The Best One Yet - 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 “Sleeping in Seattle” — Hollywood’s kiss-less movies. Costco’s Chevy car deal. Roaring Kitty’s GameStop return.

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

Hollywood is in a “Kissing Recession” — Love scenes are disappearing, we’ll tell ya why.Costco struck an electric car deal with GM — Because Costco is the biggest US car dealership.And Roaring Kitty showed his face again to pump Gamestop — But reality has resumed control.Plus, Ice Cream sales are bound to fall due to the GLP-1 weightloss drugs, so prepare for Ozempic-sized cones this summer.$COST $GM $GMEWatch us on YouTubeGet the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Submit Facts & Shoutouts Social: Follow us: on Instagram, TikTok, And connect with us on Nick’s LinkedIn & Jack’s LinkedInAbout Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, June 10th. 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. But first, Yenie stocks just rose to an all-time high. It seems like every week stocks are rising to an all-time high. I feel like we've done this like three weeks in a row check. Friday, we got the jobs report, which was better than expected.

Not too shabby. Our economy added 272,000 jobs less. month. Not too shabby. Everything's looking good. I don't know what to say. Yeah, Jack and I even wearing the same exact t-shirt today. That's how good things are looking right now. If only interest rates would come down, it'd be like Nirvana. Although I think we look great in these shirts, Jack. Yeties, in the meantime, we got three fantastic pop biz stories for you. Jack, what's on today's pod? For our first story, there's a strange recession happening in Hollywood, a kissing recession. Yet these love scenes are disappearing in movies. So Jack and

and I had to find out why. For our second story, Costco's most surprised product you didn't know about, Costco sells cars. Costco sells cars and Costco has become America's biggest car dealership. And they just struck a new deal with General Motors. Oh yeah. And our third and final story. For the first time in three years, Roaring Kitty just live streamed about GameStop. One million people tuned in, Jack and I were two of them, and we'll tell you,

exactly what happened. But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, what a fantastic mix of stories to come back to the week, dude, Jack. Love the mix. We come bearing some concerning news. Eadies, ice cream sales, they are slipping. The investment bank Morgan Stanley expects ice cream consumption in America to fall by 5% in the next 10 years. Ice cream sales, they are melting like a kona haggendaz in the warm July sun. So, the ice cream industry has a response. Here's what they just invented. And what is it, Jack? Ozempic ice cream. Ice cream a laud Ozempic.

Get this. Ice cream brands are scared about the Ozempic effect that's coming. They're worried about the weight loss drug hurting their ice cream sales. Because people on OZempec chemically have fewer cravings for ice cream. So, ice cream brands are now making OZempec sized

ice cream. Basically smaller portions because you're not actually hungry if you're on OZempe. But Jack, you still want to taste that triple toffee on your tongues, so this is what they're doing. Yeah, so the kitty-sized cone, it's also called the Ozempic-sized Ozempic-Kiddy-sized Ozempic cone. So yeah, he's prepared for half-pints of pistachia. Best, he's prepared for bite-sized black cherry. The biggest new trend in ice cream this summer is smaller ice cream. Hey, Darlene, can I get a half pump, a hot fudge? Half pump.

So the ice cream ingredients are going to be the same all summer. But the vehicle for consumption of that ice cream is going to shrink like Rick Moranis. Honey, I shrunk the gelat. Instead of blizzards, dairy queen's going to be whipping up flurries this summer, Jack. That is my favorite dessert. I don't need a blizzard. I just want to flurry. Jack, when we hang out, are we getting Ben and Jerry's?

Nope, we're just getting Ben. When you're on Ozzympic, you just get Ben. So, Yetis, look out for mini ice cream cones coming this summer. Jack and I, we plan on ordering six of them. Yeah, we actually had ice cream every night last week that we were in L.A. together. We did. Van Lue and Salt and Straw. And Jack, ice cream was my comfort food to prepare me for the super.

she hand rolls and the Dr. Pepper. You did well, Jack. You did well. Yetis, let's in 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 one yet, but the best is a 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. A quick word from our sponsor.

For our first story, for the last 20 years, the number of kisses in movies has plummeted. Data shows a drop in love scenes in movies because one thing sells better than sex. And Jack and I will tell you at the intriguing finale of our takeaway. Are you on the edge your seats, Yetis? Now, Yeties, funny thing. Last week, Jack and I were in lovely Los Angeles. And what did we notice as we walk the streets of Culver City, Jack? We noticed less kissing.

Yeah, less kissing, less hugging. Not on the street, though, not on the street, but in the movies. And the data proves it. Kissing content in films have plummeted over the past 20 years. Yeah, we got from romance to no-man's. The Economist magazine studied the top 250 highest-grossing American movies since the year 2000. And what did they find, Jack? They found that we're at an all-time low for love.

All right, yeties, let's jump in. boy style to the data. Romantic scenes in American movies have fallen 40%. It's a big screen kissing recession. We have officially entered a kissing recession, Jack, called Jerry Powell, kiss Jerry Powell. 40% fewer French kisses, 40% less lip blocking. Jack, you set me up, but I got to say it, 40% less tonsill hockey capting in America, baby. In fact, in the year 2000, 80% of the movies that went to theaters had at least one second. scene. And what about today, Jack? Only half of movies have a sex scene. Yetis,

what Jack and I are trying to tell you here is that love actually is not everywhere. 50 shades of no thank you. Yeah. Like, you know, sleepless in Seattle? Apparently, they are just sleeping in Seattle. There's like more films are just saying, I don't know. The 2024

sequel is sleeping in Seattle. I don't think we're getting a Magic Mike 8 anytime soon, Jack, if you know what I mean. Melatonin, Mike. But Yeties, here's what Jack and I found fast. about this story. This kissing recession in Hollywood actually gets even steamier

when you look at the data. I think you mean less steaming. Yeah, right, I mean less steaming. Because it turns out the drop in love scenes is even bigger if you compare it to other hot topics in movies. Yet this besties,

while kissing scenes have fallen 40% in Hollywood, drug, profanity, and violent scenes haven't changed at all. What we're saying is actors are still punching and cursing and toking in movies but they're doing it with their clothes on. Like Ryan Gosling, he will fight for your honor, but then he will not take you home afterwards, Jack.

Yeah, we know what you're thinking. You might have seen challengers or Saltburn or anyone but you. Yeah. There were some hot and heavy scenes. I'm sorry, pause the pod, Jack. I'm gonna need a cold towel over here. Glenn Powell's side boob is really something to look at. I think that was his ninth ab, Jack.

And it's true. When scenes do show romance in modern movies, there are more intensely intimate scenes. However, there are 40% fewer of those intimate scenes overall. Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are not happy about any of this. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in Hollywood? Sex sells, but families splurge. Yet is one reason for this kissing recession?

It's actually social changes. America's young people are having less sex than previous generations. And according to a study from UCLA, they want less sex in their movies as a result. But a bigger reason for this kissing recession? It's that PG-13 makes more money than rated R. Because the whole family can attend the Rock's Jumanji remake. But just the parents can attend Eyes Wide Shut. And Hollywood is making more money reaching that wide audience than the niche audience.

So for the last 20 years, the money in Hollywood has focused more on superhero movies and less on artsy films. The whole family can enjoy and watch Iron Man 8 because you don't have to say earmuffs, Kevin, earmuffs. So the content of the movies we watch is being shaped by that business model. Hollywood would rather sell four tickets to the whole family than two tickets to a couple dinks for date night. For our second story,

Costco is going to help general motors sell electric cars at Costco, but they're doing it at a special low price. Costco is a bully to their car companies, but she's our bully. Yes, she is. Now, yeties, as you know, Jack and I keep track of a little

lot of things. And one thing we keep track of is our crazy Costco list. The things you can buy at Costco is wild. It gets more fun to add to the list every week. For example, at Costco, you can buy sonas, you can buy diamonds, you can buy $2,000 blocks of gold. You can also buy automobiles. Yes, you can. Jack, let's jump in T-Boy style. Costco is actually the biggest car seller in all of America. Come on down to Costco, Jack. Because every year, 500,000 cars. are sold through the Costco Auto Program. Oh, I'm sorry, Bessies. Are you not impressed with Costco's car sales yet?

Jack, can you sprinkle on a little more information, please? 500,000 new cars a year is one out of every 36 new cars sold in America. We repeat, one out of every 36 new chassis driving the roads in America, is a Costco sold car. There is no car dealership or dealership group that sells more cars than Costco does. Kirkland is the king of cars, baby. Come on down! What do I got to do to get you into this hot dog soda combo? And here's the news.

General Motors just confirmed that Costco is their key outlet for electric car sales in America. General Motors is now going to depend on Costco to sell their electric cars. And Jack, why exactly is GM doing this? Because what Costco endorses Costco members buy. For example, Yeties, remember last year, Jack and I covered the Tommy Bahama Beach chair? Why is that the number one beach chair in America? because Costco endorsed it and stocked that beach chair

at all 611 U.S. stores. And now Costco has endorsed General Motors' electric cars. Specifically, the Chevy Equinox and the Chevy Blazer, they're both sold in aisle 6. Excuse me, ma'am, can you direct me to the electric car section?

Where's the electric car aisle? It's by the peanut butter aisle. If you hit the produce, you're gone too far. Can I use the car as my shopping cart? That's the question. But Yeti is the most interesting part of Costco's car business isn't actually the cars, it's the negotiation. Because Costco has all the leverage in this relationship. Yes, it does. General Motors has to make their pitch to the Kirkland crew.

And when they're pitching to Costco, the goal is to convince Costco that their Chevy cars are Costco worthy. Yeah, and by Costco worthy, Costco wants to know, is this a high-quality product we can sell at a low, low price? If Costco is convinced of that, then they'll agree to sell the car. on one condition. And here's that condition that Costco members get to buy at a pre-arranged no-haggle low car price. Now, car companies hate agreeing to a pre-arranged no-haggle low price, but car companies need access to Costco's 50 million U.S. members. It's like we said last week, Jack, distribution is destiny. And Costco owns all the distribution. Yeah, they do. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Costco?

Costco is a bully, but she's our bully. Yeah, she's our bully. Yet is the beauty of shopping at a Costco or a Walmart or the other big box stores. It's really the low prices. And how do we get those low prices? Because Costco is a bully. Yeah, Costco plays hardball with the suppliers. You want to sell that toothpaste than Costco?

You better drop the price 20% crest. Suppliers don't like Costco's heavy-handedness, but suppliers cave because the number of customers who shop at Costco is so huge. And then Costco benefits because it offers the lowest price and consumers benefit because they pay the lowest price.

That's exactly what's happening with General Motors' electric cars. They need access to the 50 million Costco members. Those 50 million members, they are distribution, and that is leverage. And it's how Costco negotiated the lowest price on their electric cars plus $1,000 off for Costco members.

Because Costco, she's a bully, but she's our bully. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, on Friday, nearly one million people watched a live stream of the Wall Street meme lord Roaring Kitty. For the first time in three years, the GameStop guy, known as Roaring Kitty spoke,

showed his face, and we watched the whole thing so you don't have to. Okay. All right, Jack, let's just start by sending the scene here. On Friday, you and I are preparing this exact podcast and the whole financial world was tuned into the same thing. Everyone was watching Roaring Kitty. There were 650,000 people watching live on YouTube and 200,000 more watching live on X.

You had Goldman Bankers watching this YouTube. You had baristas watching this YouTube. Jack, on my way to the studio, my Uber driver, was watching this YouTube. Yeah, it was bizarre. Everyone was paying attention to this one man named Keith Gill. It was actually an awkward Uber ride because he was pretty focused on the screen, and I had to buckle up.

Was he watching YouTube on his phone? Yeah, it was like a, it was a thing. It was not a five-star experience. Keith Gill is the central figure in the meme stock moment of January 2021 with GameStop and AMC and all that. Now, yet he's back then, like today, he was focused on GameStop, the struggling video game retail chain from the strip mall down the road from you. And back then, like today, he famously said,

I like the stock in reference to GameStop. In 2021, the stock exploded to the moon, and the hedge funds that were betting against it lost a ton of money. Okay, what did this remind you of, Jack? What movie it reminded me of the Joker in the Dark Night? Absolutely. Yet he's remember that scene in the Dark Night when Heath Ledger's Joker takes over the TV programming in Gotham for like a few hours?

It was chaotic, bizarre, and everyone was looking at the same thing. Well, that's exactly what this Roaring Kitty GameStop YouTube show was like on Friday afternoon. So what did he say Friday afternoon? He said a few things and also nothing. All right, Jack, let's paint the scene with a little bit more detail. Could he sprinkle on more context, please? Everyone was wondering if he was going to rally GameStop again to the moon like he did three years ago. Well, first, he showed up a half hour late.

And then the video finally began with his trademark three-minute cat video like Hyper-Real, which was kind of funny, to be honest. Finally, he appeared with a fake bandage on his head, a fake sling on his arm, and a beer in his hand. It was a very bizarre start, and you could never tell if he was being serious or sarcastic or joking. No, you couldn't.

But yet he's here are the three main things that Roaring Kitty did on that YouTube live video. He confirmed that he's been the one posting the memes from the Twitter and Reddit accounts. Number two, he confirmed he has a $350 million stake in GameStop, which has doubled in value. Number three, he said once again, he has a feeling that GameStop is going up, just like three years ago, but he didn't provide any further detail. Yeah, could you provide a little more color on what else the scene kind of felt like, please?

He had a beer in his hand, and he appeared equal parts high and drunk during the 50-minute conversation. He mentioned the Boston Celtics a couple dozen times because, you know, he was just outside Boston. Yeah, there was so much rambling in this. It was like a drunk guy at the bar trying to convince you that you're his best friend. Honestly, after an hour of watching this video live, Yetis, this was a huge waste of our time. I couldn't believe how unsubstantive it was. Yeties, if he's the emperor of me investing, then he wasn't wearing any clothes. Rory and Kitty caused so much trading activity for GameStop during his live stream

that they had to pause trading eight times. But here's the thing. The stock didn't go up. No, it didn't. And we'll tell you more in our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone watching? GameStop. Meme investing can defy the laws of physics, but eventually gravity takes over. Yeti's GameStop is two things. It's a meme stock and it's an underlying business. Sometimes,

like in 2021, there's a temporary insane surge in the stock because of meme investing. Last month, GameStop stock popped because of coordinated investing led by this guy, roaring kidding. If a million meme investors push by at the same time, the stock will go up. Frankly, the rest of the time, the stock reflects the underlying business of the company. GameStop. And last week, we learned that GameStop's earnings last quarter were awful. Sales fell by another 29%. So the moment those meme investors stopped pushing by, the stock returns to reality.

And that's exactly what happened Friday. After Roaring Kitty's video ended, the stock was down 40% for the day. GameStop fell 40% before the weekend. The meme investors who bought early, they made money on it. but an equal number of people who bought late lost money on it. And that is meme vested. It can defy Wall Street physics, but only temporarily. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week?

Kisses and sex are slowly vanishing from Hollywood's movies. Yeah, the business model of movies is messing with our movies because sex sells, but families splurge. For our second story, General Motors is tapping Costco to help it sell their electric cars. Costco bullied General Motors into a low price for Costco members, because Costco, she's our bully. And our third and final story is GameStop.

GameStop was all the focus on Friday, as Roaring Kitty returned with a YouTube live stream. The stock ended down 40% because meme vesting can defy physics, but only temporarily. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the worldwide developer conference of Apple begins today. Apple's

worldwide developer conference. Everyone expects Apple to finally announce something AI related. Okay, we're going to get it? We're going to get it? A little late to the game. Rumors are they're going to partner with chatGPT to bake that chat bot into the next version of the iPhone. So you're saying no Apple

car. Is that what you're saying, Jack? Definitely saying no Apple car, yeah. And second, also this week, the highly anticipated Tesla shareholder of vote that we told you about is happening on Thursday. Contentious vote number one for the shareholders is whether or not to move Tesla's incorporation

from the state of Delaware to Elon-loving Texas. And vote number two is whether to pay Elon $56 billion as a bonus that those Delaware courts invalidated. It's a huge shareholder vote this Thursday. If you own Tesla's stock, you can vote. And finally, you main AI. That clip on a pin that was supposed to replace your phone, the company is struggling right now.

Sales of the pin have been very slow. Remember, this was the one you put on your shirt, and it's got a projector, and you hold up your hand, and it tells you who's calling. Jack, I believe we said it would solve phone guilt, because you wouldn't look at your phone screen anymore. Right, because you don't need a phone. This is your phone, and you just talk to it

and hold your hand up to it if you need to see something. Apparently not enough people are buying that solution, so you remain that exciting AI startup is trying to sell itself for they'd like a billion dollars. I gotta say, for a struggling company, a billion dollars would be a human, main outcome. Yeah, pretty good actually.

It'd be like the best failure tech has ever seen. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Tyler Hale from lovely Midland, Michigan. In the year 1604, Coromo City was founded in old Japan. But in 1959, Japan's Caromo City was renamed to Toyota City. Because Toyota, the amazing Japanese car company, was headquartered in Coromo City. We like you so much, we're going to name ourselves after you. Yeah, they changed the name of the town to the company that was headquartered there.

They literally put T-Boy City on the Atlas, you know? Like, they made it the thing. Now, I know Hershey, Pennsylvania is called Hershey because of the chocolate company. That's true. And I believe there is a T-boy town down in Arizona, Jack. We've got a lot of Yetty's down there. But if you know a town that was named after a company, hit us up, we're putting together a list. Yeah, so far the list is Toyota and Hershey's.

Yeah, that's what we got so far. So we really need your help on it. Yetis, you look fantastic to kick off the week. Jack, you're looking fantastic over there. Great call, gray sweatshirt. Gray shirt, looking good. By the way, Yetis, remember, Jack and I said, we're in a kissing recession.

There are fewer kisses in the movies. It doesn't mean you can't kiss at the movies. True. That's true. Earmuffs. Have a PG-13 Monday, and Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, a happy 29th birthday to legendary Yeti

Anna Howgland in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rachel's sister and Rachel's favorite person. Yeah, she's celebrating with a chocolate croissant as one should. And happy 27th birthday to Jordan Reese over in Peckon, Illinois. And Rima is turning 29 years old down in Atlanta, Georgia. And happy birthday to Chris Merchandani in London, England. And Rowena Zhang and Richard Yu in New York City have got their one-year anniversary. Congratulations, celebrate that big win.

And congratulations to Zara Muhammad in Evanston, Illinois, who's got two graduate degrees from the Northwestern University. And Brian Jensen and Charlotte, North Carolina's got a new job at J.P. Morgan and just got married. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Robin Hood.