The Best One Yet - 🍹 “National Tequila Day” — Celebs do Tequila. Chase does Lounges. And Amazon does Space.

Episode Date: July 24, 2023

Is it just us, or does every celebrity have their own tequila brand — But when you drink a celebrity liquor, you’re drinking hip hop history. Amex Platinum *was* the only credit card with its own lounge, until now — Chase launched one, because vanity is the most seductive sin. And Amazon just bought an old NASA facility in Florida to build the other AWS — Amazon Web Satellites, because Amazon thinks 20 years ahead. $JPM $AMZN $AMP 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. Welcome back. It is Monday, July 24th. And today's pod happens to be the best one yet. It's a T-boy, Jack. Nick, you look satiated. Did you just have a girl dinner?

I am so glad you asked. Had a Saturday night girl dinner. Girl dinner is just like a charcutory board, right? It's a glorified charcutory board, Jack. Just a bunch of little grabable, tiny little bit. Got a light Montego here, a fig jam there. Can I order three girl dinners? I don't want to go over here, Jack.

That sounds a little bit more like a dude dinner over there. First story, what have we got on the show? J.P. Morgan Chase, America's biggest bank, just opened its first airport lounge at Boston's Logan Airport. Because Yeti's vanity is the sin that sells. For our second story, Celebrity Back Tequila. Is it just me or are they everywhere? And it all began with 1990s hip-hop. And our third and final story is Amazon's newest product, a Florida space station they just acquired from NASA. For the new AWS, Amazon Web,

satellites. That is a fantastic mix of stories, Nick. What a mix of stories, Jack. I love this mix of stories. But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix. Oh, hoarder's owenac. What do we got, Jack? Week 175. Things were running out in this economy, Jack and I been keeping track for you. This week, we're running out of Saracha again. We're running out of the Racha, baby. Forget the ketchup, toss the Tabasco, relish the relish. Say Say Sianara to that aoli, Yetis. is still the top selling hot sauce in America. Get this, 10% of all hot sauce sales, it's saracha. But Nick, what vegetable are we facing a shortage of again?

Red hot chili peppers. And what's the number one ingredient for saracha? Red hot chili peppers. So, Yetis, what toilet paper was in March 2020, Syracha is to us today. We have a shortage of characha. You go to the bodega, you can't find a bottle. You go to Costco, you can't find a case.

And as always happens with these things, the out-of-stock product is now in stock on eBay. Jack, I'm on eBay right now. They're not selling Saracha for seven bucks a bottle. They're selling it for $70 a bottle. Now, we're going to blame politicians on this one, right? I like where you're going, preach. Why don't we have a strategic saracha reserve debt?

Because who needs oil when you can have a topping? Because without saracha, your noodles feel naked. Your pizza's incomplete. Your scrambled eggs are insufficient. Yeties, when there is a shortage of characha? There's a shortage of flavor. Help us, Churlach. Lula, your only hope.

Yetis, let's hit our three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one. Yeah, 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. For our first story, J.P. Morgan Chase, America's Biggest Bank built its first airport lounge for elite credit card holders. Because Vanity is a sin that sells. Yet is the Chase Sapphire card. The MX Platinum card. Our buddy Timmy probably has both cards unnecessarily,

Jay. I'm pretty sure he has both. They're signing up spenders like the Yankees sign free agents. Yes, both cards are metal to make the card holder feel special. Actually, Dak, two story, I use my Amex card as a paperweight. It works as a paperweight. But Yeties, to win spending loyalty of Chaz from Chevy Chase, These two cards, they offer some pretty hefty bonuses.

First, both of these elite cards offer a signing bonus. They're both offering $1,000 or more in points and credits just for signing up. Those bonuses more than pay for the annual fee, which is pretty steep. Which is $550 for Chase and $650 for Amex. But then they want to keep the spender motivated, so they offer a retention bonus too. It's like a continued treadmill. What kind of retention bonuses are they offering, Jack? Each year you get hundreds in perks like Uber credits, hotel credits, restaurant credits, like Peloton credits.

We know, we all have that friend Fiona who flew to Aruba because of her points that she earned with the Amex. But there's only one credit card club, one elite club that has their own network of exclusive travel lounges. There is only one credit card club that has its one differentiator being a physical lounge. And that's American Express. Because 10 years ago, Amex built their first Centurion Lounge. And Amex figured out how to scale the club because Amex now has 40 of these Centurion Loungees located in airports across the country. They've even got one on the 55th floor in a building in Manhattan in case you need like a hot towel. A hot towel in a New York minute.

But yet he's here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. MX's lounges became its competitive advantage until last week. Because J.P. Morgan Chase just. built their first airport lounge at Boston's Logan International. J.P. Morgan Chase, America's biggest bank. This is for Chase Sapphire Reserve members only. Those are the only humans who can get in this thing. If you pay 550 annual fee, then you can show that card and then get fresh towels.

Unlimited. Massage chair access. Local IPAs on tap to chat it up with the guy next to you who's flying to Singapore. Jack, I heard at 3 p.m. Jamie Diamond comes in and he will put cucumbers on your eyelids. Truth. I heard that too. They also offer made to order gourmet meatball sandwiches from get this, a renowned James Beard awarded chef. Oh, is he going to do anything with the towels, Jack? I know you like a hot towel. Use your imagination, Nick. Yeties, this is just the first of these things, too. Apparently, J.P. Morgan wants to scale the lounge as well. They've already built a second one in Hong Kong and have five more planned from Vegas to Philly.

But here's the key yeties. It's a big perk, but it's a rarely. used perk. Yeah. How often do you have three hours to burn before your flight at one of these seven airports? Because Yeti's, the secret to perks is that it's not actually about using the perks. It doesn't matter if you don't use these lounges. You're still enticed with a hot towel. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the Chase Sapphire Reserve card? Never underestimate the seduction of vanity. Ah, Yeti's the vanity perk. Something you don't use, but you're just glad you could use. We all want to feel special.

Even if you hate the idea of exclusivity, we all feel good when we're included in that exclusive group. Because vanity is the most seductive of the seven deadly sins. Maddies, why would you pay $650 a year for a metal credit card? It's not about the points. You're not talking about the points. You're not remembering the points. You join Chase Sapphire Reserve because there's a lounge built just for you

that you can access and others can. And it's not about using a lounge. knowing that you're welcome in a lounge. So you can talk about the lounge. You can tell your son-in-law that you should really get this card because it's awesome. I used it during my layover at Dallas Port Worth. Because Yetis, at the end of the day,

vanity is the sin that sells. For our second story, it is the summer of Celebrity Tequila. Every A-lister is launching a liquor right now. But the story of Celebrity Tequila begins with a 90s rap battle. Yeti's 20-20s. 23, the year liquor beat beer, it's in the clear. It's the first time that spirits are outselling beer, and it's this year. Beers down, liquor's up.

This year, America's beer belly turned into a cocktail tummy. And it's led by celebrities. Back in 2018, there were only 40 celebrity-backed bruise brands. But today, there are 350 celebrities who have their own bottle of liquor. That is a nine-ex change in just five years. Not too shabby. And one form of liquor stands out when it comes. comes to celebs. Tequila. Tequila is the top shelf liquor for A-List celebs.

Ding, ding, ding, Yetis, we have identified a new trend. If you don't get an Oscar, then just hit up Oaxaca with your agent and get a tequila, Hollywood. In the last two years, Mark Wahlbergs launched a tequila. The Rock, Kendall Jenner, they've all launched bottles of their own tequila. Okay, Jack, that's the last two years. Can you beep, beep, beep, back it up to the last five years for us over there? Elon Musk, Kevin Hart, Michael Jordan, LeBron Jave's Eva Longoria, Look, Jonas. They all have tequila brand. Who hasn't launched a tequila? Like how many Jonas brothers haven't launched a tequila at this point, man? And it is working. Three of the top 10 selling tequila

in America, they're not Mexican OG tequilas. They're American celebrity-backed tequila brands. It's like Americans Hollywood is just opening up a Spanish dictionary and just choosing anything with an in-yak. What's next? Martha Stewart gets her own mezcal? I mean, Jack, can Morgan Freeman get us a canned margarita over there or what? Oh, and we should point out it's not just Tequila. No, because other celebrity-backed liquors are dominating in their categories, too. We know, we know. Ryan Reynolds is the gin company. And Jay-Z's cognac is number two out of all the cognac. They're all crushing it. But it's not just rainbows and unicorns when it comes to celebrity liquor deals. No, there's been some drama kicking up in the celebrity liquor endorsement deals.

Jay-Z sued Bacardi for breach of contract. 50 cents just sued his own cognac company after a few years. Diddy, aka Puff Daddy, formerly known as Sean Combs, he sued Sirak, his vodka company. So yet he's Jack and I got curious when we saw all this. We did a little research. We jumped in T-boy style and we decided to whip up this takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the celebrity liquor industry? When you drink a celebrity liquor today, you're drinking part of hip-hop history. Yeties, get this, hip-hop invented the celebrity liquor deal back in the 1990s.

That's right. In the 90s, celebrities were endorsing perfume. and watches and other products. But they weren't endorsing liquor back in the 90s. No, they weren't. In fact, rappers were the first to endorse liquor. It became a sign of their upward mobility. And by 2007, P. Diddy pioneered equity investments as part of a product endorsement.

Exactly, Jack. Like P. Diddy, he didn't just promote Surac vodka. He owned half of it. And he worked as the chief marketing officer. All the deals we're seeing today where celebrities insist on ownership. It goes back to puffedat. According to the Atlantic, as rappers became mega-rich, liquor endorsements gave them cultural legitimacy. And those hip-hop liquor deals helped make big business pay attention to the hip-hop community.

So besties, the next time you're drinking Kendall Jenner's tequila, you're really drinking hip-hop history. For our third and final story, Amazon is building a $120 million satellite base at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This is the other AWS Amazon Web satellites. Oh, Jack. We whip out the LinkedIn and talk about Amazon's new side hustle over there? Yeah, it's outer space. Because Amazon's newest real estate is a NASA facility that used to build space shuttles for the Apollo program. Hey, Christopher Nolan, call up McConaughey and make a movie about this. The news from last week is that Amazon is building a logistics warehouse in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and spending $120 million to do it.

We're talking about the place where they do like NASA space camp, like this is the NASA stuff. Because Amazon is in the middle of a 20-year project to be able to beam internet down from 3,000 satellites orbiting the Earth. Now, here's the thing we should point out and we should sprinkle on some context here. SpaceX, Elon Musk's company already does this. Amazon wants it. Amazon sells that satellite dish you can install on your roof, just like SpaceX already does with Starlink. Now, instead of shipping packages to homes, Amazon is shipping satellites to space. That's what they're going to do at this new Florida facility.

Now, Yetis, let's pause the pod for a second. The first thing Jack and I thought of when we heard this, what was it, Jack? Who needs space internet? Like, I have a landline internet, Ethernet connection. I have Wi-Fi coming from my router. And if that doesn't work, I got it on my phone. I can hotspot it. Worst case scenario you're using your AOL instant messenger screen name if everything goes out.

That's going to work. There's plenty of bars of internet in most places where people live. But here's the thing, Eddies. that misses the point. Amazon's not thinking about the internet today. Amazon's thinking about 20 years from now. So Jack and I are thinking that the real reason Amazon is getting into satellite internet is because of climate change. Yeah, today, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, those are the natural disasters that often knock out electricity.

And Jack, what are the products we've been saying have been booming over the last couple years? Backup generators and home batteries so that your house is powered even when the power goes out. So this is what we're thinking, Yetis. Amazon is looking at the future. And in 20 years, climate disasters, they're not going to be better. They're going to be worse. In the future, cell towers could get knocked out. So we wouldn't get Wi-Fi.

In the future, underground cables could get flooded, so you can't get your Ethernet connection. And not having internet connectivity, that would be brutal. Like, that's never even happened to me, except when I'm in an airplane. In that scenario, sales of backup internet would boom. Just like sales of backup generators are booming today. And that is why Amazon is building internet that hurt. hurricanes and wildfires literally cannot touch. Because they're miles and miles above the planet. Hey, Alexa, beam me up. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amazon? Amazon Web Services

was a 20-year bet, and so is this. Yeties, virtually all of Amazon's profit, it doesn't come from your packages. It actually comes from one product and what product is that, Jack? AWS. Amazon Web Services. Well, back in 2006, that's when Amazon launched Amazon Web Services, a cloud computing storage service, and honestly, it seemed kind of random at the time. It seemed random at the time, but Amazon envisioned a world 20 years into the future. They saw cloud computing as the norm, and so they built backwards from that. And that is exactly what Amazon is doing here with internet satellites. They see a future where we're only more dependent on the internet.

A future where consumers and businesses are going to demand more reliable and more dependable connections. Amazon Web Services was a 20-year bet, and so is this. Amazon Web satellites. Amazon Web Satellites, the new AWS. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? J.P. Morgan Chase is in the credit card airport lounge business now. They built their first one in Boston.

Jamie, because vanity is the sin that sells. For our second story, 350 celebrities are the faces of their own liquor right now. And tequila is the number one choice. But when you drink a celebrity liquor, Yetis, you're drinking hip-hop history. And our third and final story. To do space Wi-Fi, Amazon is spending $120 million for a space station in Florida. Like AWS, this is a 20-year bet. But yeties, we're not done yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, seven of the top AI companies from Google to Microsoft just signed a pledge over at the White House.

They promised to be safe and careful with artificial intelligence, but they just pinky-sweared because there's no enforcement. And second, the Washington commander. have been sold to a private equity billionaire for $6 billion. Pro sports teams only sell for higher and higher and higher prices. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Erica Unger from lovely Palm Beach, Florida. Dreaming. This fact's about dreams.

It's about dreams. The dream stage of sleeping is actually the shortest stage of sleeping. Turns out yet he's at most on any given night of sleep. You're only spending at most a quarter of your time dreaming. The other three quarters of the time, you're just laying there, like snoring. 75% of the time, you're just looking weird. You're just wishing the alarm wouldn't go off. 75% of the time, Jack's just wishing Jamie Diamond will come over and put a hot towel on his face.

Never decline the offer of a hot towel. Jamie, this is room temperature. I asked for hot. Yeties, you look fantastic for Monday. And by the way, if you see a bottle of saracha anywhere, that is an endangered speech. Jump on that thing, send us a pick. I have a bottle in my pantry, unopened. I'm going to ration that thing.

You may want to hide your address right now, Jack. Like a canteen of water in the Sahara. Yeti's fine, that Saracha. Hold that Saracha. Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. If you know, Yenna. Before we go, congratulations to Yeti Joy Cozert, who's celebrating a 17-year work anniversary in the advertising industry.

Congratulations to Amber May, the NBA, who's celebrating a birthday down in Marietta, Georgia. And Nico Middekanali, happy 23rd birthday from Lima, Peru. Happy double nickel 55 to Dollar Wright in Oklahoma. And Aniruda, Kadum, happy 40th birthday down in Fremont, California. Happy 18th birthday to George Parks on the way to Georgia Tech right now. Oh, and Jack, Alexander Kunchinsky just got a new job over at Apple, not too shabby. And congratulations to Trey Tom, who's now a certified scrum master in North Carolina.

And Kant's Tetzloff, we just want to be. to tell you that you're pulling off that mustache fantastically. It looks incredible. We've never seen a better mustache. 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 Apple and Peloton. And Nick has never had a grill dinner.

Just put out casually he talks about it. It's so true. It's so true. I'm like, Peacans, yeah, on a Mahi Mahi, please. Jack's chowing down on that garlic that he just made. That's his girl dinner tonight. Alex, we're just going to have garlic.