The Best One Yet - 🌴 “Nothing beats a…” — Jet2’s meme-of-the-summer. Uber’s Airbn-beating. The NFL’s ESPN hookup. Kevin = Cash.

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

One obscure British airline is surging thanks to a TikTok meme… Jet2 is self-roasting.Uber stock is 2x higher than their IPO, while Airbnb’s is down… we found why one’s riding, one’s hiding.The NFL is buying 10% of ESPN from Disney… but Disney is living in Opposite Day.The most popular name on Wall Street (and Germany) right now is… Kevin.$JET2 $UBER $ABNB $DISWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Hennessy 🥃Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.NEWSLETTER: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: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks 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. It's Thursday, the new Friday, August 7th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Big news, Yeties. Jack and I are interviewing the creator, the co-founder, and the CEO of David Barr. Remember, the viral protein bar company that's so committed to protein, they launched a fish bar. Yeah, caught fish. You've got a question for Peter from David Barr. Hit us up and we will ask it in the interview. That interview drops later this month. But in the meantime, yeah, Jack, we got a fantastic mix of stories our best yet.

What do we got on today's tea boy? For our first story, nothing beats a jet to holiday. That sentence is the meme of the summer. And it's causing a sales surge for one random British airline. For our second story, the NFL is buying 10% of ESPN from Disney. Wow. It's the biggest hookup in sports. since Bat Met Ball.

But it highlights an awkward truth about Disney's business, a physically hard truth. And our third and final story, Uber Stock has had its best quarter ever. So why is Airbnb experiencing the opposite? Well, Jack and I will tell you why Uber is riding, but Airbnb is hiding. We actually created a pretend earnings report to show you how.

We did our first fake earnings report for this one. It's pretty cool. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, fantastic mix of stories today, Jack. Nick, what's the coolest name on Wall Street right now? Jack, it's Kevin. Kevin is the coolest name on Wall Street these days. Because President Trump's leading candidates for the future Fed chairman are both Kevin's.

Kevin Hassett and Kevin Warsh, the Kevin's of the economy. As the president said, Kevin and Kevin, I like both Kevin's. This is the biggest moment for Kevin since... Kevin! Kevin! But if you know that the name Kevin is actually a wild European... Statistical Treat. It's a German concept. They didn't teach me in my German major, but it's called Kevinism. Jack, why don't you sprinkle on some context for us, y'all? The peak years for babies being named Kevin in America was 1963 to 1972. For a decade, Kevin was a top 20 boy name in America,

baby. And then, in the 1990s, those Kevins grew into movie stars. Kevin McAllister, Kevin Costner, Kevin James, the Kevin in Baywatch. Kevin Bacon. Yeah, classic Kevin. So a funny twist happened in Europe. Because in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. There was pro-West, pro-democratic feelings across Germany. So many of these new parents wanted alternatives to the traditional German names. And after watching American movies full of Kevin's, Home Alone, Dancing with Wolves, Baywatch.

They named their kids Kevin. Kevin, it sounded exotic, different, cool, maybe even sexy. Which is ironic because Kevin is the least exotic male name I can think of right now. Kevin, we're not, Kevin in accounting. We're not talking about you. Don't worry. So that explains the 1990 surge in German babies named Kevin. And that real trend is called Kevinism.

Or as they say in German, Kevin ismous. So besties, if you got a buddy named Kevin, give him a call. And if your buddy is the future Fed chairman, ask for an interesting guy. Because Kevin has never been hotter. And we got the numbers to prove it. Jack, let's get our story. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

For our first story, nothing beats a jet two holiday. Yeties, that's aversive viral means. is the noise of the summer. So we'll tell you about the business of Jet 2 and whether going viral actually helped it. Yeah, it is. Funny thing Jack and I noticed, there's no real song of the summer this year, right?

We didn't deserve one. Yeah, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, no new albums. But there is a sound of the summer. And here it is. Nothing beats a Jet 2 holiday. And right now, you can save 50 pounds per person. That's 200 pounds off for a family of. If your Algo's are like ours, then you've heard that sound.

If you haven't heard that sound on social media, then you're welcome. We're about to catch you up to speed. That five-word ear candy, nothing beats a jet two holiday, is the ear candy of a phrase. It's the most viral meme of the year. It's actually been featured in two million TikTok videos, getting billions of views. It's hijacked your head. And here's the context. That is a jingle from a British airline commercial.

But interestingly, the videos on TikTok using that jingle show vacations that have gone comically wrong. Well, Jack, what's the first video online to show this meme? An Australian couple uses that jingle as the music and then shows a video of them on a zip line. But the zip line breaks. They get dragged and it's hilarious. Easy. That's the irony, the tension. That's what leads to the humor. There's upbeat music about a holiday. As you're falling down the airplane stairs mid disembarkation. But besties, Jack and I got curious, so we jumped in T-boy style.

What is Jet 2? And did this mocking meme of the summer hurt its business or help? Let's dive in further here. Jet 2 is actually a low-cost British airline. It's the third biggest flyer in the UK after British Airways and EasyJet. And it's got a similar business model to JetBlue or Spirit Airlines, right, Jack? They target warm weather vacation destinations. Aha, but there is one key difference here. Jet 2 specializes in vacation bundles, basically flight plus hotel plus rental car. So what is a Jet 2 holiday? That's when you book your entire vacation through Jet 2 at one low price. You're flying from Liverpool to Majorca, you throw in the hotel through Jet 2, boom, 20% discount.

So has being the accidental soundtrack of the summer helped its business or hurt it? You'd think not because this meme is mocking the airline Jet 2. and yet it's helped the business. The latest earnings show record revenue for Jet 2, up 15% from last year. And you can thank science. Audio memory, it turns out, is stronger than visual memory. Yeah, it is actually easier to share sounds because you can like say and sing them than is to share visuals because it's kind of harder to describe them, right?

That's why if someone plays a Lincoln Park song right now, you'll know all the lyrics, even though you haven't heard it in 20 years. If you're giving us ratings right now, please can, continue to give us five-star ratings, by the way. This is actually the earworm phenomenon, Yetis. It's why Sonic logos, like jingles, are so important in business. It's why your local hardware store has a radio jingle that's been playing on the radio for 20 years.

And you know it by heart. Cars for kids, cars for kids. But after getting ripped on all summer with vacation gone wrong memes, guess what Jet 2 actually did? They embraced the ripping on Jet 2. They did a sweepstakes. They gave away. a 1,000 British pound holiday voucher for the best Jet 2 meme video.

We thought that was wild, so we whipped up this takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over on a Jet 2 holiday? There's huge value in the self-roast. Yeti's traditional marketing is to promote your best. Highlight your assets, your value, your positives to the consumer. But a better way to stand out these days is to embrace your worst. What about highlight your problems, your issues, what customers hate, about you. Basically, roast yourself. Oatley, the oatmeal company, did this and got great attention.

On the side of the oatmeal box, they called it the boring side, because that's what the nutritional facts are. HBO did this too, right, Jack? Like, they switched to Max and then back to HBO, and then they ripped on themselves for name indecisiveness. And it was really, really funny, actually. And Jet 2 embraces a meme that mocks their business by liking and sharing it. And encouraging it with a sweepstakes. Besties, when every brand presents a podcast, polished and perfect image, we appreciate comfort with flaws. In fact, self-deprecating authenticity can outweigh the flaws themselves. In this economy, the best modern marketers are willing to roast themselves.

Nothing beats a Chetsu holiday. And right now, you can save 50 pounds per person. That's 200 pounds off for a family of four. For our second story, Disney, which is in a midlife media cruiser, crisis right now is getting a shocking investment from the NFL. But the quietest part of Disney is by far its most reliable. We'll explain. But yeties, yesterday Disney announced such a ridiculous number of updates at their earnings call

that my tummy was fluttering like Tinkerbell. What? How is that not clear, Jack? How do you not understand that? You own shares at Disney. You should get that. Why don't we whip up the highlights for the besties right now? All right.

First, Disney announced a combined Disney Plus and Hulu app since it now owns all of Hulu. The Bear and the Bambi will now be on the same streaming app. Acuna Matata. Disney also announced a five-year deal with the WWE. Basically, the best live events like WrestleMania are now going to be on Disney's ESPN. If you want to watch Royal Rumble, you don't have to do pay-per-view. You just need ESPN. And, Jack, I think because ESPN is now blessing WWE as a sport,

Wow. Wrestling is no longer a theatrical performance. It's real. True. They're not Thespians anymore. They're officially athletes. But Jack, I got to ask, why is Disney putting wrestling on their ESPN? They're doing it to juice signups for the last thing they announced. An ESPN streamer. So Yeti's, this new streamer will be all of ESPN, all in one streamer for 30 bucks a month launching on August 21st. That's big. It's the first time ESPN's put all their content on streaming.

But Jack, one second, I got to pause the pot, or I guess, I'm going to call a time out right here, because we didn't tell them the biggest news of all, did we? The National Football League is acquiring 10% of Disney's ESPN. We repeat, the NFL is hooking up with Disney, baby. The widely reported deal was made official on Wednesday. It's a football wedding with jock straps as the dress code. Now, in exchange, ESPN is getting two very valuable football features, NFL Network and the Red Zone. So instead of competing on football stuff, like,

their fantasy football apps, ESPN and NFL will merge their football efforts. That's the play. And they will merge the NFL network with ESPN's football programming. And all of it will go on to the new ESPN direct-to-consumer app, except annoyingly Red Zone, which you need to pay for separately. All right. So, Jack, since you were a backup quarterback in college, I got to ask you can go full John Madden on us and tell us, if you're trying to watch football this fall to see the most number of games for the lowest price, how do you now have to do it? If you don't have cable, which I haven't since 2011, all you need is the ESPN app plus an antenna,

which gives you CBS and Fox for free. But besties, even if you're not watching football, we got a takeaway for you, Jack. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Disney? The most magical place on earth for Disney is the place with no tech. Yeah, it's opposite day for Disney. You see, Yeties, what the flurry of announcements makes, clear is what's not working over at Disney. Their cable TV networks are still profitable, but they've been shrinking for a decade. And Disney's streaming apps, they appear successful to us viewers, but they're

flailing when it comes to the finances. Hulu, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, they've accumulated huge losses for Disney, and they're only digging out of that loss hole very slowly. But here's what we find fascinating. The only part of Disney with meaningful, consistent profits? It's Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney cruises. And merchandise, like a Mickey Mouse lunchbox. Basically, the physical part of the business that has no tech makes up 60% of the profits. Sit down, stand up, and sparkle again. Yet he's of all the legacy media companies transitioning to digital. Disney is doing the best. But as proven by their flat stock price, I've owned the stock for a few years. I can tell you about it. Their transition to digital is still a work

in progress. The result? Disney's business is opposite day. The tech year it is, the less profitable. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Uber just announced their best quarter ever. Uber stock has now doubled from its IPO. But you know who's below their IPO? Airbnb. We diagnosed why Uber's business is riding and Airbnb's is hiding.

Yeties, Uber is so confident in their future right now that Uber is buying Uber's stock. They really are. Yesterday, they authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program. Uber, they're eating their own cooking baby. Because Uber announced that revenues rose 18% last quarter. Yeah. Not bad for a 16-year-old company. Also, Uber's now doing a billion trips a month, not too shabby either.

Now, when Nick says trips, he means either an Uber ride or an Uber eats order. Ah, and therein lies the key to Uber's success. Ten years ago, Uber was willing to launch a second core business, food delivery. That's why Uber beat Lyft. But interestingly, it's also how Uber is beating Airbnb. Yeties, think about it. Airbnb and Uber have so many similarities except the performance of their stock. Yeah, I mean, Jack, both are headquartered in San Francisco.

Both offer great parental leave policies. And both have cafeterias deserving of a Michelin star. More everything, please. Sounds like a guy who knows people who work at both of those companies. Hold the mail. Nick, they even have the same basic business model. True. They're asset light sharing platforms.

Uber is a taxi company that doesn't own taxis and Airbnb is a hotel company that doesn't own hotels. But Jack, what would we say the key differences between these two? The key difference is that Uber effectively doubled their business by entering food delivery in 2015. While Airbnb stayed in just one lane, travel. In 2021, Nick and I published an episode on this podcast wishing that Airbnb would expand to let us do short-term rentals of anything.

We wish that Airbnb would become Airbnb and everything. That was our prediction and our wish. Everything B&B. So Besties, Jack and I wanted to do something fun here. We want to illustrate what could have happened if Airbnb had followed our wish. So here's a pretend earnings report from an alternate universe where Airbnb expanded their business to everything in 20, All right, here we go. Here we go. Airbnb's revenue from sharing lawnmowers, snowblowers, landscaping equipment is up 98% last quarter. Airbnb just announced yesterday that swimming pool

revenue doubled from last year and revenue from sports equipment sharing tripled from last year. But the surprise outperformer continues to be miscellaneous, which includes karaoke machines, fondue sets, and knife sharpeners, all shared on the Airbnb life platform. Consumers have realize that every house in the neighborhood doesn't need a lawnmower. Just one house in the neighborhood does, and that owner lists the lawnmower on Airbnb. Travel is now just one half of Airbnb's business because Airbnb is officially everything B&B. Okay, back to reality. None of that happened. Yeah, that was all pretend. We wish it had happened, but it's all pretend. And we think that's why Airbnb stock is actually down since their 2020 IPO, which leads to our takeaway. So Jack,

What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber and Airbnb? To quote ludicrous, shake that platform like a moneymaker. Yeti's Uber's smartest decision was leveraging their ride hail platform to do food delivery as well. Facebook leveraged their social network to do marketplace as well, and Google leveraged their internet search to do video search as well with YouTube. Airbnb has the best short-term rental platform out there, and yet it hasn't leveraged that beyond travel. It seems Airbnb wants to be the travel company instead of the rental company. But here's the problem. Jack and I think that's limited the business.

And the proof is the comparison to Uber. Last quarter, Airbnb's revenue growth was 13%. Uber's was 50% higher. Airbnb's last quarter profit was $640 million. But Uber's was double that. Look, those numbers from Airbnb are very solid. It's a great business. But Uber has just hit a different stratosphere.

The lesson learned by Uber beating Lidder, and Airbnb is if you got a hot platform, honey, oh, you got to use it. By the way, Eddies, we know a bunch of you work at Uber and Airbnb. We'd love to know what you think of this story. Drop us a comment. Hit us up with the DM. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday?

Jet 2's holiday commercial is the audio meme of the summer. Videos of vacations gone wrong. Jet 2's embrace of the meme shows that there can be value in the self-roost. For our second story, the NFL acquired 10% of ESPN, which is also getting WWE and a new streamer later this month. But here's the problem. The best part of Disney's business is the least techie parts. And our third and final story, Uber and Airbnb both announced earnings yesterday. One is riding, the other is hiding. The lesson, if you've got a platform like ludicrous

taught us, shake it like a moneymaker. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we got some trade war whiplash. Two big ones yesterday. First, India is getting a 50% tariff. President Trump says that's a penalty for India buying Russian oil. Now, India makes a lot of iPhones these days, but iPhones are actually getting an exemption from this tariff. And to keep the iPhones exempt from tariffs, Tim Cook announced yesterday at the White House an increase to Apple's U.S. manufacturing fund of $100 billion. And second, IKEA stores. You're about to start seeing more of them.

Because IKEA is launching what we call Inception Retail. Mini IKEA stores inside of Best Buy stores. Yeah, starting in Florida and Texas, these mini IKEA will take up 50 feet by 50 feet of space inside of Best Buy. It's a small IKEA. So how can you get lost in it? Also, oh, no meatballs, Jack. Also, if it's that small, how can you get into an argument with your partner?

You know, the couples need some time to get the argument to build. You know, you need a bigger store. Sure. You need the tension. Yeah. And finally. Remember Deschum, the Indian restaurant in London we covered on this pod because of their famous dice roll game? It's a growth hack. If you roll a six at the end of your meal, your meal is free. Yeah, well, that Indian restaurant business just raised private equity money from luxury giant LVMH.

Really? Yeah, the round puts them at a $400 million valuation for this Indian restaurant. And we saved the best part for the last. DeSum is coming to America. It's landing in New York. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me because yesterday was the 80-year anniversary of Hiroshima.

On August 6th, 1945, the atomic bomb landed on Hiroshima. And so we wanted to share with you a wild business that actually was born out of that moment and thrived through today. Mazda, the Japanese car company, is based in Hiroshima. And when the atomic bomb hit the city in 1945, Mazda's factory was just three miles from the blast. But it actually survived. because there was a mountain between the blast point and the factory.

And so just a few months later, Mazda started production right back up again while everyone else was still rebuilding. And that helped them rebuild the entire city's economy. And Mazda is still based in Hiroshima today. So, Besties, if you have got the best fact yet, or if you want to get a shout out on this show, we've got a link in the episode description.

We'd love to make it happen. Yeties, Besties, Kevin's, Jack, you look fantastic today. And we hope you are enjoying whatever type of hot. holiday is preferably a Jet 1 holiday. Nothing beats a Jet 2 holiday. And right now, you can save 50 pounds per person. That's 200 pounds off for a family of four. Never gets old. Never gets old.

So drop down and give us five stars, Yetis. That helps us grow the show. And Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy 70th birthday to legendary Yeti, Grandma Liz, celebrating the big one in Tucson. And happy birthday to Alex and Sierra in San Diego, California. And Alicia Leone and Brandon Ang from Bell Rose Mask, just outside Boston, have a four-year anniversary. They both sent a shout-out in for each other, which was just so cute.

And a shout out to Anna Maria Hinson in Irmo, South Carolina, who's starting a new year of teaching, the sixth year teaching those kids. And Shally Newin from San Francisco right down the street is closing on her new condo. Sure it looks fantastic. Congrats. And a big show. Shout out to Tomas Baggio. On the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, he quit his day job and is getting a master's degree in nursing, something we badly need more of.

Tomas, absolute legendary snacker-turned-yty. And Felicia, that guy once held a plank for an entire episode of the show. True story. And Felicia, however, from Galena, Kansas, has got 14 years of marriage to celebrate. Congratulations, guys. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy.

Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock in Disney and Lyft. Nick and I both own stock in Airbnb and Apple.