The Best One Yet - 🥤“The Secret Lives of Coke Zero” — America’s oil record. Coke Zero’s Mormon surge. Starbucks’ Sharpie Marker.

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

Starbucks is buying 200k Sharpie Markers to put names on cups... we’re calling it “The Sharpie Doctrine”.America just produced more oil in a month than any time in history… USA is the new OPEC.Soda sales are rising for the 1st time in a decade… It’s thanks to Coke Zero and Mormons.Plus, the 4th episode of our new show drops Tuesday: The untold origin story of The Jeep — The car that saved the world… and united the country. 🚙 Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen. Episodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.$GM $KO $XOM $NWL—-----------------------------------------------------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. Welcome back. It is Monday, November 4th. 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. Jack, looking fantastic over there. Big week. Should we hit the three stories?

For our first story, we got Sharpie. Sharpie sells 200 million permanent markers every year. And they just got in order for 200,000 of them from Starbucks. So we're going to look at the world's first permanent marker. And why Starbucks is obsessed with it. For our second story, America just produced more oil in one month than we have in any other month in our history. The USA is the new OPEC. And our third and final story.

Soda sales. Soda. Soda sales are surging for the first time in a decade. And it's all thanks to Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Mormon moms. That's right. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Hey, Julie, one more round of dirty soda for the kids. Election Day.

is tomorrow. America is anxious, eager, and divided. And that's why Jack and I wanted to talk about an episode we just did that united us. It's an episode about the Jeep. The Jeep, because the Jeep is an American creation that saved the world. Yeties, our latest episode of the best idea yet drops tomorrow and it's on the Jeep. It's on the Jeep because during World War II, the U.S. military asked the U.S. car industry for a favor. Create a vehicle for the allies that can and help us win the war. But here's what we found fascinating. Few know that the Jeep was actually a wild group project.

That's right. To create the Jeep, three rival American car companies came together. They put aside their differences and built something unprecedented, baby. The Jeep wasn't just the first SUV ever, which it was. It's also been ranked the most patriotic brand in America the past 20 years. And probably the next 20 years. And the Jeep surprise story is the fourth episode. episode of our new series, The Best Idea Yet. The best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with.

So Yetis, tomorrow, on Election Day, after you listen to this show, go make sure you voted. But then, after that, if you're looking for a break from political coverage, listen to our new episode on The Jeep. We dropped a link in the episode description. It's the Jeep. A creation of many Americans from competing companies that saved the world literally. It's a wild story. We got three fantastic stories. First, let's hit our three stories. Jack, what's him? 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, Sharpie, the famous black marker, is about to get its biggest order ever. So we dove into the business of the Sharpie marker because it's a work of art. Can we get a little Sharpie sound? Yeties, you may have heard our story last week that Starbucks is switching back to hand-ridden names on their coffee cups. No more computer printed stickers they stick on the side there. Does this say John or Juan? I don't know. Whatever.

Well, that means that Sharpie is about to get an insane order from Starbucks. 200,000 Sharpie markers are about to be ordered by our buddies at Starbucks. All 15,000 Starbucks locations are about to order Sharpie markers from one company. So, yeah, it is Jack and I got curious, and we dove in T-Boy style. Turns out Sharpie was actually the first ever permanent marker. In 1964, they differentiated from pens by giving it a felt tip. And now before the Sharpie, you only had pens with like, ballpoint or fountain tips.

Huge ink risk, Jack. Huge pocket risks right there. That stain's not coming out. But Sharpie was fast dry and fade resistant as a marker. So you could write on any surface. It actually became popular with blue collar and white collar workers alike.

You could make a mark on a piece of wood or you can make a mark on that earnings report. Oh, and a timeless use case for the Sharpie marker? It's autographs. Yeah, markers blew up. The Sharpie blew up because of celebrities. Picture Happy Gilmore signing that fan's chest in Happy Gilmore.

has it that Marlon Brando would walk around with six Sharpies in his pocket. I don't know if you need six. If you sign with a bick, that autograph's going to disappear, man. Yeah, it is Sharpie. It's become synonymous with any premium marker. When you say Sharpie, people think you mean a heavy, expensive pen. Sure, Amazon Basics makes a knockoff version of the Sharpie marker, but you still go with the Sharpie. And Jack, what kind of sales are we talking about when it comes to the Sharpie brand? They sold 200 million markers last year at an average of $2 per marker. Ipso facto Sharpie is doing 400 million bucks a year. It's a half a billion dollar a year marker company.

So we got curious and we jumped in T-boy style. Further T-boy style. Sharpie is actually owned by a publicly traded company called Newell Brands. Which means that Sharpie is part of a product powerhouse. Newell Brands was founded by a man named Newell 120 years ago. Guess what business he started with? He was a curtain rod guy working in upstate New York. No more curtain rods for these guys.

because today, after a dozen acquisitions, Newell owns 60 different household brand names. And the stock is worth a combined $4 billion, making it equal to one lift. Now, this company, Newell, they actually own a bunch of category leading brands. They own Elmer's Glue, they own Sharpie markers, and they own the crock pot. But most of the brands they own are pretty mid. Would you say they're pretty mid, Jack? I would say that. Coleman Cooler.

You're not showing off your Coleman cooler. And on Mr. Coffee, Graco Car Seeds. Now that I think about it, they're all pretty mid. Nothing negative, no judgments here. It's just, you know. Full disclosure, I have four Greco car seats in my two cars, man. Full, full disclosure, the name Mr. Coffee always makes me laugh. Full, full disclosure, I don't know if it's Greco or Greco.

That's just being honest. Yet is Sharpie. It's not the biggest division of Newell by sales, but it is the most profitable division of Newell by sales. Because a premium permanent marker is a Sharpie by definition. It's a profit puppy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Sharpie? What Starbucks is doing, call it the Sharpie doctrine.

Clear, understandable change. Yetis, let's bring things back full circle to Starbucks. Why is Starbucks spending half a million dollars on these markers? Because switching to Sharpie markers is an efficient way for the new CEO to make a big statement. Now, Yetis, switching all the Starbucks locations to Sharpie markers, that is arguably. bad business policy. Markers are inferior to computerized labels, right? Markers require more work from the barista. They're more prone to error. Who knows if you're going to be able to read their handwriting? But the message of switching to Sharpies is actually golden. It symbolizes the kind of change that's coming to

Starbucks with this new CEO. It symbolizes that Starbucks is going back to its old ways. That the Starbucks you used to love, but feel it got lost, is coming back. And going back to Sharpies communicates that in a way that a press release never could. That's why Jack and I call this move the Sharpie Doctrine. And going back to Sharpie Markers, communicates that to baristas and customers in a way a press release never could. And Yetis, that's why Jack and I call this the Sharpie Doctrine. One small product communicates an entire company's priorities. Full disclosure, Jack isn't sure how to pronounce Graco, even though he owns five of their car seats.

For our second story, gas prices are down. So why is Exxon Mobil stock near a record high? The reason is a surprise. It's a shocker. It's that the United States has quietly become the world's largest gas station. Yeties wait until you hear these numbers. But in the meantime, we should tell you that the entire industry, Jack and I exist, in the media industry, it suffers from negative news bias. Here's why. Us consumers who read news, we click on negative headlines more than we click on positive headlines. Exactly. That is why high gas prices always make the news, but low gas prices don't really make the news. Well, right now, gas prices are low. Oh, they're really low. $3.12 a gallon on average. But the reason for low gas prices right now, it's going to shock you. The Department of Energy just announced that the United States has never produced more oil in our entire national history. Drill, baby, drill. In August, last month we have data for, we drilled more than we ever have in these United States.

13 million barrels per day. Yeti, says, sprinkle on some context. That's the most oil America has seen since the dinosaurs roamed the great plains. Did you know that the Tyrannosaurus rex is native to the United States? I didn't, but now I feel like there should be a pro sports team named the T-Rex is Jack. I read about it while there's dinosaur book this morning. I couldn't believe it. The thing used to learn from kids, Jack.

But Yetis, when Jack and I heard this news, we found a good spot, we started digging, we hit pay dirt, and we got two really interesting angles for you, don't we, Jack? Here's the two reasons for America's epic oil production today. Jack and I found two oil terms that we're going to teach you about, and by the end of this episode, you're going to be an honorary Rockefeller. You're going to be drinking somebody's milkshake. Okay, the first oil term you got to know, Yetis, is lateral drilling. Jack, what is lateral drilling? Jack, what is lateral drilling? Exxon Mobil announced on Friday that they just drilled their longest lateral ever. It was three and a half miles long.

Now, yet, here's how this works. In the oil business, first you drill down under the ground and you suck up all the oil that's in that spot. Then, instead of drilling another expensive hole downward, you can actually just go sideways from the existing hole you already drilled. That's lateral drilling. Exxon just went 18,000 feet laterally, which was more cost-effective and helped them reach oil. that they previously couldn't reach. And it's a big reason that even though gas prices are low, ExxonMobil stock is 7% off its record high.

Now, you should also know about a second term called fracking. Fracking is about natural gas, which is another fossil fuel like oil that's just underground waiting to get sucked up from some energy company. Now, frackin is pretty funky because what you do is you shoot a little missile of water, sand, and chemicals into the ground, which opens up those gas pockets deep underground. Now, American production of natural gas was flat from the 1970s all the way through the 2000s. But back in 2010, fracking took off, and it actually gave Pennsylvania an energy industry to rival Texases. So when you hear drill baby drill and we need to drill more, you'd think that our country is short on oil. It feels like we're low on the black stuff, Jack.

But the reality is the opposite. In fact, the reality is our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in America? America has become the world's largest gas station. Yeties, what do we produce and export to the rest of the world from America? It's movies, music, technology, Pop-Tarts, all those good things. And gas. Gas!

In 2019, the United States actually became energy independent thanks to all of our oil booms. And that's allowed us to export our energy leftovers. In a big way. No country exports more natural gas than the United States. States right now. Before the war in Ukraine, we used to say that Russia was Europe's gas station. But, Jack, is that the situation today? The United States has become Europe's gas station. Okay, in fact, right now, German homes are getting heated by American liquefied natural gas, which we shipped overseas in a giant tanker. In fact, this is a wild one, but the United States

produces 50% more oil and gas than the number two country. And who's that, Jack? Saudi Arabia. 50% more than the Saudis. We're like the show Hey, O'Tani of fossil fuels. We got natural gas and oil. We're the T-Rex of fossil fuels, Jack. It might be a big surprise to you, but America is already the world's biggest gas station. Now a quick word from our sponsor.

For our third and final story, in a shocking reversal, millennials are driving soda sales. Why are we drinking Coke Zero? because one group of women in Utah told us to. Besties, honestly, Jack and I never thought we'd see the day, but Jack, we're seeing the day. Millennials want Mountain Dew again. I say again because when I was a kid, I jugged the stuff. I've seen some pictures, Jack.

But besties, when millennials like us had graduated college and we were buying groceries, we were rejecting soda over an aisle 6. In 2015, per capita soda consumption in America hit a 30-year low. We called it the Great Pop Purge. Seripy soda water, it wasn't healthy, you weren't buying the stuff. I mean, there is so much sugar in there. But during the pandemic, you bought soda as a home comfort food to make you feel a little bit better. And even though the pandemic's over, this year, soda sales have continued to surge.

Get this, Yeties. Dr. Pepper's earnings last week, they said soda has outperformed every expectation. Coca-Cola said soda is resilient. I hope soda is resilient. That's your only product. The other day, I caught Jack chugging a food. Fanta underneath our podcast recording desk. Don't deny it, Jack. Don't deny it. Don't you want ta, fanta, fanta. But the wildest part about this is that the soda surge has been caused by one

particular soda, the Coke Zero soda. Sales of Coke Zero rose last quarter by 11% for Coca-Cola. Now, one reason why soda sales are surging. Soda's cheap. Oh, it's cheap, Jack. A two liter of Pepsi costs two bucks. That's cheaper than water. In this economy, that's a good deal. But the other big thing going for soda? It's Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons are having a pop culture moment, pun intended. And that is bringing soda sales back, baby. Can we open up religion 101? Sprinkle on some context. What do we got, man? The Mormon faith prohibits coffee or alcohol consumption. So sugar is an acceptable Mormon vice. And that cultural sweet tooth of Mormons is a topic we've discussed on this podcast. Crumble cookies, the largest cookie chain in America. Its headquarters

are in Utah. Chicago does logistics, Salt Lake City does dessert. And there's this popular Mormon pastime known as Dirty Soda that's been trending on TikTok recently. Dirty soda is when you take a Diet Coke and you mix in syrup, like two pumps, Dahlene, right in the Diet Coke. Two pumps of cream, along with the syrup and the Diet Coke. Well, the timing is perfect because Utah moms have now gone viral on TikTok for exactly this. They're filling up their Stanley Tumblr with Coke Zero Dirty Soda. And on Netflix, a new show called The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is also focused on this. It's all anyone's watching. Mormons on Netflix drinking dirty's Coke talking about their men. So the gospel of sugar-free soda, it is so big that Dr. Pepper even launched their very own

dirty soda. It's like a canned alcoholic cocktail minus the alcohol plus the dirty soda. It's Dr. Pepper and coconut cream, but bottled and sold by Dr. Pepper. So you can follow the trend from Mormon social media into Coca-Cola's earnings. Coke Zero. Its sales are up 11% and Coke Zero got called out six times on that Coke earnings. Because regular original Coke sales are flat, but Coke Zero is up 11%. And that leads us to a takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in marketing?

Sometimes the winner is blatant branding. Yeties, sometimes a product gains success because it literally spares. out what it is. We call this blatant branding. Blatent branding. Like 1,800 flowers. The name of the company is the phone number of the company. And that helps them stand out in a world of distractions. Or Dollar Shave Club, five hour energy. I can't believe it's not butter. It's not butter. And they can't believe it either, just like you. It's the same with Coke Zero sugar. Yeah, actually, Coke Zero was invented in 2005 as Coke Zero, but in 2017, they added the word sugar to make it Coke Zero Sugar. Now, we should point out, it's not clear that artificial sweetener, which is what's in Coke

Zero Sugar, is any healthier than natural sweetener, which is in Coke. But rebranding this product to Coke Zero Sugar led to a sales jump. Coke Zero Sugar stood out in the soft drink aisle. And we think that's a prime example of the rare but successful blatant branding. Can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Starbucks is ordering 200,000 Sharpie markers because they are handwriting names on cups again. We call it the Sharpie Doctrine, when one small change symbolizes a company's entire priorities.

For our second story, it's ExxonMobil. They're winning, even though gas prices are low. The reason? America, it's become the world's largest gas station. And our third and final story, soda sales are rising in America again, because millennials are drinking like the Mormons do. Coke zero sugar. It's belated branding and it's working. But yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, jobs growth stopped in October. Just 12,000 jobs were added due to the worker strike at Boeing and the two hurricanes that hit the southeast. In fact, because of the hurricanes, the government survey was responded to by the fewest number of companies than any monthly survey since 1991. But the unemployment rate actually stayed steady at a super low 4.4.4. It's the lowest unemployment rate heading into a presidential election since 2000. And second, OpenAI has officially launched SearchGPT, a search engine tied to their AI chatbot. It's a direct shot at Google, which brings in $200 billion a year in online search ad revenue. Just like ChatGPT, SearchGPT uses AI to answer your questions.

But it's more likely to provide links to click into, to provide images, and to provide maps, if that's the right. And finally, last week, the Dodgers beat the Yankees to win the World Series, but we heard one of the wildest stats we've ever heard over the weekend. All five of the last five World Series winning baseball teams had a Will Smith on the roster. Okay, Bessie's follow us on this one. But in 2020, the Dodgers catcher was named Will Smith, won a World Series. And then he won again this year. And in between in 2021, 2021, 2022, and 2023, a different Will Smith won the World Series.

First with the Braves, then with the Astros, then with the Rangers. So correlation causation, wherever the baseball trophy goes, a Will Smith goes with it. Because he's in Miami. B&B.N. Ben, Ben, Nitos. On Miami. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by a bunch of Yetis who ran the New York Marathon and are icing up today. I hope they put those tinfoil ponchos on after the race.

I love those things. I want one of those for my five-mile runs, Jack. Yeties, the New York City Marathon, it is the largest marathon. It is the largest marathon in history. Over 50,000 runners. It happened yesterday. It goes through all five boroughs, by the way. It starts on Staten Island and ends in Manhattan.

Speaking of which, it turns out that the Verrazano Bridge, where the race starts, has 1,700 toilets on it at the beginning of the New York Marathon. Because there's 50,000 very hydrated people who want to empty themselves out before they start this 26-mile run. There are more toilets per a square mile at the beginning of the New York Marathon than anywhere on Earth. No way. Way. When you got to go, you better go now because they're starting. That's a lot of potty's. Yeties, you look fantastic today.

Jack, you're glowing. Maybe it's the Fanta. I don't know, man. It's doing wonders for you. I don't know. Who knows? In the meantime, Yeties, one way you can help grow the show, the best way you can help grow the show is to drop down and give us five stars as a rating and review. We love reading your reviews.

Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti's Andy and Denise Cho from Silver Spring, Maryland, who are celebrating two fantastic years together. And happy anniversary to Eric and Mary Kate Prado in Chicago, who are also celebrating a two-year anniversary. And Joy Walker is turning 36 years old down in St. Louis, Missouri, with a fantastic party. Congratulations to Sarah Thornburg and Houston, Texas, who's commuting to that new job as we see.

speak. And Sarah Foxen and dead of Massachusetts, just outside Boston, just finished the New York City Marathon and probably went to bathrooms on the Verrazano Bridge. Congratulations on the epic accomplishment, Sarah. Send us pick of that tinfoil pacho. And yeties, if you want to get a shout out for yourself or a buddy on this pod, just go to t-boypod.com slash shoutouts. Or click the link in the episode description. In the meantime, celebrate the ones. This is Jack, I on stock of Amazon and Netflix. And Nick has a sweet. You know, one more blatant branding. There was a store down the road for me called Just Linens.

That's all they sold. Linens. That was just linens. Can I get it? No. Wool? Don't even come in here with wool questions. You come in here, we're not talking.

We're not talking.