington. Here's the second hint. It was not until 1862. And here's a third hint. By law, living people cannot be on our currency. Only deceased people can't. So besties, we repeat, who was the first person on a U.S. dollar bill? Drop your guess in the comments.

Jack, you're looking fantastic to kick off the week. Yeties, you are glowing as well. But speaking of live events, Jack, I mean, funny timing, right? We got three of them this fall. Yeah, we do. Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco is the first September 23rd on a Wednesday. We want to see you there. So go to T-boypodpod.com to easily grab your tickets.

Jack and I, we can't wait to see it there. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Morgan Wright, turning 28 and moving into her very own apartment down in Dallas. Happy birthday to Sophie, the advertising icon of New York City. And Barbara Jensen is escaping to the beach for that big birthday. Happy birthday to John Miller in Rogers, Arkansas. And Melinda Minecraft Night, we see your birthday up in Bellevue, Washington. And happy birthday to Sue John Panta in Toronto, Canada.

And B. Trouin, the OG Market Snacker of Baltimore is having the best birthday yet. Happy 24-year anniversary to Ken and Land, celebrating at their old honeymoon in Hawaii. And congratulations to Emmanuel Cuame from the Ivory Coast, now in Seattle, just got a new job, director of e-com at Delcy Luggage, a listener since the Market Snacks Days. Wow. Dude, the Market Snacks Days was eight years ago. That's amazing. Oh, and Selena Martel, our lovely little daughter, happy 10-month birthday. She's got the most wonderful quisson arms.

We're celebrating New York City. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, making a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix and Amazon. Nick on stock of Airbnb, and we both own stock in Spotify.