The Best One Yet - 🟠 “Penny RIP” — End of the Penny. Dunkin’s diss track. T-Mobile’s dead-zone killer.

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Trump is canceling the US penny… because our cheapest coin is our most expensive.The biggest diss track in the SB wasn’t Kendrick Lamar… it was from advertisers.SpaceX and T-Mobile just shockingly teamed up…  to kill the cell phone dead-zone.Plus, the untold origin story of Ben & Jerry’s… and their most disruptive flavor: Phish Food.$SBUX $TMUS $TWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Ben & Jerry’s 🍦. Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.—-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, February 11th. And today's pod, it's the best one yet this is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Was it too hard to ask you to pick me up from the airport, Jack? You made me take an Uber. I didn't make you.

I told you I'd pick you up if you wanted me, too. I didn't even think I'd have to ask. I'm just going to sell it at the end of the pod. It's story for another pod. It is more snowy in Vermont since the week I met you. That is the last time it was this snow. I actually do need to borrow some gloves. But Jack, three stories for today's show.

What do we got on the team? Thanks for coming to visit me. Absolutely. For our first story. Did you see Duncan Donuts Super Bowl commercial? I did. It ripped on Starbucks. But the real diss track of the Super Bowl wasn't Kendrick Lamar.

It was in the commercials. So we're presenting the do's and don'ts for corporate dissing. Yes, we are. For our second story, President Trump is ending the U.S. penny. He has ordered no more pennies be minted ever again. But the biggest shocker of this penny pause is that it didn't happen sooner. And our third and final story is the most surprising collab of the year. Oh, yeah.

SpaceX and T-Mobile. But can we talk about T-Mobile's winning recipe, please, Jack? T-Mobile leans into the boring. Bored. But Yeti's, before we hit that, wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mixes stories. Love the mix today. Nick is not just here in Vermont to get some skiing and slurp some syrup in before my baby arrives.

Although I like to do both of those. No, we are up in Vermont to do some T-Boy research. Because today, we're dropping an entire 45-minute episode on Vermont's most ultimate brand. We're talking the biggest ice cream company in the world. And the most fun entrepreneurial origin story we've ever heard of. Bring them out. We're talking, actually, we don't have them here, but Ben and Jerry. Although they live around the corner.

The true untold origin story of America. America's favorite ice cream brand. Don't choke on your chunky monkey yetis. Today, Yeties, Ben and Jerry's does over a billion dollars a year in ice cream sales. But Ben and Jerry started as a couple goofball buddies who failed to get into med school. Did you hear that they learned how to make ice cream through a mail order catalog class? Or Jack, how about when they came to the financials, they just made up the numbers. Ben and Jerry's should have gone bankrupt at least 12 different times. And yet, this duo disrupted the entire ice cream industry. And they remained best friends through the entire journey. And we've admired that entire journey.

So, Ben and Jerry's is the next episode of our weekly deep dive show, The Best Idea Yet. The Best Idea Yet. The Untold Origin Stories of the most viral products of all time. Specifically, we focused on fish food. Ben and Jerry's Fish Food, the only ice cream named after a jam band. That was named Fish. So later today, after this T-Boy, check out our weekly deep dive show, The Best Idea Yet. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning. Tap the link in the episode description because Ben and Jerry's fish food is simply the best idea yet. But in the meantime, Jack, we've got a fantastic show.

So how about I scream? You scream. We all scream? Do you hit our three stories? Let's do it. 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 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. Start the show.

First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, the real disc track at the Super Bowl, it wasn't Kendrick Lamar. It was the commercials. Get this. Duncan, Jeep, and Hems and hers all ripped on their rivals in their Super Bowl commercials. So Jack and I got a playbook to tell you when to diss and when not to dis in corporate America. Daddy's last week, we explained why Kendrick Lamar did the Super Bowl halftime show,

even though he didn't get paid a dollar for it. You didn't get paid. And yet, one big question remained as we were watching. The whole world was wondering. Totally. Will he do his disc track? Ah, the answer? Yes, he did.

Yeah. He circled the stage in front of the whole world and sang Not Like Us. Yeah, basically. Ripping into Drake the whole time. Totally. Drake, his arch-wrapping rival. Now, we expected he would, but we did not expect corporate America

to follow suit in their commercials. Because the low-key theme that Jack and I noticed of the Super Bowl commercials this year, distracks. And the biggest disc-track commercial started with Duncan. Yeah, it did. It really did, yeah. It starred the Affleck brothers

who ripped on their rival Starbucks. The boys from just outside Boston, the Dunkings, they looked kind of like, you know, down-to-earth every man. Bruins fans, if you will. While the stuck-up competition over at Starbucks, they look snobby and out of touch. Yeah, we'll play a clip. Let's hit the tape tray.

Duncings, about to get roasted. Like a dark seasonal roast with coriander and slight balsamic drizzle. Sounds like it was in my garbage disposal. See you, coach. How much to wait a half hour to get my name spelled wrong on the cup? Nobody wants a goat milk, double half-capsilite milk cap. You could just brew it as beans and water. Oh, damn.

Listen, Duncan's for all he is. Okay, so the Boston boys, they went hard, Jack. Yeah, they did. Celine was ripping them on Starbucks. But then we got another diss track ad, didn't we? Yeah, from Jeep, which used Harrison Ford to diss the Ford Motor Company. Bold. Let's play that one.

This Jeep makes me happy, even though my name is... Bold move. Harrison Ford just said, this Jeep makes me happy even though my name is Ford. And finally, we got the pharmaceutical company, Hems and Hers, which trashed the entire U.S. healthcare system. This was like the dissiest of all the dis. Something's broken. It's not our bodies. It's the system.

Welcome to weight loss in America. A $160 billion industry that feeds on our failure. The message in that commercial? We'll actually solve your problems, not keep you sick so we can keep making money off your sickness. So I added all up, Yiddies, and like we said, the biggest disc track of the Super Bowl, it wasn't a song from Kendrick Lamar. It was a bunch of $8 million Super Bowl commercial. Basically, Duncan dropped Starbucks like Tupac on Biggie, 1996.

Mo money. No problems. If you know, you know. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone in advertising? When to diss and when not to dis? Here's our three-part guide. Yeties, the rules of decorum in business are always changing. But in our fast and furious world driven by social media,

dissing is more acceptable than ever. Here's how to drop a diss on a rival while not cross. crossing the line. Rule number one, no low blows. Don't be mean. All is fair in love and war, but not in advertising. Rule number two, you can punch up, but you can't punch down. Duncan can attack Starbucks, but we don't think Starbucks can attack Duncan. Not a good luck. Starbucks is way bigger than Duncan. It'd look like bullion. Frappuccinos can't mess with cul-dice. And finally, rule number three, humor transcends all. Starbucks and Ford both got dissed over the Super Bowl, but we bet Starbucks and Ford both chuckled

because Duncan and Jeep's ads were fun. It was good what Harrison Ford did, and we know you're laughing up in Detroit guys. So when to diss and when not to diss in corporate America? Those are our three rules. No low blows, don't punch down, and humor transcends all. Send this to your buddy who works in marketing. For our second story,

President Trump has ordered the end of new pennies. Pennies are dunzo. And after diving in T-boy style, we're shocked. This penny pause didn't have. happened decades ago. It's funny you should say that, Jack, because full disclosure, this is Nick,

and I'm a numismatist. Newmismatist. Yeah, I can't read your mind, Jack. That's something different, but numismatist is the collection of coins. I actually started doing it. I was like nine years old. Yeah. Whenever we went somewhere, I'd go to the local coin shop. I had half Liberty dollars, I had

mercury dimes, had a bunch of Indian heads. What's a mercury dime? Is that an American currency currency? It's a story for another pod, Jack. Remember my wallet had the buffalo nickel on it? It was fantastic. Well, Nick could tell you that in 1909, the U.S. Mint put Abraham Lincoln's head on a penny to commemorate his 100th birthday. I can also tell you, Jack, that the U.S. penny is the most produced coin in the history

of the world. That is wild. It is. It's the smallest. It is. But it's also the biggest. And here's the news. President Trump told the U.S. Treasury Secretary to stop printing pennies.

Stop minting them. Yeah. All the pennies we have today, that's it. No more ever again. It's the great. penny pause, and we know what you're thinking yet is, does this mean that my coin jar full of pennies is worthless now? The answer to that is no. Technically, only an act of Congress can retire the penny as a valid form of U.S. currency. Correct, Jack. But the Treasury Secretary has asked

the mint to stop making new ones. In case you're worried, by the way, Abraham Lincoln's going to do fine. He's still on the $5 bill. Yeah, we were thinking about that, actually. Although we do have a proposal that if we're going to lose the penny, we should bring back the at $1,000 bill given inflation, right? Who would you put on that thing, Jack? I don't know. Teddy Roosevelt? Actually, let us know in the comments who we should put on a $1,000 bill.

Wrong answers only. Or Oprah. But Teddy's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story is that after looking at the penny, it's actually the most uneconomic thing we do. Here's the hero stat. Each single cent cost $3.7 to produce. We repeat, making one penny costs us like over three pennies.

We should not make the penny if the act of making the penny is worth less than a penny. In fact, we made 3.2 billion pennies every single year, which, if stretched out, would be across the entire United States. But we lost $86 million making that weird pennies across America link that Nick just mentioned. The penny, it's the cheapest, but the most expensive. Now, why is it so expensive? Because it's actually made of zinc and then coated with copper, and therein lies the problem. Because zinc prices have popped, which has made the penny. more expensive. One business in Tennessee actually has a 40-year contract to supply that zinc to the U.S. Mint, and they're bumming. Yeah, they are. Because that contract they had was worth a billion

dollars. But Jack, it's not just the cost of the penny that's a problem. It's also the use. When was the last time you bought something using pennies? The data shows that most pennies actually disappear. So we have to mint new ones to replace the lost ones, which costs us more money. Gas stations don't even have that take a penny, leave a penny thing anymore. In fact, we have lost to 240 billion pennies in drawers, jars, and washing machines across America, Jack, can you sprinkle lots of contact? It was hard to find hard data on pennies, just like it's hard to find raw data on the number of grains of sand. Canada stopped minting their penny in 2012. True. Sweden and Australia have stopped minting their pennies. They just round up or down depending on the transaction.

By the way, we used to make a half penny in America, Jack. I do own one of those, by the way. Is it a half moon, like cut in half? No, it looks like a regular penny. But we stopped making them 150 years ago. So why do we still have the penny? Nick and I think it's a combination of nostalgia, coin collectors like Nick's community, and wishing wells. What else are we going to flip into a wishing world? Well, all of that comes at a taxpayer cost of 86 million bucks a year.

Which doesn't sound worth it to me. So to add it all up, it's kind of shocking the penny wasn't paused years ago. This is our discrack of a penny, by the way. We haven't followed our three rules either. We just ripped on the penny. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who respect the penny? The penny shows the power of inertia. Yet he's last year, the New York Times did an article called

The Tyranny of the Penny, a symbol of national dysfunction. Because since the 1970s, both parties in government have proposed eliminating the penny several times. And today, a majority 58% of America agrees the penny should be gone. Even 225 years ago, Thomas Jefferson hated the idea of a penny. But the inertia. of the status quo and the relative smallness of the issue kept it from getting any political traction. After all, we're talking about pennies on the dollar here. The penny's persistence is a metaphor for inertia in both government and in business sometimes. Anertia, a law of physics that an object

resist change when in a state of motion. Despite the high cost, the broad support to get rid of it, and common sense, the penny persisted. Well, finally, the penny is over. So keep the ones you have because that, trust me, is a collector's item. They're going to go up in value every year as more and more pennies get lost. We're going to miss you, but it was time. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, according to the data, the number one most engaged Super Bowl commercial of all was T-Mobile.

By far. And it's a case study for how T-Mobile is destroying Verizon and AT&T. There was nothing funny. There was no QR code. There weren't even talking frogs. They weren't talking e-trade babies even. No, there weren't. And yet this was the most engaging Super Bowl commercial.

Just a wild product offered for free even to the customers of the competition. Maybe you saw it. It was T-Mobile, the wireless company, which announced Starlink satellite internet for all T-Mobile customers. What we're saying is that T-Mobile hooked up with Elon's business, Starlink, for a space-based phone network. And the goal of this network is to kill dead zones. Kill them.

According to the CEO, if you see the sky, you can connect. And now, Jack, we should clarify one thing about this T-Mobile satellite anywhere accessibility. Well, the satellite signal,

it can't do all the phone service for you. It can't replace Verizon AT&T or T-Mobile because their satellites only send down connectivity beams to areas on Earth with no cell service. But still, with T-Mobile plus Starlink, your phone should theoretically always be connected.

The dead zone is going to be dead. Killing the dead zone with invisible infrastructure. You'll always get bars. But yet is, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Edio measured which commercials drove the most website visits just after showing at the Super Bowl. And this was number one. Yeah, like, maybe it was because of the satellites.

Which looked cool in the commercial. Maybe it was because this service is free until July. In this economy? I'm into that. But even wilder, what is it, Jack? Even AT&T and Verizon customers are welcome to try out this T-Mobile satellite service for free. Yeah, T-Mobile's basically saying, hey, you really want to stay with Verizon? They can't give you what I can give you. They're basically saying try me out.

I promise you'll like it. Wink-wink. Suggestive smiley emoji. Kiss, kiss. Okay, I think you crossed the line. I didn't say a look. They're basically attempting you to break up with AT&T and Verizon. In fact, the commercial ends with this line.

We're inviting anyone on any wireless carrier to experience this for free. And apparently, that pitch worked. Because according to EDO, that commercial was 50% more website click engaging than the number two. Basically, the beer ad with sloths got you to laugh, but T-Mobile got you to actually buy. Well, they got you to visit their website. I was rounding up a bit. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies? Over at T-Mobile.

In boring industries, winners double down on boring. Yet he's 10 years ago. Verizon and AT&T, they were six and seven times more valuable than T-Mobile. T-Mobile was kind of a number three joke. Yeah, it was. But in the decade since then, T-Mobile has grown 10 times more valuable on the stock market, while Verizon and AT&T have both shrunk. True story.

Today, T-Mobile's worth $290,000. billion dollars. That's nearly as much as Verizon and AT&T combined. We covered T-Mobile's rise before. We credited their focus on boringness. Wireless, it's a boring industry, like bandwidth, spectrum. There's nothing sexy about wireless signals. For, Phil, more like wireless. So Verizon and AT&T, naturally, they got distracted. They acquired fancy and expensive media companies, which they sold at huge losses years later. Jack, remember we looked at the stock chart? When AT&T bought Time Warner, that's when their stock stopped going up.

It fell. But T-Mobile? They stayed focused. Yes, they did. They merged with Sprint. They acquired Mint Mobile, which belonged to Ryan Reynolds. And now they have a Starlight Satellite deal. And for that reason, T-Mobile is a case study.

The excellence at the boring stuff can make you billions. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for T-Boy Tuesday? The biggest disc track in the Super Bowl wasn't from Kendrick Lamar. No. It was from the advertisers. So Jack and I explained in three rules how to dis in corporate America without crossing the line. For our second story, President Trump has ordered the U.S. mint to stop minting new pennies. The persistence of the penny shows the power of inertia. For our third and final story, T-Mobile Starlink commercial was the number one most engaging of the whole Super Bowl.

T-Mobile success was in focusing on the boring parts. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Elon Musk has made an unsolicited bid to acquire OpenAI the largest startup in the world. Elon and his venture capital partners are only offering $97 billion, though, which is a low ball price that's bound to be rejected. And Jack, what did Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI say in response? On X, he posted, no thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.7 billion if you want. Besties, we'll cover the developments for you. If there are any, there might be, or maybe someone throws TikTok into the deal.

We don't know. Second, Donald Trump is imposing 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum. He also pledged to retaliate against any country that imposes tariffs on the United States. He'll retaliate to retaliations. Trade War II. It's escalating. He's also gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which requires an act of Congress, but he's essentially ignoring that and daring courts to stop it. And finally, school is canceled. The Philadelphia Public Schools have canceled school this Friday. So the whole city can celebrate the Eagle Super Bowl victory. From Rindow Square to West Philly,

begins at the stadium, ends at the Museum of Art. This is pretty fine. It ends at the Rocky Steps. Yeah. Philadelphia fans, like my mother, they ride if they lose and they'll ride if they win. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Savannah Westwood from lovely Orlando, Florida.

For three decades, one company in Florida has minted the official coin flip coin for the NFL Super Bowl. It's called Highland Mint, and they make commemorative coins for 30 years for the Super Bowl. One side of the coin has the team's logos on it, the tails, and the other side has the Super Bowl logo. The heads. After the game, they sell that coin flip coin to charity. And the last one sold for $5,000. But you can buy one for $99.

And according to the comment section, a lot of people collect these coins. Yeah, so we're losing the penny jack, but apparently it's getting outlasted by the Super Bowl coin. By the Chief's Eagles L1X, which means 59, I think, in Roman numerals. Superboy, commemorative edition, quite. It'll live on forever. Yiddies, you'll look fantastic over there. Excuse us because Jack and I have got to go grab a little ice cream on Church Street, don't we? Yes, we do.

That's right. We're going to the place where Ben and Jerry's began. We really honestly love this episode so much because Ben and Jerry are so humble, so thoughtful. And they admit that they just didn't even know what they were doing. Let's speak candidly. Yeah. We like this episode because it reminds us of us. We got so much fun with it.

So besties, after this pod right now, go check out the best idea yet. Our weekly deep dive show on the products you're obsessed. We've got a link in the episode description. We'd love if you get less. This one's on Ben, Jerry, and a pint of fish. And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, DeNash Barvani in El Segundo, California. A birthday twin and Mother and Love,

turned him into the T-Boy. I think it turned him into our show. So he started listening. That's what I meant. That's what I meant. And Ryder Pang in Azusa, California, listens with their parents and celebrated that birthday on the icon of the Seas. And a happy fifth birthday to Cooper Carroll, the T-Boy himself from Quantico, Virginia,

who dances every day to the best one yet. And Ryan and Rachel Nance down in Hotland, Atlanta, Georgia, have a two-year wedding anniversary. Congratulations, guys. Congratulations to Ryan Barnes. Aptos, California for getting a new job in the police department. License and registration, Ryan. And Christine Marie Marota in South Boston, just south of Boston, has got a big farm job over at Amgen.

Congrats, Christine. And to anyone else, celebrate something today, making a tee ball. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Island Stock, and Ford.