The Best One Yet - 🧴 “Lather my back, TJ” — Trader Joe’s $9 sunscreen. JetBlue’s boring-est flight. Our anti-Recession recession.

Episode Date: July 29, 2022

The biggest business battle of the summer may be over a $9 bottle of Trader Joe’s sunscreen (vs Supergoop). JetBlue just acquired Spirit Airlines so we’re breaking down why we’ve ignored the last 97 headlines about it. And yesterday the government said we’re in a Recession… but the day before that they said *no* Recession… because this is the first-ever Anti-Recession.$BX $JNJ $BAYRY $JBLU $SAVEFollow 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, July 29th, and today's pod is the best one yet. TBIOI, Nick. TBOI. Apple just jumped after reporting earnings. Amazon just jumped after reporting earnings. Stocks are on track for their best month of the year.

Not bad. And Jack, this pod is a T-B-O-Y. What's our first story for the T-boy? The biggest business battle this summer may be over sunscreen, Trader Joe's sunscreen. The curious case of the $9. Trader Joe's facial SPF. For our second story yesterday, the government said, we are in a recession. But Jack, the day before that, the government said we're not in a recession?

This is the first ever anti-recession recession recession. Third and final story, what do we got, Jack? After a year of drama, JetBlue just acquired Spirit Airlines. So Jack and I are doing a story on why we didn't cover the story. But before we hit that wonderful mix, Nick. Wonderful mix to go into the weekend with, man. We do have an update before the weekend. We do.

Before you, Betsy and your buddy Timmy hit up brunch. You need to know that Prosecco sales popped 40% last year and are continuing to surge this year. Jack, the people, they want Prosecco. If the Vino ain't popping, then you're dropping. More bubbles, less troubles. That's the takeaway. Yeties, the reason behind Prosecco's sales sore right now is brunch. Yeah, Prosecco, it's become the unofficial indulgence of your weekly brunch routine. Because champagne is too expensive to drink before noon.

Those French, they're a fancy one. But Italian sparkling wine. Ooh, Jack. That's an affordable splurge. It's the Gabagula glasses, Jack. When you drink here, your family. Now that the pandemic's waning, brunch has come back with authority. And according to Bloomberg, brunch is now a way of life.

I'll have the eggs, Benedict, hold the eggs, hold the Hollandeys, instead of the Hollandeys, let's just make it a Prosecco sauce. Sure, they've got omelets at Westfield. They've got omelets at Veselka. They've got omelets at Barney Green. Greengrass. Let's be honest, though. No Prosecco, that's a problem. So this Sunday, Eddie's, when you're brunching over bellinis, when you're toasting your avocado toast. When you're pancaking the Prusca. Your brunch is powered by an Italian export of bubbles. Pursaco, so much more than just a breakfast drink. Let's sick. Our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea boys. 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, the biggest business battle this summer, it's over a $9 Trader Joe's bottle of sunscreen. It's a tube, not a bottle. That's fair clarification. Trader Joe's $9 facial sunscreen is disrupting the SPF industry. Can we talk about that like worst feeling everyone gets in the middle of July, Jack? You put way too much on your hands and now your body is covered in white zinc oxide. Yeah, it looks like you're sponsored by Benjamin Moore. You've been shellacked. You're Casper the self-conscious ghost walking the beach. Hey, my name's Sherwin Williams. Yeties, the one facial sunscreen is having a moment right now. And that facial sunscreen is the Trader Joe's grocery store sunscreen. Yep. Trader Joe's daily facial sunscreen is trending on Twitter, trending in Trader Joe's

stores. One tweet got 100,000 likes. Jack and I jumped in T-Bois style on TikTok, it's got 7 million views. And here's the funny thing. It looks just like this really popular product that both Nick and I have bought called Supergoop. Yes, Supergoop, a $700 million startup that was acquired by Blackstone, full disclosure. I'm actually, I'm wearing it right now, actually. Oh, you are? Yeah, it's like, that's why I got a little glisten right now. So a lot of people are doing dupe tests, trying to see if you can tell one product from the other. Right. Because both these sunscreens are clear. Both these sunscreens have SPF 40. Both are sweat resistant. Both are water resistant. They both have the same for UV blocking chemicals. In fact, you look at the bottle, the tube,

sorry, same exact ingredients on the label. There is one key difference between these two sunscreens and what is that difference, Jack? Trader Joe's cost nine bucks. The same size product from Supergoop is $36. Every single variable is the same between these two products and yet Supergoop is four times more expensive. Now, this looks to Nick and me like a legal zucking by Trader Joe's. Legal zucking. And it's because the Super Group formula has no patent protection. Now, we know what you're thinking. Why is there all this drama about two different sunscreens right now from a grocery store? Because sunscreen so hot right now. Sunscreen's the fastest growing cosmetics category thanks to everyone under the age of 40. Thanks to Nick's under 40 face. Look, it's dewy. It's dewy. Yeah, these boomers,

you know, they grab the eyelash grower in the lipstick. Gen Z. reaches for the SPF. Millennials are also acting like epidermis experts. We're going college and crazy out there, Jack. You know, I put college into my coffee every morning. I've heard about it and you look fantastic. The kids these days, they don't know what SPF stands for, but we know it slows the aging process.

That's why we're seeing the rise of an amateur dermatologist, a new demographic, the Schindeligencia. Excuse me, how much zinc oxides in this product? Is this product, Coral Reef Safe, Nick? Brescco, yes, paravans, no, man. Just no. And that's why startups, a private equity from even a grocery store chain, are now jumping into sunscreen. They all want the Schenegenergiania.

So, Jack, what is the lathered-up takeaway for our buddies over in the sunscreen industry? Brand equity can get burned too. Yeties, we've seen this playbook before, mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. You buy Advil for one price, or the same exact generic bottle equivalent from CVS is half the price. sitting right there. Yeah, same formula, same product, but will you pay more for one thing? The brand. Yet is the difference in price between the generic cheap version and the branded expensive version, that is called brand equity. So the question is it would you pay four times more for the same sunscreen? It's would you pay four times more to be associated with Supergoop instead of Trader Joe's?

Or do you trust Supergoop more than Trader Joe's enough to pay four times more for it? Those are the brand equity questions. For years, super goops brand equity, let it take a huge profit margin. But now Trader Joe's is testing the strength of that brand equity. For our second story, it is official kind of. We're in a recession. But this is the anti-recession recession recession because the economy still has COVID. Okay, the number one question people are asking right now. It's the Voldemort word. It's the word people won't say. It's the recession word. It's the R word, Jack. This is not just a question for economists and investors anymore. hairstylists are asking, are we in a recession?

My barber brought this up and I was, I was going to like snip my ear. You got so distracted. Uber drivers, pastors, therapists. The R word has replaced weather and traffic as like the new small talk. Did you see the GDP numbers this weekend? Well, yesterday we got an official answer from the government. Yes, technically we are in a recession now. Okay.

And how do we know we're in a recession? Because the GDP report just told us. The Commerce Department just said that the. the U.S. economy as measured by gross domestic product shrank by 0.9% in the second quarter. And that's just after the economy shrank by 1.6% in the first quarter. So technically, the definition of recession. It's two straight quarters of economic shrinkage. And what do we just see?

We are technically in a recession. So according to the George Costanza shrinkage rule, we now have a confirmed recession. But Nick and I should point out one funny thing about this particular recession. Oh, we should point out one thing. We're also not in a recession. Yeah, because there is more than one way to measure a recession. The economics textbooks that Nick and I studied in college, they use that two-quarter shrinkage rule that we just said, the George Costanza rule.

But the history textbooks, they don't use that George Costanza rule. No, they don't. The history textbooks ask the National Bureau of Economic Research, which is a real thing. It is a real thing. It's like a group of economic Jedi who look at more than just GDP. Like, recession we have, do we? Right. They're going to look at like unemployment rate, GDP, productivity figures and other stuff to determine if we have a recession. And it's not just those economic star walkers.

Earlier this week, our economic leaders also said they don't think we're in a recession. Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, our central bank, literally said two days ago he doesn't think this economy is in a recession. Jack, Janet Yellen, secretary of the treasury. She also just said, nada, no recession. We're not in one. So there's more than one way to determine if we're in a recession. By a technical definition, we are absolutely in a recession. But experts are also saying we are not in a recession. So we know what you're thinking. What's the takeaway for our buddies who are all of us wondering whether or not we're in a recession?

This is an anti-recession recession because the economy still has COVID. Yetis, this is the first ever recession in history that also has incredibly low unemployment. When you hear recession, you think about people losing their jobs. But right now, only 3.6% of us are unemployed. In fact, there are only eight years since the Great Depression that unemployment has even been so low. This is incredibly low unemployment right now, which you never see during a recession. So we might be in a recession, but just about everyone looking for jobs has a job right now. That is not normal for a recession, and it's because this economy still has COVID.

So, Jack, the pandemic, the stimulus, the supply shortages, add all that up, and the old rules of economics are irrelevant. That's why we have this first ever anti-recession recession recession. And now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. So for the last three and a half years, Jack and I were running a startup, within a startup, basically. We turned our company Market Snacks into Robin Hood Snacks,

the news arm of Robin Hood. And in Robin Hood, we co-hosted the Snacks Daily Pod that you got to know and love. At Robin Hood, we also got to hire an awesome team of news people who run the Robin Hood Snacks newsletter. Wild fact here. The biggest newsletter in America, Robin Hood snacks. A key detail though, not many are aware of is the editorial independence.

So Jack and I set it up so that we could independently cover the most interesting and most important news stories of the day. Robin Hood's commitment to free digestible news snack style was an awesome differentiator. Yeah, if you're not investing in Robin Hood yet to get started, go to robin hood.com slash t-boy and choose a free stock. That's robinood.com slash t-b-o-y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast. For our third and final story of the week, JetBlue is officially merging with Spirit Airlines

to create the fifth largest airline. We're finally covering this story because it's finally over. Jack, take us back to February 7th. What kind of PR were we seen? Spirit Airlines issued a press release saying that Frontier Airlines and Thurbanes, Spirit Airlines were combining. Then JetBlue showed up and was like, oh, hold my travel-sized beer.

I got a release on my own. That's right. On April 5th, Spirit issued another press release, confirming that JetBlue was sticking their nose in there trying to acquire Spirit as well. I don't get too romantic here, Jack, but this looks like a love triangle. Lovely.

Both JetBlue and Frontier have been battling for months to acquire Spirit. It's like a Love Island episode, but for airplanes, not singles. Here's the news. JetBlue won. Yes, they have. Assuming regulators okay the deal, JetBlue will acquire Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion. Now, there is one thing Jack and I found fascinating about this story. We should point out, it may get blocked for one reason. When airlines merge, we pay more money.

Yeah, America, it's a free country. But when mergers kill competition, you can't do that. No, you can't. No, you can't. And that's thanks to the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act. Yeah, we've been keeping Monopoly Squads, squads. For 132 years. Well, airlines are pretty close to a monopoly already. Get this. The top four U.S. airlines, they dominate 80% of the sky, 80%. And that is partly because American Airlines was allowed to acquire U.S. airways back in 2013.

And a whole lot of studies. They showed one thing. What did they show, Jack? When flyers got less choice because of that acquisition, airlines could raise prices and we have to pay more. Jack, I literally haven't seen a peanut on Delta. like six years. Now, nobody likes the kneecap crushing spirit airline situation. Like, no one's going to try to get that. No, no, no, no. But at least you appreciate the offer for that cheap option. You're like flight attendant. My power outlet isn't working? Uh, yeah, you're in row 46F. We sell

double A batteries for $13 each. Enjoy it. And no, we don't take credit cards. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the airline industry? We curated this one big story for you. We ignored 97 small stories. Actually, best. Jack and I were talking before the pod, and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share some behind the scenes of how we make the T-boys for you every day. We covered Frontier Airlines's original offer to acquire spirit back in February in an episode of this podcast. And then we also covered JetBlue's intervention in one other episode in April.

But we haven't covered the story since then. No. Even though there have been so many headlines about this story. Well, get this. Since April, the Wall Street Journal and its sister companies, they've covered this airline deal 97 times. That's 97 different articles. We looked it up. 97 little twists and tiny turns in the Love Triangle Drama and we didn't cover any of them since April. No, because that was micro news, marginal updates. Jack and I follow them, but we know your time is precious. We love the Wall Street Journal's reporting. We do. But we get three stories a day with you. So we skip the minor drip,

drip, drip, drip headlines until there's a big bucket of news to share with you. Jack and I wait. until we see a story worth telling and a takeaway worth sharing. That's why we waited to curate this one big update about Jeff Blue and Spirit for you. And we skipped 97 small ones. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend? Super Goop sunscreen is getting tested by Trader Joe's knockoff. Because even brand equity can get burned. For our second story, by the GDP shrinkage rule, we have a recession.

By other measurements, we don't. It's the anti-recession recession because the economy still has. has COVID. Our third and final story is JetBlue. It's finally acquiring Sprint. The story's finally over. Jack and I wait until we see a story worth telling and a takeaway worth sharing. Now, time for the best fact yet. And this one shocked us from Natalie Weiss in Agora Hills, California. You know Wi-Fi internet? Everyone knows Wi-Fi in there. We got Wi-Fi going right now. What does Wi-Fi stand for, Nick? Okay, wireless fidelity. That was the first thought here. Wicked fiber. Feels more regional, but we can go with that too.

Turns out none of them. Uh-huh. Wi-Fi doesn't stand for anything. Yeah, according to Verizon, Wi-Fi, this is just a totally made-up term. We just made it up! Apparently, a marketing company was literally hired by like infrastructure companies to just come up with a term. They're like, okay, marketing company, we paid you a million dollars. What do you got for us?

They had like the big Bain presentation going on. They wanted something that sounded tech-ish, but also approachable. They came up with Wi-Fi. It's not wireless fidelity. It's not Wicked Fiber. Now, it's literally nothing. It's 100% made-up means nothing. turn.

Yetis, you looked fantastic all week. And this Sunday, when you're at brunch and you were pouring Prosecco like you just got the top table at Olive Garden, remember one thing. H-YH-TB-L-Y. Have you had the best one yet? That's how we grow the pot. When you drink here, your family.

Celebrate the wheat. And before we go, congrats to Yeti Tong and the entire Hatch family who are traveling across the East Coast in an RV right now. Tong is from Thailand. First time in the U.S., welcome. And congrats to Ben Gordon and Catherine Gassau, who are getting married in Michigan this weekend. Congrats to Katie Goebel and James Kibby, who are getting married in Wheaton, Illinois.

Weddings in the Midwest and Avee and O'Rohie, congrats on the anniversary in Livermore, California. Happy 22 years together to Augusto and Melissa Perez in Madison, Wisconsin. And Mandy Long, enjoy that first anniversary over in California. Happy birthday to Shrudeau Rao in Blue Mountain Australia. And Paula Puna, happy birthday in Manila in the Philippines. Happy 26th birthday to Brandon Fatsy in Cleveland, Ohio. And Matt, the manager Bowers, enjoy that birthday in Medford, Oregon. Happy birthday to cousin Dan LePan in New York City.

And Addie Sanchez is turning 21 on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. Happy birthday to Umang Panda in Old Bridge, New Jersey. And Matt Kilburn and Victorville, California, part of a couple of T-Boys together. Happy birthday. Happy 30th to Idae Flores in Woodstock, Illinois. And Akshay Ahujia, happy birthday in California. Happy birthday to Colin Anderson in Fayetteville, Arkansas. And Tim Wilkner and Little Rock, Arkansas has got a birthday right now.

And is getting married in a week. Good luck. Celebrate both wins. Congratulations. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robin Hood. And now word about our exclusive sponsor, Robin Hood. Look, we're not tech guys. We're not engineers. Nick, I'm no product manager. You look great, but we're not technically.

When our computer's not working, Jack and I turn it off. and then we turn it back on again. But when we moved to California to join Robin Hood, we were in tech's mecca. So we were soaking up as much about the tech industry as we could. One thing we saw about the tech industry at Robin Hood was insane customer focus. Every product launched, every tweak made to the app was a laser-focused move on customers. Robin Hood would be interviewing hundreds of users to figure out if one tweak of one button in the app would improve the experience.

Inside of Robin Hood, we saw that everything the company did was focused on the best outcome for you, the customer. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robinode.com slash T-B-B-O-Y and choose a stock. That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC member S-I-P-C. By the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or this podcast.

Dude, I love the word ladder. Is that the word? I think it is the word. Yeah, you're right. It's leather. Do you cover something with liberal amounts? That's actually the best definition ever. It's the perfect word.

Like we need a word for like aggressively putting it on sunscreen. What should we go? Lather. I think the best was when I was like, I think it's slathered. Yeah, I knew it was. What is slather? Like if we have latherer, what is slathering? It's like a saucy lathering.