The Best One Yet - 👸 “T-Swift IPO” — Taylor’s Person of the Year. Red Lobster’s shrimp-tastrophy. COP28’s world-saving ratio.

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

Taylor Swift just became the 1st entertainer to win Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” — So we’re looking at “T-Swift, Inc.” and why Taylor could IPO. Red Lobster offered endless shrimp for $20… and lost a ton of money because of it — So we jumped into the psychology of the Freebie.And the biggest climate conference of the year, COP28, just highlighted a critical number — We have the ratio that saves the world.$SWFT $ERAS $1989Subscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. December 7th, and today's pod is the best one yet, Jack. This is looking like a T-boy, man. It's the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Apparently, though, day two, we didn't both get the memo, Jack? I am wearing my T-boy new holiday merch today, Nick.

I know you are, you are. But why are not wearing the beanie? I don't know. I'm afraid it's going to mess with my hair. I was about to say, don't wear the beanie. Your hair looks so good today. Yeties, we have new. Two holiday merch we dropped this week.

You can find it at T-boypod.com slash shop. But tomorrow you should wear the beanie. Tomorrow will wear the beanie, Jack. I will wear the beanie tomorrow. First story for today's show, what do we got, Jack? For our first story, Taylor Swift has won Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2023. So here's what we think she'll do in 2024, the Taylor Swift IPO. For our second story, it's the biggest climate event of the year.

Cop 28 just highlighted a critical number for planet Earth. Besties, we just got the equation that saves the world. For our third and final story, Red Lobster, miscalculated how much shrimp you eat, and that mistake cost $11 million. It's called the freebie economy. Apparently endless shrimp are, in fact, endless. But, Yeties, before we hit that fantastic mix of stories. Now, that is just a wild mix of stories.

What an amazing mix of stories today, man. Nick and I want to introduce you to the latest alternative milk product. Yet is it is not soy milk. It is not almond milk. Then it is not oat milk. It's not pistachio, macadamia, or cow either. Besties, the newest milk in the world is apricot milk. Specifically, apricot pit milk. That's right. There's a new startup that discovered this new milk. Yeah, venture capital just backed apricot milk as the newest alternative milk. Because these techies managed to scientifically milk out the kernel of an apricot.

to give you apricot milk. I've got Colonel's Greg. Can you milk me? Now, full disclosure, I had to ask Nick what an apricot even is. Full full disclosure, I told Jack, that it's like a peach's little cousin. It's a juicy orange fruit with a large dark pit. Does it have fuzz like a peach does? It doesn't really have fuzz, but it's got a full mustache if that helps.

Either way, apricot milk raises some serious questions. It brings up some existential questions because the apricot that you milk is, in fact, a fruit. Right. And when you squeeze a fruit and juice, comes out, that's juice. Right. So an apricot is a plant-based milk, but it is also a fruit-based milk? But isn't fruit-based milk just the wrong word for juice?

I mean, Jack, it looks like a milk, but it sounds like a juice, even though technically it is both a juice and a milk. Okay, I'm not crazy here, right? If you squeeze an orange, that's orange juice. Unless, Jack, we've been wrong the whole time, and it's really orange milk. Yeah. Are we drinking almond milk and oat milk? Or are we drinking almond juice and oat juice?

Okay, cranberry juice, that can be white. like milk. And grape juice can also be white. So since it's white, are cranberry and grape juice actually cranberry and grape milk? And Jack, we haven't even talked about olives because olives are technically a fruit. And if you squeeze an olive, you get oil? So is apricot milk a milk, a juice, or an oil? So, Yeties, we got to answer the eternal question from the 1990s ad campaign you saw in every magazine. And what is that question, Jack? Got milk. Honestly, we're not quite sure anymore. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know anymore. Grab us some orange oil and let's hit our three stories.

Time magazine, you have come a long way, honey. In 1927, Time named their first ever man of the year. Yeah, it was Charles Lindbergh back in 1927, the first person to fly in an airplane from America to Europe. Now, there have been a bunch of firsts since then, but we just got another with Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift is the new Time Person of the Year. She's the first ever entertainer to be named Time's Person of the Year. It's me. Hi, I'm the Person of the Year. It's me. Kermit the frog got wrong.

But Yetis, Jack and I jumped into this story. We jumped into the numbers, and here's what we think. We think there's a better label for what Taylor Swift has accomplished this year. Because business-wise, Taylor Swift is the disruptor of the year. Because Yeties, Taylor Swift's Ares Tour concert was a physical feat. Every performance was three hours long with 40 songs and 16 costume changes. But it was also a financial feat. Taylor is personally banking.

$13 million per night of this tour. Wow. It's going to gross a billion dollars total when it's all said and done. And finally, it's also an economic feat. The Ubers, the hotels, the cowboy boots. Get this, Yeties. The Federal Reserve of these United States estimates that Taylor Swift added $5 billion to our economy just this year.

Funflation, which we had this summer, it was from Taylor Swift's concert tour. Taylor Swift is worth at least two lifts. But what made her truly remarkable this past year is how she broke all the rules as she did it. Yeties, Jack and I call it Taylor Swift, Inc. And that is because she disrupted entire industries. In addition to her concert tour, which was a massive effort. Just the core itself was really big. Taylor also republished two different albums this year.

It was a rebel move that won her back ownership of the music she had lost. And that led to more profit for Taylor. She also produced the heirs tour, concert movie, which grossed $250 million at the box office. And for that, she cut out movie studios to do it, negotiating directly with theaters, which resulted in even more profit for a tailor. And finally, she formed half of America's latest celebrity merger, I mean couple, with Travis Kelsey. Cutting out Travis's quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Taylor and Travis sealed the deal. She went D to C. Sorry, D to Kelsey.

Right, D to Kelsey. The most disruptive entertainer of all time conquered me. music and movies in the NFL this year. Yet he's added all up. And next year, Jack and I think Taylor Swift should conquer Wall Street. They're already shaking in their Oxford toes. Wait, dude, what's the shoe called? They're already shaking in their Oxford tips.

Is that what the shoes are called? I think it's wing tips. We'll go with wing tips. I like what you're putting out. I love what you're putting up. There's Oxford somewhere in there. Jack, look what you made me do. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over?

at Taylor Swift, Inc. In 2024, Taylor Swift could IPO. In 2024, Taylor Swift should IPO. Hey, Yeti, stick with us on this one. Imagine a world where you could buy stock in Taylor Swift's musical career. You could own stock of T Swift Incorporated. Jack, ticker symbol on this stock? Eras.

E-R-A-S. Now, Yeti's Taylor would keep 51% ownership to ensure that she controls her professional destiny. But the other 49%? she could divvy it out to the Swifties. Let her fans share in her financial success. Turn them into fan investors. And honestly, there is a business case for the Taylor Swift IPO that makes sense. She could use the money from the IPO proceeds to launch her own ticketing service.

Yeah, she could get revenge on Ticketmaster. Remember that whole debacle last year or a ticket master, Jack? Fans could buy tickets directly from T. Swift, Inc. With a Taylor Swift ticketing subsidiary. Oh, and then when she sells out Madison Square Garden again, she could send a cash dividend to the shareholders. And then she could use the extra cash to acquire Bumble and launch a Taylor Swift dating service. Dolly Parton has Dollyland?

T. Swift, Inc. could open Taylor's world. Boom. A hundred years from now, Taylor's hologram concerts would live on, generating ticket sales for Taylor Swift, Inc., the publicly traded company. Now, yet, no entertainer has ever IPOed themselves. But besties, no entertainer has ever done what Taylor Swift did just this year. And to Taylor Swift IPO, it'd be consistent with their instincts of disruption and breaking the mold. So in 2024, Taylor Swift could IPO.

In 2024, Taylor Swift should IPO. In 2024, Taylor Swift will IPO. We're manifesting it. For our second story, we are in the middle of COP 28, the biggest climate conference of the year. So Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style. Cop 28 just gave us an equation for whether or not to quit oil. Jack, if we are going to be able to.

I'm going to cover an environmental business story. I'm going to need a warm glass of apricot milk, please. Only plant-based, the rest of the story. It better have a paper straw and it better be apricot milk. Yeties, we're in the middle of COP 28. What is that, Nick? Cop 28, the 28th global get-together with one subject, climate change. The United Nations organizes this event, and here's how they describe it this year. They describe it as a pivotal opportunity to correct course and accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis. And how is it looking? The effort to tackle the climate crisis. Well, Jack, the United States just hit record oil production last month.

So... So not good. No, not good. We're actually pumping out more oil than ever, just as we have the biggest climate event of the year. In fact, global CO2 emissions are at a record high for each of the top three fossil fuels. Oh, and no surprise. Whip open your iPhone. Check out the weather app.

Last summer was the hottest on record. It was a scorcher, Jack. The summer of 2023 was the hot. hottest by more than a full degree Fahrenheit from ever before. But yeties, hold on to your apricot milk. Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, and we found the most interesting thing to come out of the biggest climate event of the year. We found a calculator for how to save the planet.

It's a cost-benefit analysis is what this is. It answers the question of do the benefits outweigh the costs. You do a cost-benefit analysis like all the time, don't you, Jack? You're doing this all day. Is the cost of splurging on this double-digit latte worth the cost? the benefits of how good it tastes. Yeah, is the benefit of seeing your buddy worth the costs of getting out of your pajamas? Well, the IMF's cost benefit analysis was a little more complex than those ones. Yeah, it was. It was. Here's what they did. They just calculated the estimated cost and

benefits of transitioning away from fossil fuel. They wanted to answer the question. Is transitioning away from oil worth it? Well, they just did the math on whether it is. And Jack, let's jump into the numbers here. So, Nick, what are the costs of a gradual weaning away from fossil fuels? Well, Jack, the costs are a higher price of electricity in the short term. But what are the benefits of gradually weaning off of fossil fuels? The benefits are avoiding catastrophic consequences of a warming glove. Avoiding more hurricanes, avoiding more flooding more floodings, and avoiding rising sea levels, which will all cost billions and trillions of dollars. And here's the question, what's bigger? The benefits of transitioning from fossil fuels.

fossil fuels or the cost of transitioning from fossil fuels. Well, the IMF dollarized the benefits and the costs and found that the benefits outweigh the costs nine to one. Sit down, stand up and spit out your apricot juice again. Nine to one. The benefits like far outweigh the costs, apparently. The economic benefits of the world transitioning to net zero over the next 50 years outweigh the costs nine to one.

I mean, this is pretty exciting news because these numbers like, Jack, they're like a no-brainer. right? It's a no-brainer, but there's a pretty powerful entity we have to convince first. Yeah, that entity is the star of our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies in the world? For the climate movement to succeed, it might need big oil as its big buddy. Yeties, Jack and I haven't mentioned the main headline from the COP 28 event. That event is hosted by big oil. The president of this event is the head of the UAE's national oil company. Even ever, Exxon CEO is there this year. So many environmentalists are thinking that this event's kind of like inviting a lion to the zebra safety convention.

It's like, um, does everyone see the lion over there at the head of the table? Don't mind me, just taking notes here. But there is an optimistic take to Big Oil hosting COP 28. Here's what we think, Yeti. Since the fight for climate change began, Big Oil has been treated like the big enemy. So for 30 years, the climate movement has faced resistance from, Big oil and all who profit from big oil. So political resistance, powered by Big Oil, has blocked major climate action.

So maybe it's time for a strategy pivot. Maybe Big Oil isn't an enemy. Maybe Big Oil is a critical ally. After all, we still need oil for some years if we're going to smoothly transition to cleaner energies. Frankly, as Jack and I have been researching COP28, that's the uncomfortable takeaway we came away with from the event. The climate movement might need big oil to be its big buddy.

For our third and final story, it's Red Lobster. Red Lobster just ran its famous, endless shrimp deal, but they made one big mistake. Red Lobster lost $11 million this summer because you ate so much shrimp. It was a huge mistake. We didn't have to finish the sentence. Yeti's Red Lobster. It is the Outback Steakhouse of the Seven Seas. It's the Olive Garden of the Atlantic.

It's the Chick-fil-A of the shellfish. Jack. They have 700 locations and bring in $3 billion a year in seafood sales. That's right, yet he's red lobster. It's bigger than the lift. Now the red lobster used to be a sister company to the Olive Garden. Oh, very nice to know, Jack. But it was taken private in 2014. For the last 18 years, the top order on the red lobster menu. What has it been, Jack? On Mondays, you could get the ultimate endless shrimp deal. You don't even have to peel them. But Jack, can we talk about the insane numbers we discovered about Red Lobster and Shrimp. Well, thanks to their never-ending shrimp bowl, 3% of all the shrimp eaten in America is eaten at Red Lobster. Sit down, stand up, and bite the

tail again. Yet these 3% of all the shrimp in America are being consumed at the table next to Ursula at Red Lobster. But then in July, Red Lobster made a bold promotional move. Yeah, they did. They came up with something called the ultimate endless shrimp deal. They expanded their Endless Shrimp deal from Monday to all days. And then in their press release, they said this deal is here to stay all day, every day, forever. We're like, are you kidding me? I'm kidding about the forever.

They didn't say forever. They didn't say forever, but they may have because Yeties, everyday endless shrimp has become so popular at Red Lobster, it's become an existential financial problem. They have a shrimpstrophy on their hands. Okay, Jack, let's first talk about the good numbers here. How about we do that, Jack? Traffic to Red Lobster jumped 4% as a result of this ultimate endless shrimp every day. Because you came for the shrimp and you stayed for the shrimp.

And that was part of the plan. They wanted more people to come to Red Lobster because of this deal. But yet, here's the problem. The existing diners wanted never-ending shrimp too, and that was not part of the plan. According to management, a much higher proportion of diners. ordered the endless shrimp deal than management expected. Much higher. It appears the chief marketing officer was not talking with the chief financial officer when they pulled off this deal, Jack. Yeah. And when too many people take advantage of an endless shrimp deal, that's not good for profits.

Get this, Yeties. We just found out that the new endless shrimp deal at Red Lobster cost the company an $11 million loss. Red Lobster lost $11 million in three months this summer just because of the endless shrimp deal. It's like apparently the endless shrimp should have ended. It was a problem that they did not end. Red Lobster even told their servers to hand out extra biscuits at the beginning of the meal to try to fill up your buddies with those cheap carbs. They wanted you to carboload so you wouldn't eat as many shrimp. But you were like, no, no, no, no, no.

I came for the protein. I'm going to get my protein. Boys, boys, ignore the bread. Ignore the bread. Wait for the shrimp. And that's not even the wildest part. Jack, we've got to tell the Yeties about the twist that just happened. Nick and I discovered that Red Lobster

made the same mistake 20 years ago. That's right. Back in 2003, Red Lobster launched the Unlimited Crab deal. And what happened then, Jack? It was an unlimited crab debacle. They lost $3 million because they mispriced that promo and mispriced our appetite for unlimited crap. And for that reason, last week,

Red Lobster announced they're upping the price of their endless shrimp deal by 25% to 25 bucks. To try to stop the bleeding, they're jacking up the price of this. endless shrimp deal. This is going to bring Bubba Gump out of retirement. Fool me once. Shame on me. Fool me twice. If the Olive Garden taught us anything, it's you go endless on the carbs, not the protein. Correct. If you know, you know. Reds d'ocks are cheap. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies? Welcome to the freebie economy. Yeties, in this economy, the rate of inflation is slowing down, but prices, they're still inflated. And consumers are finally starting to push back on high prices, they're looking for deals. And that's why Jack and I've

noticed a brand new trend. We call it the freebie economy. We're seeing an increase in the number of companies attracting customers with free giveaway promotions. For example, chocolate prices are at an all-time high, so M&Ms just ran a free candy promotion over Halloween. Over at Domino's, they're offering a buy-one get-one free pizza deal over the holidays. And McDonald is now doing free French Fry Fridays nationwide. Now, as we mentioned, you might have to download it. nap to get those freebies from those companies. But it is worth it because if there's one word that resonates with consumers right now, it's value.

And no promo can beat the psychological intrigue of free. That is the freebie economy. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Taylor Swift was Times Person of the Year, but she's also the disruptor of the year. In 2024, we think she's going to IPO T Swift, Inc. For our second story, the benefits of a climate transition outweigh the costs, nine to one. But the uncomfortable theme of the climate conference this year, it's that maybe big oil needs to be big buddy. And our third and final story is the Red Lobster.

Their endless shrimp bowl has been a financial nightmare. It's the freebie economy, but one word of advice for our buddies over a Red Lobster. If you're going to offer never-ending shrimp balls, do the math first. You got to carry the one, not the nine. They need to do a cost-benefit analysis. Yeah, they do. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, our buddy Jamie Diamond returned to his anti-crypto ways. The JP Morgan CEO is now ripping on Bitcoin. Jamie Diamond said before Congress yesterday that if he were the government, he would shut crypto down. Jamie. And second, the NCAA has a big new idea to pay college athletes, a fund that would pay the athletes at least $30,000 a year. But don't call those athletes employees. The NCAA really doesn't want that.

And finally, we just got the most read Wikipedia pages of 2023. Number one was Chat, GPT. Number three was the Cricket World Cup. And also in the top 10 was Oppenheimer. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and me because it's a very particular day. Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. And Jack, your dad,

Big Ted. He was just at Pearl Harbor the other day in Hawaii, right? He just got back from Hawaii, and he brought me a souvenir from Pearl Harbor. Jack, the most meaningful thing when you visit Pearl Harbor is you see these plops of black oil come to the surface of the water when you're looking for the ships that are underwater. Aren't they from that big ship that's still underwater there? They are. We actually could clean up the oil, but we don't. We let these little drops of oil rise to the surface because it's like tears coming from the sunken ships. It's an amazing way to remember what's actually there buried in the water at Pearl Harbor. Pretty cool that Japan is one of our closest allies today.

December 7th, 1941, a day that goes down in infamy. Yetis, you look fantastic today. Jack, you are looking great in that slamming salmon sweater over there, my friend. Likewise, T-Boy Pod Shop is looking sharp right now, Yeties. Yeties, if you want to get your best buddy, Timmy, that perfect gift for the holidays, Jack and I have whipped up the ultimate winter. drop outfit for you. You can find your merch at tboypod.com slash shop. Plus, Jack and I drop a little

surprise into every single box. Order yours, and you'll see it at your front door before the holidays. So head to tiboypod.com, and Jack and I will see you tomorrow. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to Angela and Leonard Wong, who are turning 35 and 39. Two siblings with the same birthday celebrating in California. And a happy 28th birthday to our buddy, Imelan, down in Austin, Texas. Happy 45th birthday to Connie Bissell in Moorhead, Minnesota. And Rai Yash is turning eight years old over in Andover, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. Happy birthday to Arena Kaujito in Nara, Japan.

Oh, and Jack, Austin Chapman in the Marina of San Francisco is celebrating his birthday tonight at Cotonia. You took me there once, right? I did. It was great. You made the gelato cart. The pizza. You guys are going to have a blast. I got the Papperdale.

I can't go wrong with the Papperdale. And congratulations to Nick Alvin. who got a new Pomeranian puppy down in Atlanta. P-U-P-P-Y. If you know, you know. This is Jack, I own stock of Bumble, and Nick and I both own one Bitcoin, whose name is Ben. I've got Colonel's Greg. Can you milk me?