The Best One Yet - 😎 “iPhone… for your Face” — Apple’s new iGoggles. Hot Wheels’ inflation-proof toy. Bud Light’s buy-cott.

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

The Vision Pro headset is Apple’s biggest product since the iPhone — but does it pass “The Ugly Rule”? We found a 4th inflation-proof product… and it’s the top-selling toy on earth: Hot Wheels cars. And we just got the numbers on the Bud Light boycott — It’s not just a boycott, it’s a buy-cott. 0:00- Intro 3:26 - Apple Vision Pro 10:36 - Bud Light Backlash 14:29 - Hotwheels 19:41 - Takeaways 20:32 - Best Fact Yet 21:33 - Shoutouts $AAPL $BUD $TAP $MAT Want merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.com Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypod And now watch us on Youtube Learn 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 Tuesday, T-boy, Tuesday, June 6th. And today's pod, today's pod, is the best one yet. Nick, I'd love to comment on your fashion and say your hair looks great, but we have a packed pod to get to, okay? I'll take the compliment. I did use a little product, and I'm happy to hear our first story. What do we got, Jack?

Apple just unveiled its most important product since the iPhone. It's called Apple Vision Pro. Your shirt looks great, by the way. Yeties, do you wear the eye goggles or do the... eye goggles wear you. For our second story, Budweiser's Bud Light is suffering from a giant backlash boycott. Oh, we just got the numbers, and, uh, the third rail of business is back. And our third and final story, we just found our fourth, count them four inflation-proof products.

Besties, this isn't a Costco hot dog. It's a Hot Wheels race car. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix. A fantastic mix of stories, Jack. I love this mix today, man. Friday you celebrate the win. Saturdays are for the Targés. You go to Target.

But on Sunday, it's for skunks. Do you want to share the story with the crowd, Jack? Yet he's on Sunday, I got skunked. Bad. Jack got skunk. Okay, can you get more specific for us over there, Jack? I let her dog River into the backyard to go to the bathroom late at night.

And then my wife is like, what is that smell? And what was that smell? She came in all shaken up because she had clearly gotten skunks break. It's traumatic. It was a skunking, wasn't it? it, Jack. Okay, I've bathed her five times in two days since, but the smell still lingers. Okay, did you do the tomato juice power cleanse? No, I should have. Apparently the acidity is something that is helpful. Well, to cope with this,

Yadies, I went deep in the Encyclopedia Britannica on the skunk. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. Turns out skunk spray is actually a liquid. Skunk spray is a sulfuric compound that transforms into a toxic gas. And Jack, can you share the data out there? How many skunkings are there in the United States? There is no data. Look deep to see how often this is an occurrence. That's the wildest part. We checked it out.

There's no information on how many skunkers have been skunked. No, at first yet, he's always angry that the skunked skunked my dog and therefore my entire home. But then our consternation turned into admiration. Yeah. You know what? Skunks are actually incredible animals. It's pretty cool.

That stinky spray. It's a competitive advantage they have. Yeah, Superman can fly. Cyclops can shoot lasers. Skunks. They can stink. It's like a superpower. And it got us thinking about other creatures.

with freaky features. Other animals with some competitive advantages. All right, for instance, an iguana can ditch their tail if they're in a squeeze. Salamanders can regrow their limbs when they lose a limb. And eels can electrocute you. Skunks, they can make your house kind of awful. Skunks can spray you hard. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who may have been on the wrong end of a skunk?

If you ever get skunk, don't think to yourself, this stinks. Realize that you witnessed a superpower. And then bathe yourself in tomato juice ASAP. Get on in there. Jack, let's hear our three stories. that you wear on your face. It's a revolutionary product, but only if you wear it. Only if you wear it.

Yet he's what Apple just launched, honestly, it shocked us. And we knew this was happening. Like everybody knows that this leaked six months ago. We knew this was coming. But the wearable mixed reality headset that Apple just launched shocked us. It's a mix of virtual reality with augmented reality. And Zuck! Zuck is jealous.

This product looks like a pair of Oakley A-frame ski goggles, but raised by Apple AirPods. This looks like what Lindsay Vaughn would wear on Tatooine. On the inside of these goggles, there are two state-of-the-art screens covering both of your eyes. So it's an all-immersive experience. But on the outside of the goggles,

there's 12 cameras. So even though your eyes are covered, you can still see the outside world. This is the first Apple product with a screen you look through, not at. The Yeties, this is a screen, but it's also a window. And that is dead.

Now, what the wearer gets when they're wearing these goggles is the experience of Iron Man. Yes, but Jack, didn't we notice that, like, they're not really saying augmented reality or virtual reality? They're kind of rebranding them, aren't they? Apple calls this experience Spatial Computing. They call it Spatial Computing. Apple mentioned the word spatial 16 times on their marketing website for this product. And here's why? Because you experience the world with this product, but then your apps are hovering around you in space while you're looking around.

If you look left, you can see your eye message window. Yeah, if you look right, you're going to see your email. If you look straight ahead, you can watch YouTube. But the entire time, you can still see the real world in the background. So if some guy creeps up and tosses a dodge ball at you, you can dodge it because you saw it in the corner of it. If you can dodge a wrench, you can buy an Apple Vision AR headset. Patches O'Hulahan, you son of a gun, you. Now, yeties, we have got to step back and sprinkle on some context here, don't we, Jack?

This is the biggest new product from Apple since the iPhone 16 years ago. This was the number one story in business of the last week even before it happened. And on this news, Apple stock reached its all-time high yesterday. Apple is this close to a $3 trillion valuation thanks to this new thing. But the main thing Nick and I noticed as we watched this presentation yesterday, it took a village to build this new product. The theme we noticed immediately was Village here, Village there, Village everywhere. There was a village of Blue Chip companies that were name-dropped as collaborators

throughout the day. For example, Disney's CEO Bob Eiger showed up at the presentation to talk about Disney Plus and this headset. And even Microsoft showed up because their Microsoft Office apps will be ready on day one. But it wasn't just a village of other companies. Apple also involved a village of your body part. Since it's on your face, you use your eyes and your hands and your voice to control this new computer. Basically, if you want to use this new Apple headset, you got to learn a new type of sign language, don't you, Jack? Remember that YouTube video you were watching? To increase the size of the screen, you pinch your two fingers and like spread it out in a zoom motion. So it's the same thing you do with your iPhone, but you're doing it in the air.

And yes, you will look a little crazy until people figure out what you're doing. But the product itself is also a village of existing Apple gadgets. Get this, Yet this yeties. This new Apple headset, it doesn't cover your ears. So to really enjoy that YouTube video, it's best if you have your AirPods in. And the battery for these goggles, it's actually separate. You slip it in your back pocket and then a cord snakes up from the battery to power the goggles on your face. And finally, it's going to take a village just to buy it.

It starts at $3,499, $3,500 bucks. It's like a used car. It's more than any laptop, iPhone, or iPad we've ever seen by far. Yiddies, you're going to buy the new Apple headset or are you going to buy like six iPads and stick them on your face? That's the discount way to get the Apple Vision Pro experience. So, Yiddies, let's step back here for a second. Jack and I are looking at this and we're like, yeah, this new Apple headset, it will be a revolutionary product.

But what kind of revolution? And for whom a revolution? If you're wearing this thing, you'll be crazy production. But if you're wearing this thing in public, you're going to be crazy more isolated. I'm going to knock on Nick's goggles and be like, is Nick there? Hello. It's a revolution of some kind. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Apple?

This could be a revolutionary product, but only if you wear it. Look, Yeties, we don't know how this thing's going to change the world. But we do know how it looks. It looks provocative. Six months ago, when this product leaked, we were worried that it might violate the ugly rule. The ugly rule, the ugly rule. It is a nuanced rule. It's the rule that you can make an ugly product, but you can't make the user ugly. Nick, it actually looks like a sharp product.

Like, it is designed by Apple, and you can tell that. But this is a computer that you strapped to your face. Apple literally called it a facial computer, and that's not looking so high. We put up some pictures at T-BoyPod to show you what it looks like. We want to know, would you wear this thing? Yeah, like, Jack and I put some picks up on Instagram at T-BoyPod. Does this headset violate the ugly rule? This could be a revolutionary product.

But only if you wear it. For our second story, the Bud Light Beer Boycott. It was expected to slow down, but it hasn't. In fact, we just got the numbers. It's actually gotten bigger. And this Bud Light Ordeal, reviews a changeup, we think we're going to see in the C-suite at a lot of different companies. But Jack, just to whip up a little brightness here, do you like horses? Do you like horsesies?

You're talking about the Clydesdale's of Budweiser-Anheuser-Busch? I don't know what they have on their hooves, but they're kind of like bell bottoms. They're really adorable. Yeah, they are. Wother has some figurines up in the litter room. I don't blame. Well, Yeties, those horsies over at Budweiser, the Clydesdales, they're not just marketing. They're actually a real thing. You can visit them in St. Louis at their headquarters. Because Budweiser is actually a tale of two different businesses today.

Yes, one business is the beer company, 150 years old. They've been pumping beer out of St. Louis and a bunch of other breweries. The other business is a marketing company. Yes, and that team happens to be located 900 miles to the northeast up in New York City. That marketing team, which is basically a commercials team, they were tasked with a big challenge for Bud Light. And here was that challenge. Turn around Bud Light. Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch's top-selling beer brand. The biggest beer brand in the United States, United States, but a shrinking beer brand. Because hard seltzer, canned cocktails, craft beer, non-alcoholic, they've all been stealing

Bud Light sales for years. Here was the plan. Quintuple Bud Light's marketing budget. Five X the marketing budget. Appeal specifically to women and younger people. Leave it the target audience. And utilize social media influencers to reach new drinkers. Everyone's doing it.

Yeah, let's just do it too. One of those influencers was a transgender person named Dylan Mulvaney. Well, Bud Light decided to give her a commercial. memorative can to celebrate her one year since transitioning to becoming a woman. She got a can which she showed off on an Instagram. Well, that one single can sparked a boycott. Actually, not just a boycott. It set off the biggest brand boycott we have ever seen and the number is showing.

Many conservatives were upset about that can. And then with Budweiser's late and boggled response. And then they got more upset when they noticed that they're insulting statements from Bud Light marketers that came out about Bud Light. drinkers. So for six straight weeks, starting on April 1st, Bud Light sales shrank from the previous week. Get this, Yeties. According to Nielsen Data, Bud Light sales, the number one top selling beer brand in America, saw its sales drop 28% in the United States between mid-May and last year. And it wasn't just Bud Light. There was a spillover effect, too. Right. Then the protests evolved.

And now the boycotters are targeting Bud Light's sister brands, too. Sales of Bud Heavy are down by 11%. Sales of Natty Light owned by Budweiser are down 5%. But sometimes with a boycott, there's also a bycott. A bycott. Bud Light drinkers, they got to drink. And so they kept drinking, but the rival drinks. So as Bud Light sales were down nearly 30% from last year, Miller Light and Coors Light are both up by 15% each. Add it all up, Yeties, and the stock of Anheiser Bush has gotten hammered. A.B. InBev, the owner of Bud Light, lost nearly $27 billion in value in just two months. Yeah, that's like six lifts. We have never seen a bigger, faster brand breakdown than Bud Light. By the way, Bud Light is now moved away from that initial inclusivity message. So now they've basically

angered everyone. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Bud Light? The third rail of business is back. Yadies, for decades, business had avoided political issues. Like you just stayed out of politics. It was like rule number one of business. Don't do politics stuff. Companies didn't want to get shocked by a public backlash. So the business just didn't touch social issues at all. But then came 2020 and everything did a 180. We called it, in fact, the year of the chief woke officer. Jack and I did a bunch of stories on it. The killing of George Floyd pushed brands and businesses to have a reckoning and to support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. But recently, the pendulum has swung back and it has swung back horror. There was clearly a pent-up

resentment that consumers are now unleashing on a few specific brands. Disney was punished politically, Light just got punished financially, and even Target is getting punished with harassment. Each of these backlash is specifically focused on the LGBTQ community. They targeted initiatives that were simply about inclusion, and that's upsetting to see. But CEOs now see that there are costs and consequences to speaking out on issues. So, for many businesses, we'll likely see less activism on social issues. Because it looks like the third rail of business has come back. For our third and final story, we just found.

The fourth inflation-proof product in the world that everyone can still afford. Hot Wheels. Hot wheel, those little toy cars, they're marketing themselves. Oh, Jack, can we whip out the whiteboard over here, please? Not until you tell us about your Hot Wheels collection. Oh, you want to talk about the Hot Wheels Collection? Is this a serious collection? We have a hundred?

Oh, I wish I had 100. I have like, I had 300. I have 350, I think. Then why do you wish you had 100 next? Because I can't afford him anymore. man. Yet is Nick and I have covered on this pod three different inflation-proof products that we all love. And we can tell you that oat milk is not one of them, is it, Jack?

Prices of everything are going up, but these three magical products, they stay the same price. Product number one, the Costco hot dog and soda combo. How much is that thing, Jack? A buck 50. It's a buck 50. The CFO, in fact, recently said it will stay $1.50 forever. I dropped the F word. Lawyers didn't like that, did that, Jack?

The second inflation-proof product is that classic Arizona iced tea, which comes in the huge can. It's still 99 cents a can. Well, the CEO of Arizona is so committed to that price that they print it physically on the can. And the third inflation-proof product is Elf Beauty. They sell lipstick and lip lacquer for three bucks each. And the CEO of Elf insists that they must keep that $3 price because he likes low numbers and he likes round numbers. And he likes affordable numbers, which $3 is. Yeties, all those products, all those inflation-proof products, they are loss llamas, not profit puppies.

The company loses money on each sale, but they build customer love so they can make money elsewhere. Well, Yeties, we have found a fourth. Hot Wheels. Hot Wheels. Mattel's Hot Wheels, they are great for your hands, but they're quite a slipping hazard. So put them away at night so that you don't walk down there with lights off. You want to keep them away from the feet. Yeties, Barbie gets all the attention these days.

But Hot Wheels was actually the highlight of last quarter's Mattel earnings. Mattel executives mentioned Hot Wheels 16 times on their earnings call. You want some numbers to back it up? Well, Jack and I found the numbers too. Last year was the fifth straight year of record sales for Hot Wheels. Yeah, they're making Matchbox jealous over there. Mattel claims that Hot Wheels was actually the number one selling toy in the world last year. If you're not satisfied yet with the Hot Wheels popularity, guess what?

Hot Wheels is going to Hollywood. They have a TV show on Peacock. It's a reality show about building. the dream car of the Hot Wheels you had as a kid. Which sounds like our dream. And Hot Wheels is getting a movie that's going to be directed by JJ Abrams. Jack, who's JJ Abrams again? Oh, he's the Star Wars director.

Yeah, he's doing a Hot Wheels movie next. Despite all that record demand, Hot Wheel prices are so cheap. Yeah, Hot Wheels are priced like a cheap potato chip. They're still $1.30 cents at the stores. Whatever car you're getting, if it's a dragon shaped SUV, a pink powered convertible, they're $1.30 for a Hot Wheels. Well, back in 1968, when Hot Wheels came out, it was 59 cents for a Hot Wheels car. So with inflation,

today, Hot Wheels should be at least five bucks each. And yet Hot Wheels are still just a dollar and 30 cents, which is why I bought so many. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Mattel and Hot Wheels? Another way to think about a lost llama, it's a marketing cost. Yes, Yeties, with inflation, it just costs more money to make things. Like costs in general, they're just up. So every month, Hot Wheels doesn't increase their prices. It's costlier and costlier for them. So that $1.30 cent hot wheels car, it can also be thought of as a marketing cost. Yes, it could. Hot Wheels could spend money on a billboard, or it could keep selling its toys for just $1.30. Just like the price of an ad has gone up over the last 50 years,

so has the price of selling a Hot Wheels car so cheaply. So yes, Mattel may lose money on each individual Hot Wheels car sold, and that cost is rising. But marketing is all about how you're people. And Hot Wheels has never reached more people than right now. Thanks to great marketing with an affordable toy. And now a word from our sponsor, Athletic Greens. So, Yetis, we got these green aluminum canisters of AG1, and they're now this staple on our countertop these days. Every morning before coffee, I mix one scoop of AG1 with water and a couple of ice cubes.

We're starting the pod days with athletic greens. In this one supplement, you get 75 high-quality vitamins, minerals, and whole food-sourced ingredients. It's one supplement with 75 ingredients each designed for a specific benefit. Nick, I was mistaken to look like Ryan Gosling the other day. I was right there. I saw that. Age 1 is probably why. Age 1. It supports healthy hair, clear skin. It may even help with stronger nails. We don't know. Nick, your nails look fantastic. Thank you. I stop fighting them, Jack. To be efficient and live fully, we engage in routines that improve us. Age 1 is honestly one of them. Looking for a simpler and more cost effective supplement routine. Athletic greens has given you a

free one-year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. Go to athletic greens.com slash T-Boy. That's athletic greens.com slash T-B-O-Y. Check it out. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? Apple just unveiled their $3,500 goggles, which go on sale early next year. Could be a revolutionary product, but does it violate the ugly rule? Would you wear the eye goggles? For our second story, the Bud Light Beer Boycott isn't slowing down. It's actually getting bigger.

It's a sign that the third rail of business is returning. And the third and final story is Hot Wheels. This was the top selling toy in 2022, according to Mattel. I guess it was a top selling car of 2022 as well, right? True. Yeah. Four wheels and a chassis jack. That's a car. And priced at just a dollar 30 cents because they're not for sales. They're for marketing. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me. because Jack is still bathing in tomato sauce over there. You know, Nick's really helping me kind of work through this issue.

I feel like I should do a trigger warning, Jack, on the skunk fact we got here. As you all know, I recently got skunk. But get this. In 17 states, they allow you to keep skunks as pets. Jack and I said before, you should appreciate the skunk. In 17 states, they really appreciate the skunk. Maybe a little too much. Here's how this goes down.

If you're in one of these 17 states, then you have to remove these stink glands of the skunk, but then you can keep the skunk. You know, skunk to actually have built-in racing stripes, like a race car. It's kind of cool, the white stripe. In 17 U.S. states, you can have a puppy and you can have a skunky.

No, thank you. Yettys, you'll look fantastic over there. And we would like to know, would you wear this Apple headset? We're actually dying to know. Hit us up at T-boy Pod and let us know. Remember, the product can be ugly, but it can't make you ugly. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

If you know, you know. And before we go, Jack and I would also like to point out that 79 years ago, Allied forces retook continental Europe in the biggest land invasion in history. An air invasion, too. Don't forget. Good point. Happy D-Day anniversary, Eddie's. And happy 55th birthday to Bev Malero in Georgia. And Nicholas Fauxhall, happy birthday down in Thousand Oaks, California. And happy 10th birthday to Alessio Guarino in Hangamass.

Hingham Mass. Literally, just outside Boston. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Disney and Nick and I both own stock of Apple. The three inflation-proof products. First, you got the Costco hot dog soda combo.

Still 150 cents. I don't know why I said that. I meant to say $1.50, although technically correct. I didn't correct you. I've been standing here and not saying anything.