The Best One Yet - 💀 “I speak to dead people” — Alexa’s dead grandma mode. Little Caesars' NFL pizza. Juul’s vape-ocalyps

Episode Date: June 24, 2022

The newest feature from Alexa impersonates the voice of your dead relatives (Yetis, we need to talk about the Jeff Goldblum Principle). Little Caesars just became another “Official Pizza” of the NFL, because “Official” anything is the ultimate Profit Puppy. And if you’re vaping a Juul right now, enjoy it — Juul e-cigarettes just got banned in the US.Also, want to hear that interview we did with The Colin & Samir Show?Here’s Part 1 (49-min): https://tinyurl.com/yc87sj7bAnd here’s Part 2 (45-min): https://tinyurl.com/2jha4tzh$MO $AMZN $DPZ $PZZAFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn 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. It's Friday, the Real Friday, June 24th, and today's pod, today's pod is the best one yet. We know what you're thinking. Yeah, we do. We're not covering cereal for a third day in a row. We are. We're not covering cereal, but we are doing a T-Boy Live later today on Instagram.

That's right. Live on Instagram at T-Boy pod. Different time. We're going to do it at 12 Eastern today. We're mixing things up trying to get the lunch crowd. In the meantime, Jack, what is our first story today? The newest feature of Amazon Alexa is have your dead relatives read you a book. Yeah, we need to talk about the Jeff Goldblum principle.

For our second story, if you're smoking a Jewel E. SIG right now, cherish it. Yeah, because Jewel just got banned in the U.S. For our third and final story, Little Caesars just became the fourth pizza company in 12 years to be the official pizza of the NFL. Official something is the ultimate profit puppy. But before we hit that wonderful mix, just the perfect mix to go into a two-day weekend, check.

We often get DMs, emails, and pings from our audience with questions. Yeah, some besties want to know the secrets behind how we run the business. Well, here's one secret. Yes, we do chug spin drift and polar seltzer water in between stories. And yes, that's why there's a short pause. And yes, we do actually believe that today's episode was our best one yet. So last week, Nick and I went on another podcast,

The Colin and Samir Show. And we told them everything. We whipped up the takeaways on all of our entrepreneurial tips. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style on our T-boy style to show how we got here. For example, we told the story about our first advertiser 10 years ago who didn't pay us. No, Jack and I just wanted to get the status of being associated with a way cooler brand. It was a really cool brand. And that association led to future advertisers who did pay us.

Or Jack, there's that strategy around how we send important. emails like we're launching a missile. Oh yeah. Both of us have to turn the key at the same time. We actually got one shared Google Doc that has been behind all of our big deals. Or the story of our first pod episode back in 2018, which was a really bad episode. It was a T-loid, baby. The longest one yet. So if you've got about an hour this weekend. Yeah, and you want to hear the secrets of our 12-year entrepreneur journey. Check out our interview on the Con and Samir Show. Oh, by the way, the cool brand that didn't pass, Jack. It was outdoor voices.

It was the best deal ever. Let's hit our three stories. For our first story, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. 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, this one's wild. Amazon will now let you change your Alexa devices voice to sound like your deceased grandmother. How did Amazon approve this? Honestly, how did they approve this? We think we know how they approve this.

Yeah. All right, Yeti. So Alexa already speaks. What is it, Jack? 17 languages. Actually, wait, Jack, could we be like, Hey, Alexa, how many languages do you speak? It's 17.

But now she also speaks dead grandma. And that's all because of what happened on Wednesday, where Amazon held an event over in Las Vegas, focused on artificial intelligence. Sounds like a lot of fun. Generally, the update is that they're teaching Alexa how to be more conversational. Yeah, so like if you say, turn down the volume, Alexa, She won't go, yes, she'll be like, yeah, sure thing I'll take care of it.

Specifically, though, they're teaching Alexa how to mimic your deceased great-uncle's voice. So sit down, stand up, and sit back down like 12 more times. So the head scientist over at Amazon showed off their new Alexa capability, which they're calling human-like empathy. And they demonstrated this human-like empathy with a video example. It's a pretty professional video. Jack, what's set the scene for us over there? Okay, so a sad boy is in this video, and he asks his Alexa device if grandma can finish reading the Wizard of Oz book to him.

Scene two, the boys in pajamas. And there's an old lady's voice reading a chapter of the Wizard of Oz from the Alexa device. The implication here is that Alexa understood the boys' request. And the old lady's voice is his grandma. Fantastic. And the further implication is that she is no longer alive. Ah, that's where you kind of lose us, Jeff. So Amazon calls this new feature, Human-like Empathy.

Jack and I are calling a dead grandma mode. It's the only thing we could think of. Here's the details. If Alexa has just one minute worth of somebody's voice, it can emulate their entire vocal spectrum and start speaking in that person's voice. We should sprinkle on a little context here. This horrible feature is still in development mode,

and they haven't said when it's rolling out to us mortals. But if you have like old home video of Great Gam Gam Gam, giving a speech at your parents' wedding back in 1970. Well, boom, great gam gam, from the 19th century, can now read your kid Goodnight Moon tonight. That's the new Amazon Alexa feature. So, Jeddies, Jack and I were talking about this before the pod, we were like, uh, is this just us or are we getting Dr. John Hamm and Jurassic Park vibes?

Yeah, remember Jeff Goldblum? Yeah, the Jeff Goldblum principle. Our scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could. Whoa. They didn't stop to think if they should. life finds a way. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon Alexa? It feels like Amazon's gotten too big to manage.

Sure. Yet is this product, it could become a long-term success, but it's obviously going to face short-term backlash. The tweets about this news were absurdly predictable. Uh, yeah, Amazon, is this a Black Mirror 2 episode? Amazon, can you just not? Because here's the thing, besties. Amazon is already under intense scrutiny for privacy issues.

and now they're going to launch a creepy, scary new feature? It's creepy because nobody asked for an AI bot who can impersonate Nana. And it's scary because this tech could be abused for identity fraud and illegal impersonation. Amazon's got enough to worry about. Resirecting Great Gam Gam Gam as an AI bot shouldn't be another. Maybe Amazon's gotten a little too big to manage. For our second story, just seven years after disrupting cigarettes, Jules' business is over.

The FDA has banned Jule because it moved too fast and broke things. Jack and I got so many push notifications. Jack, let's just cut right to it. The news was so shocking. What did the FDA just say? The FDA denies authorization to market Jule products. Jack, can you whip up a translation for us? Jule cannot legally operate and sell their product in the U.S. any.

Jack, can you whip up an extra translation for us there? Vaping Jules is over. We're talking dino-style prehistoric asteroid over-finished lava. If you have a jewel, it's a collector's item because they can't be sold in the future. And any jewel product that's like in stores right now has to be taken down immediately. Toss it on eBay. Oh, wait, you can't. Oh, and there is definitely no worse outcome for a product in America than being made illegal.

Now, Jewel's definitely going to appeal this because of the severity of the punishment. But wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Just seven years after revolutionizing nicotine, Jewel is no more. So Jack and I were jumping in, T-boys, down to this store. And we said, you know what?

This actually feels like a moment where we should give an award out. Yeah, here's the award. It's to Altria, which is the company behind Marlboro cigarettes. And the award is for worst stock buyer ever. Step on down, Altria. The publicly traded tobacco company of America paid a whopping 13 billion. to buy jewel in 2018. That's more than one lift.

Correction neck. The $13 billion only got it 35% of jewel. The cigarette company spent... You can't even speak you're so blown away by this job. The cigarette company spent $13 billion for a minority of this company that is now banned. Yeah, he's getting this. Altria has already admitted before that like this jewel investment is worth a fraction of what they paid at the very beginning.

But now, with Jewel being banned, their original $13 billion worth of Jewel private stock has now gone down to probably zero. Now, funny thing Jack and I should point out, Altria is trying to diversify their business. So Jewel is not the only stock pick that they've made. That's right. Altria also invested nearly $2 billion in Kronos, a Canadian cannabis company, to diversify away from their shrinking cigarette business. And Jack, how is that Altria stock portfolio? looking. How's your portfolio, Greg? I'd say strong to quite strong. That's not the case here. Kronos cannabis stock is down nearly 90% since they invested. If you want your money to grow,

don't let Altria manage it. And that's coming from a couple guys who still own Peloton stock. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Jewel E-cigarettes? Jewel is the first move fast and break things deterrent. Yeties. Jewel came to dominate e-cigarettes. And they did because they moved fast and broke things. Jewel helped create the teen vaping epidemic in America. Jewel flavored their oils like fruity pebbles and then showed kids partying with vapes in Insta ads to kids. That's moving fast and that's breaking things. And that's how Jewel dominated the market and gained some serious financial success for a while. Well, we've seen this playbook before. This is the Uber and Facebook strategy. And it looks like it had worked again. The old move fast

and break things. But the death of Jewel is devastating. And that's where this story differs from Facebook and Uber. Jewell is now one of the first fast-scaling, rule-breaking unicorns to face the most major of consequences. Jewel is the first move fast and break things deterrent. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. Nick, you got introduced to the Robin Hood app the old-fashioned way, right? Yeah, I did. My girlfriend now wife's older brother, who was that guy who worked in tech and knew about the next iPhone before Apple did.

He told you about the Robin Hood app. You told me about the Robin Hood app. All right, so you signed up because you wanted to buy a stock. Because, like, it was hard to figure out how to buy a stock when you're 25 and it's 2014. Yeah, back then you had to find a broker. Call a broker on the phone. Call them pay a commission to that broker. Instead of calling, suddenly there's this app, you just swipe and you could buy the stock.

Robin Hood's interface felt as easy as ordering an Uber or snagging a sandwich on Seamus. And it still is. So if you're not a Robin Hood user yet and you want to get started, you can go to robin hood. com slash T-boy and you can choose, get this, a free stock. That's robinode.com slash TBOY. Certain limitations apply and all investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Robin Hood, by the way, no longer affiliated with us or the podcast.

For our third and final delicious story to send you into the weekend, Little Caesars just became the official pizza of the NFL. But funny thing, Jack and I noticed. It's the fourth official pizza for the NFL in the past 12 years. Pizza pizza. So we jumped in T-boy style to the business. of official something of the NFL. We should point out, the NFL is kind of in hot water right now.

We should, Jack. That's a good point, yeah. There's three major embarrassing legal cases they're kind of getting sued on. Perfect timing to just blast the airways with a new Little Caesar's official pizza partnership. The NFL believes if they say hot and ready pizza in a press release enough times, you'll forget about those lawsuits. Little Caesars. Yet he's Little Caesars.

Little Caesars. The third biggest pizza chain actually in the United States. States. Isn't it wild that Michigan has Little Caesars and Dominoes? Right. Yeah. And then Pizza Hut's like the second biggest. Not too shabby. Well, pizza flipping Detroit family behind Little Caesars. They just signed a multi-year deal with the NFL to be the official pizza of the NFL. Have you been to Little Caesars, by the way? Like when you were in Michigan? There used to be one in Brattleboro. I didn't go to one while I was in Michigan. I've only been once and like the Hula Hawaiian, the pineapple ratios are. I just want to say that.

Well, the Red Wings play in Little Caesar's Arena. They do. The meat treat is a good. pie. Actually, Nick, above the arena is the logo of Little Caesars. You can't miss it from the airplane. Which is kind of why Jack and I were so fascinated with this story. Because in the decade that Jack and I have been covering business news, the pizza official throne has changed rulers a lot. Before 2010, it was Domino's the official pizza the NFL. And before 2018, it was Papa Johns. And then after 2018, it's been pizza hut for like four years. So the NFL has basically just completed the Grand Slam a big pizza, it's hit all the big pizza chains. Now that it's got Little Caesars, there's no other big pizza chains that could be official for them.

So Jack and I got so curious about this story. We went really deep in it. And here's what we discovered. The official blank of the NFL is actually the ultimate profit puppy. For the NFL, giving someone official blank status is pure revenue with zero associated cost. Well, all the big sports leagues are realizing that now. So they're auctioning off official titles like it's a fire sale. Sponsorship revenue for the NFL has doubled in the past decade.

They're now bringing in nearly $2 billion a year with these official titles they're dishing out. And get this, the smallest sponsorship deals they're doing are like $10 million. The official lollipop of the NFL. But they go up to $300 million a year. Pickup truck, you want to be official? That's going to cost you. Like, Jack, you know, there's Microsoft service tablets on the sidelines of football games Is that like the announcers won't shut up about?

I think Belichick planned that toss with this Microsoft tablet, Jim. Microsoft paid $100 million a year to the NFL for that. Well, Budweiser is on tap at every new stadium. That's because they pay the NFL $250 million a year to be the official beer of the NFL. Yeties, that's not even the wildest part. Because the NFL is now auctioning off new official opportunities that they've never done before. Right now, there's no official fine whiner. champagne of the NFL.

But they're taking bids. This is for real. If you're in France and you want to be the official Chardonnay of the Bengals, boom, this is your opportunity. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all of our buddies in the sports industry? When you're a captive audience, you're treated like a prisoner.

And you're tortured with forced ad viewing. A captive retail experience, Yetis, it's one where you can't escape. Like when you're in an airport terminal. Yeah, when you're by gate six, you can't go somewhere else. So you're stuck buying an $8 water and a $17. dollar stale turkey sandwich.

Well, when you're watching one of the four major sports leagues, you're also held captive sitting in front of your television. So over the last few years, the leagues are getting way more promiscuous with their official something label. The NFL has 16 official blanks of the NFL at this point. Oh, wait, the NHL? They've got over 50. The Yankees are the worst, I think. I cannot get through 30 seconds of a radio program without some official batters

box of the New York Yankees. Well, it's because when we're watching sports, we're all a captive audience, so we're treated like a prisoner. And tonight's cleanup hitter for the Yankees is brought to you by Dust Control. That's Dust Control. And you're tortured with forced ad viewing. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend? Amazon's latest feature can impersonate your deceased great game game. Okay, so how did this get approved again?

What was our takeaway on this? We think Amazon's become too big to manage. Yeah, second story, what do we got? Jewel has been banned by the FDA. Its demise is a deterrent to the move fast and break things playbook. Our third and final story is that the official pizza of the NFL, it's now Little Caesars. When you're a captive audience, you're treated like a prisoner. Now, time for the best fact yet.

This one sent in by longtime bestie Michelle Jones from Somnack, Illinois. Push and play. Let's do it. Hey, Nick and Jack, this is Michelle Jones, a high school math and business teacher from Somnack, Illinois. This week on the pod, he told us about that exciting new financial class from Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey. But did you know that financial literacy education has been around for decades in states across the U.S.? For example, here in Illinois, consumer education has been a mandated graduation requirement since 1967. Michelle also told us that last year, Illinois included investing, taxes, and insurance into the curriculum.

We definitely didn't get that when we were under 18. No, we did. Besties, it was a four-day week, but you looked fantastic throughout the whole thing. And if you got an hour this weekend, you may enjoy our e-year-old. interview with Colin and Samir. We have links to that episode in this show description. And Jack and I will catch you later today at noon Eastern on Instagram for our T-Boy Live. At T-BoyPod, we'll see you there. If you know, you know. Have a fantastic weekend. And before we go, congrats to Valeria, a bestie from Italy who just became a U.S. citizen.

She got sworn in at a courthouse in St. Louis. And get this, John and Rachel Bursain, management consultants at rival firms. Now they get married. Congratulations. Congratulations. Oh, and Jack, Cade and Abby are getting married in Salt Lake City, and they're listening to this pod, like, before they do their vows. They're whipping up the ultimate takeaways. And Mario and Madeline Alvarito, congrats on celebrating the anniversary and the baby on the way in Maui.

And happy 44th to Brad Beyer, who's also celebrating 18 years working at Nike. Jack, Nian and Koshy's got a birthday in Kerala, India. Happy 32nd, to Rika in Colorado Springs. And bestie, Chloe Cole, has a... birthday and is in a huge horseback riding competition this weekend. And happy birthday to Michael Prehistory in Philadelphia. And Laura Brown over in Brooklyn. Happy 23rd to Bryce Allen in Dover, Pennsylvania.

And Caitlin Janin turning 30 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Happy 32nd to Alex Rivera in Alexandria, Virginia. And little Luke McCall is turning one in San Francisco. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick and I both own stock of Robin Hood. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. The first time I tried to buy a

stock, I got burned badly. Is this when you wanted to buy a share of Ford? Because you like, the chassis over in Detroit? Yes, I had 200 bucks. So I bought $200 of Ford stock. I didn't get $200, though. I got $192. The commission fees. By the time the stock climbed back to $200, I sold it. But again, I didn't get $200. I got $192 again. Another commission fee. fee. The stock grows 8%, but I was down on my investment. Because commission fees made small money investing impossible. So Robin Hood came in and killed commission fees. And commissions are still dead in stock in crypto trading, thanks to our sponsor. If you're not investing on Robinhood yet, to get started, go to robinood.com slash T-boy and choose a free stock. That's robin hood.com slash t-b-o-y.

Certain limitations apply for a list of other fees. View their fee schedule at rbnh-h-d.c-o-c-c-feeze. All investments involve risk. Robindut Financial LLC. member SIPC. Oh, and by the way, Rob Nud is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. And the stocks, Jack just said, are for illustrative purposes only and are not recommendations. Thank you for transitioning me into that first story.

I felt naked. I felt like I was up on stage. You were just like, and first story. That was like, I'm Ron Burgundy. And first story? You knew what I needed.

You're like, you're like, second story? I mean,