The Best One Yet - 🦾 “Paper menu, please!” — QR Codes’ failure. Delta’s greenwashing lawsuit. Elon’s Chinese feast.

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

Restaurants replaced physical menus with QR Codes during the pandemic, but now their use is plummeting — Because this innovation is not solving a problem. America’s two most important businessmen were in China to pursue profits — but with profits, comes peace. And Delta Airlines was supposed to be the 1st carbon neutral airline, but it just got sued for greenwashing. $YELP $DAL $TSLA $JPM 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 YoutubeLearn 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 Thursday, the new Friday, June 1st. And today's pod is the best one yet. It is a T-boy, Jack. Stocks finished May in the positives department. Not too shabby. Jack, did you see our buddies over at Invidia?

Hit a trillion dollars over there? Yeah, one of only six companies, I think, in the world worth $1 trillion. Are we doing a live trivia right now? You know what the other five are, Jack? Apple. Okay. Amazon. Okay.

Google. You're on a roll? Saudi Aramco. I like what you're putting out one more down, buddy. Oh, man. Microsoft, Microsoft. Clippy, I thought you'd never show up. There you go, Jack.

I'm so relieved that I got that, man. Stuck the landing. First story, what have we got on the pod, man? For our first story, those restaurant menus that you have to scan a QR code. They were clutched during the pandemic, but they're dying away now. Because nothing kills romance like a little bit of friction. And our second story is... Elon Musk and Jamie Diamond.

The two most important American businessmen right now are both in China. And it's all summed up by a 16 course feast. And our third and final story is Delta Airlines. They just got sued for allegedly greenwashing your Delta flag. Because planting a tree is not the same as saving a tree. No, it's not. Anyone can plant the trees. The key is saving the tree.

But before we hit that wonderful mix, Yaddies. Just a fantastic mix to kick off the month, Jazz. You look F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. I see where you're going with this and I dig it, Jack. Yeties, he is talking about fantastic. You just spelled it out for us. You look fantastic because it's the 95th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee right now. Yes, it is the most important spelling competition since third grade Mrs. Wilkins' class will never forget it.

Besties call up Webster because it's a consonant crunch. Okay, mark the calendars. The finals of the spelling bee are tonight. students, reppping all 50 states in a spell-off, face-off. Vesties, these youngsters and memorize the Greek roots and the Latin origins. I bet you there's a couple of Yetis in this

group, actually. There probably are. They know the antonyms, the synonyms, and absolutely the homonyms. Leave your past participles at the door. Don't even get it started on the gerins. Yeties, the winner of this competition gets a trophy, $50,000 and... And a free Encyclopedia Britannica. We're not kidding. That's actually

a prize. Nick and I looked at the list of words. We jumped in T-boy style to section F. And the most difficult word we saw so far, by far. Yes. Clafutti. It was Clafutti. Kla-futti. Nick, can you share the origin

with me of this word? The origin of Kla-Fudi is medieval French. What part of speech is it? Jack, the part of speech of Kla-fudi is a noun. And can you use it in a sentence, please. My friend was coming over, so I decided to bake him a Kla-Foodie. Kla-Foodie. C.

L-A F-O Oh, unfortunately that is not the spelling, Jack. Thank you for playing today's spelling B. We will see you next year. Can I at least get the correct spelling, please? I'm sorry, it's a one-strike situation, Jack. I mean, like, at least tell me how I'm wrong.

You're going to have to wait till the end of the pot. I'm sorry, take this man off the stage. Security! 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 one yet, but that's it. I don't even think they need to press.

For 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. Start the show. For our first story, the QR code restaurant menu. It is a classic. It has become an institution, but it is going away because we prefer paper menus. Yeah, we just do. QR code menus have failed because they weren't solving a problem. We're saying that their biggest problem was that they didn't solve a problem. They didn't even have a problem to solve. More on that in the takeaway. In the meantime, Yetis, actually, you use QR codes all the time, but do you know the history of the QR code? They were invented in a Japanese factory, Toyota specifically. They used QR codes to track a car

part throughout its journey through a factory. Well, today you see QR codes everywhere, don't you, Jack? How would you describe a QR code, by the way? Like a barcode made it with a checker board. That's exactly what it's like. This mysterious black box, the QR code, you scan it like your Sherlock Homs. We've all done it. We all thought it was going to be the future, especially once the pandemic brought them into our restaurants. Yes, we did. During the pandemic, the QR code replaced the paper menu and about like 100% of restaurants. Right, because the cocktail list was a super spreader. You wanted to just use your phone instead. If you wanted to see the entrees, you were risking a infection. But three years later, the New York Times has done some interviews.

Yes, they did. Turns out we kind of hate the QR code restaurant menu. Turns out a vast majority of diners prefer paper menus. The QR code menu is as universally disliked as just about any product in America. It's about as disliked as like the middle seat in an airplane. Or wet socks. Or the word moist. Oh, don't say that. I should have bleep that one out. Trigger warning. And it's not just the survey. We got some data to back it up. Yes, we do. It turns out that restaurant visits are up from last year and yet QR scans at those restaurants are down. According to the New York Times, 75% of restaurant QR code menus are just sitting on the web not being scanned, not being viewed. They're just

dormant. We repeat, three out of four QR code menus aren't doing anything. You're just not even scanning them. Probably because they got replaced with those nice leather bound menus that we love so much. Well, Yeties, that's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. The fundamental reason why QR code menus are dropping, it's basic human behavior. First of all, QR codes kill the cool factor at a restaurant. They totally kill the cool fact. Those thick printed menus with the vague like piece of string on the spine, you know what I mean? I love when they got this string. You want to play with the string? They're romantic. They're exciting. On the other hand, taking out your phone at a table to scan it with a camera, that is not a cool experience, is it, Jack? Yeah, the best

way to ruin Mother's Day brunch is when your mom wipes out an iPad to see the appetizer. Totally spoils the mood. Well, the second QR code problem is that it creates friction. The paper menu is so simple. It takes one second and zero hands to look at. On the other hand, a QR code menu is like an Odysseus journey. You have to open up your pocketbook, pull out your phone, unlock that phone, open the camera, scan the QR code, tap the link that comes up. And then you're assuming that the restaurant has service. You may have to connect to the Wi-Fi and then you got to ask the waiter for the password. And then when you're done looking at the menu, you hand it to your mom. Your phone shuts off. She asks what your passcode is.

Next thing, you know, there's an argument. Your sister leaves the table. Mother's Day brunch is ruined and you don't see your family for another year. QR code is a homewrecker. The way Jack and I see it and the way apparently America sees it, the QR code menu is the tech equivalent of a pineapple pizza. Innovation. Yeah. But what? A pineapple pizza with sardine. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in the tech industry? The biggest problem in innovation is not solving a problem. Yeties, yes, the QR code is here to stay.

But the QR code menu probably is not. So QR code menus are going to the innovation graveyard. Jack, what are the other big innovations that have flopped into the graveyard? The Segway scooter, Google Glass Glasses, Quibi. Oh, Quibi. All those products were innovative, but they weren't solving a customer problem. Well, Yeti's QR code menus did solve a problem during the pandemic, but they don't solve a problem today. Yeah, nobody's asking to solve the problem of physical menus at restaurants.

And that is the simple core most fundamental reason why great innovations can fail. When it doesn't solve a problem. The problem is it doesn't solve a problem. For our second story, America's two most important business people were in China yesterday trying to save a relationship. They did it for profits. They did. But it could also lead to peace. Jack, they say people make the party.

Let's talk about the people here. Let's start with our buddy, Jamie. Jamie, you get me. Jamie Diamond, the monarch of financial markets. Jamie Diamond is the long-term CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase. Jack, is he the longest-serving Wall Street CEO right now? The longest serving Big Bank Wall Street CEO. Yes, good qualified.

I think Jeffrey's CEO has been in longer, but Jeffries is in a different category. Can you spell Clafutie for us? No, never mind. All right, we'll move on, we'll move on. Yet he's Jamie Diamond and his bank hosted their first in-person event in China in four years. It all went down in Shanghai. The goal of this conference was to show China, but America's biggest bank is still interested in doing business. Yeah, because China is the number two largest economy in the world,

and J.P. Morgan is the number one largest bank in the United States. And China has been an engine of global economic growth for decades, so J.P. Morgan wants it. So Jamie Diamond is serving up shrimp cocktails over in Shanghai. But, Jack, what was going down up north in China? Elon Musk was there. He visited Beijing, the nation's capital. Need timing for the first time in three years, Elon Musk headed over to China. And how would you say he was greeted, Jack?

Like a king. He was met with a 16 course dinner. I don't have 16 courses in the course of a week. This was like a Targaryen feast. We jumped at T-Boy's style. The menu began with a jellyfish head and it ended with a fried marbled beef. When in Beijing. And funny side note, the self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, that is Elon Musk,

was treated like a king in a country. known for aggressive speech censorship. And not known for irony, but also in this case known for irony. Elon Musk was traveling around in a Model X Tesla, and he met with three big government ministers. Elon's goal was to ensure that Tesla can continue selling cars in what is by far the world's number one electric car country. Get this, Yeties. Two out of every three electric vehicles sold on planet Earth?

Where is it, Jack? They're in China. And nearly one out of two Teslas sold on Earth? Where is it, Jack? They're also in China. It's super important to Elon and Tesla. When you get those kind of numbers, you eat a 20-course feast. When you're talking about those numbers, you'll eat a jellyfish head if they serve it to you.

Oh, yeah, you will. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the American economy? The CEOs are there for profit, but it could lead to peace. Look, yeties, we're not going to sugarcoat it. US-China relations are not in a good place. Frankly, they've never been worse. There's a chip ban. There's a TikTok ban.

There's Taiwan tensions and there's growing anti-China sentiment in Washington. In fact, politically, our Secretary of State had to cancel a trip to China this year because that whole spy balloon fiasca. But business-wise, American leaders are trying to salvage the relationship. They're reaching out with an expensive olive branch. They're doing the opposite. Elon and Jamie Diamond are basically the ambassadors to China for American business. Same for Tim Cook, who was Apple CEO and was in China in March.

Look, the CEOs, they are there for private. But getting new business wouldn't be the only benefit. The other benefit to American companies engaging with China is to ease U.S.-China tensions overall. Exactly. Because trade is what peaceful countries do with each other. Basties, the CEOs are there for profit, but that is what could lead to peace. For our third and final story, Delta Airlines says you can fly with them guilt-free because they're carbon neutral.

But they just got sued because carbon offsets. can really just be hot air. Jack, if we're going to jump into this T-boy style, can we talk about the top guilt of frequent flyers? Like, what's one of your main guilt when you're flying frequently? My main guilt is when I'm in, like, class one or group one. Oh, and they let me board the plane early. Must be nice, Jack.

And then I get all that overhead space for my suitcase, and I know that everyone else is going to have to claw fight for it. Do you pivot it? You better pivot that suitcase, Jack. I absolutely minimize it. And I put stuff under the chair in front of me, like, as best I can't. Well, now you're just showing off over there. My guilt is when I take two cookies, but I only eat one of the cookies.

And I know I'm not going to eat the second cookie. I always say a coffee with one cream. If they give me two creams, I say you can take this one back. Too many biscoffs. All right, now you're just showing off again. In the meantime, yet, he's the biggest guilt of frequent flyers is typically the carbon footprint. The carbon guilt of flyer. For example, Rebecca, the owner of AFC Richmond, last episode, she took a bus because her daughter jet shamed her.

But, Getties, what if you could fly guilt, free because an airline was carbon neutral. That sounds pretty nice. I would love to fly guilt free. I might even pay more to fly guilt free. You may even pay a premium to have a clean conscience. That's price and power, baby. That was Delta strategy in 2021 when they declared they were the first airline to become carbon neutral. Except we just got new news. In California, Delta just got sued, a class action lawsuit for allegedly fooling us all. Ladies, this is an interesting topic because carbon neutrality can be a little murk. Here's how Delta claims that they achieved carbon neutrality by 2021.

They achieved it with carbon offsets. Yet these, Delta doesn't fly on marshmallows and rainbows. No, it does not, Jack. What does it run on? Delta's jets run on jet fuel, which is a fossil fuel that creates greenhouse gases. But here's what Delta does. It pays for those sins by offsetting them by buying carbon offsets. Right.

Carbon offsets. They're like credits that you can buy to clean your dirty work. A lot of the time, these carbon offsets, they are a real legitimate offset. Yeah. Like when Delta spends money to build a new wind turbine. Yeah. Or it spends money to plant new trees in a forest. That is a legitimate, real effective carbon offset.

That is a good thing. But unfortunately, more often, carbon offsets are not real. In fact, according to a European Union study, 85% of carbon offsets are fake. 85% of carbon offsets are just hollow. They're not real. For example, when a Brazilian landowner gets paid to not cut down trees that they were not going to cut down in the first place. That's a real and common example of a carbon offset. You pay a forest owner, a landlord, to not cut down their trees.

Like Delta burns oil and then pays the Brazilian landowner to just continue having trees. Is that really something that makes you carbon neutral? Is that really making you feel less guilty in C23B? Is that good for the world? It feels like a takeaway moment. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Delta? This lawsuit is the perfect case study in greenwashing. Yeah, he's greenwashing. It's when you say you're being environmental with words,

but then it's not backed up with actions. Greenwashing is to use sustainability as a marketing tactic without actually following through on your promises. Well, honestly, Delta's heart was in the right place. They're spending a billion dollars to get carbon neutral. But Delta can't just write a check and wash away all their carbon guilt. If Delta wants to be the premier brand, And by being the first carbon neutral airline and charging a higher price potentially because of that, it must verify that it actually is.

It must verify that their carbon offsets are actually doing what they're supposed to do. Because planting a tree is not the same thing as not cutting down a tree. What this lawsuit is really about is greenwashing. It's about greenwashing. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Restaurants are retiring QR code menus because we're, we prefer physical ones. Because the biggest problem in innovation is not solving a problem.

For our second story, Jamie Diamond and Elon Musk are in China trying to preserve business times. They're there for profits, but that could preserve peace. And our third and final story is Delta Airlines. They're being sued for allegedly misleading us by saying they're carbon neutral. What this lawsuit is really about is greenwashing. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me and also the National. spelling D, we should point that out.

Well, it's mostly whipped up by Nick because clearly I don't know what I'm talking about. Oh, no, I thought you were getting close on Kla-Foodie, Jack. You had to buy a vowel on that one. That was the only thing. Yeah, it is. Can you spell Kla-F-Foodie? C-L-A-F-O-U-T-I. My error was saying F-O-O-T, like foot.

It happens to the best of us. We've all been there, Jack. But now the next question is, Jack, what's the definition of Kla-Foodie? What is a Kla-Foodie? What does one do with a clafoodie? Nick, I've shaved my family enough. How about you tell us? Well, Yiddis, a clifoodie is actually an old, old French dessert.

That's right. My buddy Google tells me that it's made of layers of fruit and topped with batter and then baked. So tonight, Yeties, enjoy yourselves some clefutie. That's not just a cake. That's a contest. C-O-N-T-E. H-Y-H-T-O-I. I've had the best.

one, yeah. Yeties, you look fantastic for the new Friday. And by the way, if you haven't yet, we have some just fantastic videos up on T-Boy Pot on Instagram. Well, the Datchelor Party. We got some highlights. Yeah, we do. We got some good behind the scenes of the Datchel party, don't we, Jack?

There was a diaper. I was involved and Nick was involved. I'm just going to leave it at that. There was Klofutti. Jack and I will see you live. Before we go, a shout out to everyone who pointed out that Jack and I said, Punta Kana was in Mexico when Punta Kana is actually obviously in the Dominican Republic. Yes, and if you were celebrating an anniversary or a birthday there, enjoy the DR.

Keep celebrating the wins. And a good luck to Yeti Tyler Hale, who's defending his PhD thesis today in Evanston, Illinois. Congratulations to Timothy Fisher, celebrating one year as a full-time freelancer. And Shahed Kater, congratulations on the five-year anniversary of starting your own law firm down in D.C. Congratulations to Jarrell Alberto, who got a new job as an emergency room nurse in Los Angeles. And Helena Zimmerman is graduating with a big red degree all the way from Cornell University. Congratulations to Jen and Colin Ryan, who just got engaged in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Let's see the ring picks. Congratulations, guys.

And Dustin Joyce is on the way to work celebrating a birthday in Ridgewood, Queens. Happy birthday to Daniel Lee in Seattle, Washington. And Annabelle's self is turning 27 in Atlanta, but has been T-boyant, And she was 22, not too shabby. And happy 13th birthday to Baxie Valentine, the Boston Terrier. That's 91 in Doggiers. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon.

And Nick and I both own stock of Apple. Unfortunately, neither of us own Nvidia. Yet. Why did you look it out? I saw it in an image. You saw, oh, no, the secret's out on Klofutti. Doc knows about Kofudi. Oh, man.

Oh, how are we going to continue the show?