Enter the Rubyverse with: Noah Wunsch

29:22Yeah. And I think one of the big things that people don't understand is that exactly that you send that email to Nighthawk and it's not just the fact that brand looks cool. It's that you want us to be in your establishment and it makes you look good and it will like our brands make sense together and it opens doors like that. And I think that's so much of what a beverage brand specifically, it needs to go to so many different places. So to be able to get to those places and doors open when you have great brand. A hundred percent. Yeah. And yeah, it's interesting when Nighthawk, I haven't been there in a while.

29:59I once a Spring Breakers. That's been a while. It's a long time. Oh my God. I've never seen Spring Breakers. No way. I've started it like probably five times, like first 30, 45 minutes. And I've been like, nah. Five times? five times i think yeah this point you just give up i think i will but like it was it was such a movie of the moment that like you can't watch it aside from when was it like 2013 2014 i think that's when i lived in williamsburg yeah so that's up yeah no but it's a good there was a good place for that movie because it's a fun movie people are you know drinking and it was screaming i mean vice owned williamsburg at that moment it was vice films all right r.i.p all right dead yeah that whole block you know it's funny i saw an article that was about all the the music venues that used to be there before vice came because i lived on kent right glasslands man yeah glassland yeah i used to go there all the time yeah and i forgot about it i just forgot about the pre-vice williamsburg world that i lived right there but they have those guys have elsewhere now i think is that true yeah okay that makes a lot of sense yeah okay see you know so much shit about new york culture i just watch it's because you're not a new yorker alex i don't know how many All right.

31:11And the podcast. This isn't working. Cut all this. It's a wrap. Three, two, one. Well done. Best concert you went to at Glasslands? Oh, God. I have no clue. Really? Yeah. I don't remember. Did you ever go to Glasslands? You're too young. Nah, I moved here. I'm about like four and a half years here. Got it. All right. Yeah. Yeah, no. You'll find out. Yeah. It's funny. I would never go there purposefully. Yeah. I would always just go there because it was so close to my house, and I would just kind of walk in there and listen to music. I didn't go there to see cocks, at least in my mind. Yeah. Or in my memory.

31:45Yeah. My wife met you at a Ruby event at a Halloween store. Is that correct? Yeah, Abracadabra. Yeah. Talk to me about some of the events that you guys do at Ruby because I think you guys are getting a reputation or have a reputation for throwing some pretty good parties. I hope so. Yeah. We've been throwing parties since we started. So we do a lot of film series. Like this summer, we're going to do an outdoor film fest in Williamsburg at Pollen, which is amazing yeah yeah please i mean we're gonna launch it out in i think two or three weeks uh maybe a month you guys are getting the exclusive oh hell yeah breaking news so we'll probably do like little shop of horrors and like labyrinth and just like some some great cut cult classics uh but yeah like for our launch of sparkling we took over the magic shop abracadabra which is on 21st street flat iron just super random weird place we did a magic show with these amazing magicians.

32:37And we did this pop-up shop because on our website, we have this thing called the Intergalactic Rubyverse Library, aka IRL. Alex, if you couldn't tell already, I like acronyms. I was going to say, this is the third thing that you mentioned today that has, yeah, a return on investment. Yeah. Well, read our ingredients. ROI, baby. Oh, man. Wow. You love a flipped one too. I love words. Like I seriously, I freaking love words. Oh, you love words? Name everyone. Let's get some tea, guys. Let's get some tea. It's not a big deal. I'm at a prescient moment. Yeah. So we did a pop-up for the IRL, though, which was amazing.

33:14Like, just great vintage and weird art. Yeah. Ooh, nice. Yeah. And that's just, you're just having fun. Yeah. I mean, like, a lot of, you know this very well, Alex. Like, beverage is hell. Like, it's really, really hard. Put it on a shirt. Yeah. It's like, it's literally just the hardest thing I've ever done. Yeah. And I was talking to, honestly, like, we work with this amazing PR team today, hey, I sat and we're pretty new at them. And I was like, I know it seems like we're insane because we're just doing all this shit. And like, if you look at it in a vacuum, it's like, what is, this doesn't make any sense.

33:47But if you can see all of the things we've done together, there's cohesion in the randomness of it. But it's also like, I just want to have some fun because so much of it is not fun. So yeah. No, that makes a lot of sense. And like, people remember that stuff. I mean, I think so many people have influencer events or parties or things in the city for a million fucking brands. But like if you do it at a magic shop. Yeah. And it was open to everyone. And unexpected plays. Yeah. And it's open to everyone. And it's different. And you said there was magicians there? Yeah, of course there were, man. Oh.

34:20There was also a fortune teller who was like going deep. She was like. Really? She did like an hour. I think your wife did take one. Wow. That sounds like her. Yeah. She said he was going to marry a New Yorker though. Yeah. Which was. Oh, that's his wife, man. Oh, God. God damn it. Cut all the things about my wife. So that's the Ruby section here, Noah. Moving on. Outside of hibiscus water. And the hibiscus flower has wilted. Yeah. What do you do for fun outside of work? I read a lot of books. I hang out with my wife. I hang out with a lot of friends. I'm an extrovert in the sense that it gives me energy being with other people.

35:00I'm an introvert in the sense that like I have to recharge very intensely after my binge of extroversion. But yeah, seeing people playing backgammon, shooting pool, like those are the things that mellow me out. Where do you shoot pool at? Anywhere there's a pool table. Yeah. Do you have a go-to spot? I mean like the go-to spot is gone now. There were two of them. One of them was Rose Bar, Gramercy Park Hotel, and the other one was Soho Billiards, which is now a CVS. damn which is a bummer that's a real bummer yeah um i gotta go yeah oh yeah yeah where we where are we moving to when we get out of the city you think an upstate that's never gonna happen no no the whole family's here man oh the whole family yeah yeah yeah yeah brothers in brooklyn heights my mom and dad are still right off washington square now on ninth and university yeah there's like yeah every time i try to get out they just drag me back in well what about Did you hear that New York is sinking?

35:56Are you worried about that? Yeah, so is Venice, man. If Venice isn't in the water yet, I'm not worried about New York. Yeah, New York is sinking, and it's because of all the empty skyscrapers from work from home. Jesus. That's the headline I read. Hopefully, they'll turn to parks, man. If we can get some parks, I'm down. Tear those motherfuckers down. Favorite restaurants. My favorite restaurant right now is Raff's, which just opened a couple weeks ago. um same people that run musket room and it's a great room like good volume good good folks like good people not too big but the food is crazy okay volume is an underrated part of restaurant 110 the restaurant i went to last night that will not be named because of their 12 fake uh negroni drink that they sold me on i couldn't eat inside it was too loud yeah does that make me 100 years old i think it does but i genuinely was like the music is just too loud in here yeah and i we sat outside yeah it was a beautiful night so reality reality is not tight when music's not right no the music i was at a chicken restaurant a year ago and they were playing fucking sandstorm on 11 that's not right we were just like it was like forcing us to eat fast and it was just frantic and what kind of special chicken joint was this yeah i would not uh people love it it's called the fly yeah oh the fly is good yeah i i've never heard them play sandstorm though i think it's i think it's overrated if you want good chicken go to lula bird in crown heights all right i haven't hit lula bird all right that's on the list best chicken of all time i like the fly yeah no shade but the best chicken for me is um don ceviche okay which is peruvian chicken in the essex street market okay yeah i'm gonna hit that yeah some of that pio pio sauce oh yeah Peruvian green sauce.

37:39It's so good. Can I tell you off mic? Is this off mic? This is off mic. This is on mic. This feels very much on mic. One of my brands I want to launch is a Peruvian green sauce. You should. Yeah. I don't know why it's not bottled and something I can get at the store. It's literally center design studio in a Peruvian green sauce. I decided to go with center, but I'm rethinking that. Is the issue though? Is the issue shelf stability? Yeah. It probably is. It is. because it's mostly mayo but like they're shelf stable mayo don't tell me it's mayo in my mind it's like very fresh ingredients it's like chopped jalapeno cilantro i cracked the code last summer i made it and i made it pure mayo alex tasted i made it like i got damn pretty damn close pretty close is it just is it mayo with like green dye no no it's like it's it's i use like a majority yogurt yeah with some mayo and then it's like cilantro jalapeno like lime juice some other seasonings like maybe some salt pepper and then you know if you want it to be really good you throw some msg in there yeah obviously yeah yeah i've never been to the fly but i have been to hearts and i really like oh hearts hearts rules i've been to hearts either yeah you gotta learn all the spots yeah welcome to brooklyn yeah all the brooklyn spots i've heard about it uh uh you're a sweet tooth guy is that true or is that yeah so where do you go to get desserts around here?

38:59I mean, the main one is Cafe Pana. Okay. And I had like a real problem and addiction with Cafe Pana. We did a collaboration with them last summer. And the woman who runs at Hallie is like a G. She's just so rad. What's your go-to? This is why they're genius. They change flavors every single day, every day. So when I was addicted, I was getting three pints a day, man. And I'm serious. I was. I was like, I got to know what the flavor is today, man. What happened was my wife went out of town and I woke up one morning and I was like, I'm going to have some cafe panna for breakfast. And then after lunch, I was like, I think it's time for a little tum-tum cafe panna action.

39:40And then I was like, I'm not eating for the rest of the day. And then I had dinner and I was like, well, I've already done it. I think I'm going to have a little more panna. And I woke up in the middle of the night with lactose. just like my stuff. I've never been in so much pain and it's not your fault, Cafe Pana. It's my fault. But I was sick for about 72 hours because of my addiction. Damn. Yeah. Damn, you wake up and you're like, I need Panas. Oh my God, it's not even open yet. I almost don't recommend it because it becomes a problem. This podcast is great because now I'm just, I'm taking notes and I'm learning things and I'm just - I'm going to be starring in some stuff when I'm editing this podcast.

40:19Yeah, Cafe Pana. Putting it in my Google Maps. I bet you got a pretty popping Maps, right? I got a good Maps. Yeah, I bet you do. Yeah. Do you share, do you collect any of the stuff like in one place, obviously with the Ruby dispatches? Or is there like a sort of library or archive of that kind of stuff? I mean, so what I use is the application pocket. Wow. And I save things to my pocket. But I delete them as soon as I put them in the dispatch. So I guess, I mean, the dispatch might just be the library. You have to go through all 100 plus to see all this stuff. Yeah, that's good. You got to pay extra for the direct-to-face recommendations.

40:56Yeah. Or just listen to our podcast. I think it's very bold of you to have an email newsletter that actually gives people shit that they want. It's brave. Glad to say it. The first person to ever write an interesting email. First brand to send an email that I actually read. Do you think you might be one of the best emailers of all time? Thank you. It sounds like it. Yeah. It's me and Chappie Johnson. Chappie Johnson. Me and Chappie Johnson. That's a Curb Your Enthusiasm reference. Fuck. I don't get it. Damn. Sorry. We love Curb. Oh, God. Chappie Johnson. Yeah. No, honestly, I get your emails and I read them.

41:35I'm glad. Oh, shit. I'm going to learn something. That's what they're there for. I want to get up on something. Yeah. Yeah. What are you listening to? What's the last track that turned you on? Oh, God. What is the last track? Hmm.

41:49I, I, I, I like the dare. I'm into the dare. I'm, I'm a really cool dime square kid. You know, that's me. I love that young 22 year old. Good. Uh, listening to the dare. Love it. Yeah. Love it. I will say I probably am the last person, the latest person to the dare, but there was a New times thing and i was like it was a gq yeah yeah yeah and i was like okay i've heard this name like four times pretty cool you're hooked yeah i mean i liked it that was the last track i heard and i was like okay i get what the hype is yeah yeah what about you kevin um i mean new album i'm listening to danny brown jpeg mafia scaring the hose but uh this season is uh you know sun started coming out i'm gonna roy ayers mood okay i dig it everyone loves the sunshine it's my one of my favorite songs of all time.

42:41Right on. JPEG Mafia has some of the best swag. Great concert swag. Oh yeah. That was a rip on PlayStation. It's really good. Yeah, he rules. By the way, another great tag is the PlayStation one, the opening. PlayStation 2. Sometimes I just sit there and watch an old PlayStation 2 intro. Strong. Brings me back. I can't get on your level, guys. Really? Were you an Xbox guy? Yeah, no, I was more of a Sega guy. I don't know. Just kidding. I don't know. I was really hoping you'd be like, no, I was more of a getting laid guy. Guys. Yeah, dude. Pros. Oh, sorry. I had PlayStation 2 when I was in second grade.

43:22I wasn't getting laid then. Sega was great too, man. Sorry, I was playing lacrosse and fucking getting chicks, man. This podcast is taking an interesting turn. This is how people get canceled anyway. This is exactly how it is. Cut that part from the record. I'll put some peeps over there. Let's bring it back to some highbrow shit. You still collect art, Noah? Yeah. My belief in collecting is different from most. I believe if you just buy things, you're a collector. If you take seriously what you're buying, I think a lot of people get it muddled up that art collector means that you got an Andy Warhol on your wall.

43:57I certainly do not have an Andy Warhol on my wall. But I like things that I like. And I like learning about things that I don't know about that I end up liking. And that makes me a collector in my mind. That's like the most art guy thing to say ever. That's awesome. Yeah, that is some real art guy shit to say. That's inspiring. I don't like things to like things. I like things because I like things. Yeah. That's, yeah. Do you collect anything else? I mean, furniture is like my main, yeah. And books. Yeah. Books and furniture are like my main extravagance in life. Yeah. I like a collector. I think it's a good trope to be.

44:30A hundred percent, man. Yeah. It means you're passionate. Yeah. Yeah. I'm somewhat of a collector myself. What do you collect? Hats. Hats? Yeah. Yeah, you got the Gravedigger hat, man. Vintage hat guy. Strong. And vintage Johns. Vintage Johns? Okay. T-shirts. J-A-W-N-S. Yeah, other stuff. The kids these days, Alex. I know, I know, I know. With Johns. Oh, come on. You know what a John is. No. Doesn't Johns come from Canada? It's a Philly thing. It's Philly? That's what it is. It was either Philly or Canada. They're both in the same place in my mind. Yeah. Outside of New York. Yeah. North. Alex Delaney, known Philadelphian.

45:05Yeah. He's going to listen to this. I'm going to send this to him. He's going to listen. Honestly, I'm a fan. I'm a big fan. No. He is actually... He has put me on to more things in the last three years than almost anyone else. He's a sweet guy. Swags 100. Yeah. Great taste in everything. Great taste, good shit, and really, really helpful with the information. Who's the most famous person on your phone? I'm not playing that game. No? I'm not playing. My wife, again, she works at a fashion company called Tom Brown, and she runs VIP for them. Yeah, flexible. So, like, mine doesn't even come close.

45:43But you know what? Off record, I'll tell you guys a story about something that happened recently. Great. It's going to be off record, though. What about on record? On record, I'm trying to – Alex Delaney. 100 % it's Alex Delaney. Who's the most famous person to drink ruby? Alex Delaney? Alex Delaney. ad man yeah sound radio podcast he's he's racking it up right yeah yeah he's having a great free promo yeah it's one of those things where like you find out in the back end like you're looking in direct consumer who's ordering it and like a name pops up and you're like oh shit like is that who i think it is it is um call him out no no because again it's it's a private thing you know that's like it's not like they they didn't post it up yeah you don't want to break that yeah that trust it must feel pretty good to have like a low calorie drink on the market right now that actually fucking tastes good yeah because a lot of you know just this is kevin speaking right a lot of the stuff i'm drinking that's new doesn't necessarily taste good yeah so yeah congratulations thank you i appreciate this is one of the this is like ruby is the top beverage in my mind tell taste-wise, calorie-wise, function-wise.

46:54So much better than any of the beverages out there. A lot of them. So much better than all of them. It's pretty good. It's the best. There's a couple of beverages that we've worked on that I particularly like, but yours tastes very good. I was shook. I appreciate you. But the truth is, Kevin is right. There are a lot of new, trendy, functional, hip beverages, and you try them once and you will not try them again yes and i think that is because the people most people are not prioritizing the product but i did i have a grocery buyer say that to my face though about ruby really yeah yeah i got ripped yeah it was painful what he's saying but i'm not gonna go no no no he tried he literally like on we it was a zoom and we were on camera and he takes a sip of each of them and there there's a whole backstory and there's a reason that this person ripped me understandably so um having known the pretext but he was like having tried these i would never drink these again never i maybe our consumers would but i i don't see the value sounds like a man without taste i i i that that was one where i had to like go into the park and kind of like sad keanu it a bit just like eat a sandwich and be like what am i doing with my life And then what happened there?

48:15Did you make any adjustments or do you? I made some adjustments based on his recommendations. It was actually some can design stuff that he recommended and we updated it based on that. But we're still not in that store. I don't know that we ever will be, which is a bummer. But those are the punches, you know? Yeah. Well, I think it's great. And I tell you this, the first time I tried it was the original product. And that to me was a bit too tart for me as someone who likes a sweet, sweet beverage. But the sparkling can, the berry cherry is the one I'm drinking right now. And this one, this one is delicious.

48:52Thank you, man. I'm excited for you to try the Fuji apple. Yeah, I'm going to go there next. I think it's getting cool. Before we get out of here, we're going to talk about some of the things that are going on in the world of design and branding, some of the fun stuff that we like to cover on the show. Obviously, you are a man of the people and the culture. so we just want to get your hot takes on these hot issues. There's a coffee bar that opened up in Greenpoint where it has robots serving coffee. Just want to give the people an update. We've been talking about it for a couple weeks. They're no longer open.

49:25Oh, shocked. They had a tough first day. They opened last weekend. They opened last week. The robots, both named Adam, there's two of them. I think there's only, I only saw one. There's one robot named Adam and it had a tough first day, kind of fritzed out and kept saying just like you know why would you name it adam i mean like it's a little on the nose for me and it's also a little too dystopian for me that like yeah bot bar bot bar bot bar 666 manhattan avenue yep it's a robot barista it's seriously 666 manhattan avenue that's true i was there this morning was this like someone punking us though was this like an art stunt or something like nope they raised 8.3 million dollars to open a line of automated cafes I want you to call out every investor right now.

50:07I want you to be like XYZ Ventures. And I don't mean AB in Bef on that one. You can't say anything Ventures without it actually being a venture now, can you? A lot of Ventures out there. Yeah, man. Artly, a two-year-old startup to just raise. Okay, so it's dead. What do you think about automation? Are we going to start getting rid of these people and start replacing them with robots? Yeah, 100%. I'm not for it. I'm pro-human for the most part. Wow. Wow. What a controversial take to have. Every now and then, guys. So bold. So bold. You said it perfectly. I'm a man of the people. So brave of you.

50:41This guy. What if that robot could do some shelving at Whole Foods? Are you open to that? I would love that. Absolutely. You know what? Screw those people. What was I talking about? Yeah, yeah. They will. They will do the merchandising soon. All right. They will do. Yeah. To be honest, they could take that job. Yeah. Maybe. Look, this is the – You remember when CVS had the first self-checkout? Yes. And you remember like you'd walk in and there would be a person who's supposed to help you and they wouldn't. And you'd kind of be like, you guys understand what's happening here, right? Like this is here to replace you.

51:16And that's a really like, that's a very scary realization when you see the actuality of it. Like that, that was one of those moments where I was like, this is getting dark. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's getting dark out there. Yeah. I agree. They could, the robots could do, they will do everything better than us, period. 100 % right now they just want to be like copywriters and like photographers yeah stop coming for my jobs yeah stop coming for the creative fucking jobs when they get out of their lane though when they make a Drake song and a weekend song yeah yeah music art creativity why can't they fucking do some productive stuff that we don't want to do they've been doing that for years Alex it's just you're only personalizing it now because they're coming after you you bring up a good point I may be now noticing this only because it's entered my sphere of territory great documentary on Netflix.

52:03I think it's called The Factory. And it's about automation in mainland China and the US. And it's about mainland China corporation buying a plant in Detroit and the two cultures and the friction. And spoiler alert, if you are going to watch it, don't listen for the next 10 seconds. The end is that they're just like, screw the fact that we can't get these cultures together let's just bring in robots and that's like that's the end it's so dark that is really dark anyway spoiler over yeah yeah yeah i'll have to see it once i'm done with this uh hill song documentary i'm watching man how is it really good okay yeah i'll put it on the list hulu uh definitely worth a watch i got carl lentz to be on it wow disheveled uh sort of uh a shell of his former self he just he has he's one of those people who has to be in the spotlight yeah Yeah.

52:54I mean, I give him some credit because he took part in the documentary, even though he couldn't control his narrative. Yeah. And they are pretty hard on him. Yeah. And yet he is in the doc in an effort to tell his side of the story. And I do think it actually works out favorable for him. He obviously was a part of something that he helped build that was problematic and doing a lot of bad things. Yeah. But it wasn't all his fault. Yeah. He was a part of a machine that was... Religion? Religion. Got it. Understood. Understood. You saw my pause there. I was like, how hard do I want to go after religion?

53:32But yeah, no, good documentary. Definitely something I'm watching. Question for you. Real New Yorker. Spend a lot of time in New York. Going around, hitting all the streets, all the subways, all the Whole Foods. All of them. How are we feeling about the Zaza-fication of New York? And by that, I mean... I know exactly what you mean. What is your take on this movement? I want to know what the mafia is. I want to know what the front is. Because there are too many of them. There are a lot of them. There are a lot of them. So I want to know what the organized infrastructure behind all of them are. That's my interest.

54:12Yeah, very, very interested to know. I'm excited for that Hulu documentary. It's interesting because you're right. But there are just so many of them so quickly. Yeah. And they all have a very similar feel, sort of like bodegas, right? Where bodegas are on every corner, but they have a very similar brand. Yeah. And I don't know a lot about bodegas, but I assume you do. A good amount at this point. There's big bodega. Oh, yeah. Right? That is controlling all of them. Absolutely. Just like any industry, there are the people who run the stuff behind the scenes and pull the strings. I have to think of the Zaza-ification of New York City there are some strings big Zaza the big Zaza so one of the reasons why I bring it up is we've been covering Zaza here on the program our favorite one is Zaza R Us which is on the Lower East Side now it's in Williamsburg there's another one on the Lower East Side that's another Zaza store right over the Williamsburg Bridge but yeah Zaza's become the brand for weed because i guess they i don't know why totally but it does feel like it's to your point it's like something that ties them all together in a way um zaza russ is particularly funny toys russ uh got wind of this and this week they have uh they've uh they've sued the cannabis shop yeah and uh for brand dilution how do we feel about this i mean hey look my feeling before you said brand dilution was like yeah it makes sense but then i was like bankrupt company yeah they even exist anymore could you dilute them any further my brother in Christ you diluted yourself I saw the sign of it like I saw Zaza R Us and the flip door and everything and I was like listen Toys R Us isn't wrong but brand dilution trademark infringement maybe a company called True Kids now owns the trademark so I guess when they went bankrupt it's a dark name too by the way Jesus Jesus, yeah.

56:16Hillsong affiliation? They issued a lawsuit and have a quote. In an effort to confuse the average customer, defendants are imitating the famous and distinct Toys R Us bubble typeface, which each letter appearing in a different color and with a reverse R letter on its signage for at least one of its infringing stores, the lawsuit states. They sent a cease and desist. Desist. Desist. You got this. Ceased and desist. Demanding it stops using the Toys R Us mark. they claim that the Zaza or us is tarnishing the kid-friendly image of Toys R Us with its smoking and drug-related products. Let them cook.

56:53Let them just be true kids. Yeah. Not those fake kids. Yeah. They've got to be true kids. Do you think they're going to take it down? I think this is an interesting – that's what I want to see. How long are they going to – I think they're probably psyched that this actually made national media. Absolutely. I'm sure they did this literally with like, hopefully Toys R Us makes a big stink about this. like makes total i i think that toys r us has completely played their game they played into their hand i do think it's funny how cannabis culture so liberally uses other people's trademarks yeah and ip like if you walk into any of these stores they're using snickers they're using fucking simpsons their ip is is it's a lawless land i love a part there's any mentality though of like weed culture being parody like do you think that there's any mentality of these people being like clearly it's parody so yeah i feel like parody law i'm not a lawyer by any means but i feel like i've heard that parody law allows you to get away with a good amount yeah in this case though like if you're selling a weed candy bar and it's called like dickers like it's you're gonna be in trouble i guess maybe not but maybe not they seem to just kind of do whatever the fuck they want yeah i respect it yeah me too i kind of think it's crazy i do understand if i'm Toys R Us and I see a weed store that says Zaza or Ross where maybe I do think they're using slash diluting my trademark and tarnishing the kid friendly image of our brand.

58:23But I'll be interested to see this and see where it goes. I think Toys R Us are going to trace the cord back to the wall and they're not going to like what they find. They're going to retreat. It's connected to an electric chair? Oh my god! Yeah, yeah. It's plugged into a fan that's just like in a corner. It's going to be Big Zaza. Yeah, Big Zaza. You don't fuck with Big Zaza. By the way, I wouldn't. I would not mess with Big Zaza. I want to be in bed with Big Zaza. Yeah. Big Zaza, I don't want to be in bed with you though. I wish they did. That's a visual that I'm going to struggle to get in my head.

58:55I think too many Zaza stories though. I agree. I think one on every half block seemed like enough, but it seems that we need to have three on every block. But I had this conversation with a friend recently. We were passing by a Zaza store. And this lovely looking couple walked out of the Zaza store with their little Pomeranian dog. And I was like, well, shit. You know, Zaza got the hold. I was like, oh, shit. It's mass. It's here. It's here. I know. Listen, that part I think is good. The fact that people are smoking on the streets. I am in favor of it. I'm not saying it's bad. I just don't know how many of these stores do we need.

59:38Well, the best one is the main event in the East Village. Okay. And it's not a Zaza store in the typical sense. It's an art gallery that also sells weed. And the idea is like if you buy a postcard, the postcard is 60 bucks and you get a nug with it. So you're not actually buying the weed. You're buying something and it happens to come with it. Yeah, it's a little gift. Yeah, but it's like great vintage. and the guy who runs it is his character, Jay Bolger, who used to be a male model and professional boxer. And he's like an all-around man about town on the East Village. He's like one of the mayors of the East Village.

1:00:11Okay. He's a good dude. How long has he been selling these postcards for? I think like probably over a year now. Okay. Yeah. I wonder how much - Since it's been legal. Since it's been legal. Yeah. And no earlier. I wonder how much of the weed is real. That's always my kind of question. Well, all of Jay's weed is real. Go to the main event, kids. If you want that good, sticky, icky, you go to the main event. I will be there. I wouldn't trust that shit. That's what I'm saying. I think it's, you know, I don't know. There's something about it I feel, I question it. It feels like Washington Square Park.

1:00:41Like it's oregano. I had somebody's vape recently and I was like, oh, where'd you get this? And I was like, oh, at the Zaza store. And I was like, fuck, I'm going to die. Was it salvia? Did you just start twitching on the ground? No, no. I mean, I got high and, you know, thankfully nothing else happened. But I was a little concerned for a second. Yeah, understandably so. Yeah. I don't know if I trust them. I only trust the random people that come to my apartment with the big backpacks. Yeah, me too. Those people, those are trustworthy individuals. They're nice, man. Yeah. They just want to hang out.

1:01:08Yeah, yeah, yeah. They give you samples. Yeah, yeah. Zaza don't give you samples, by the way. Punch cards. Yep. You know, they don't do that at the Zaza stores. No. And I don't like their attitude. I get that. I'm going to say that, too. I get that. I just think it's not a fun and friendly place. It's not welcoming. It's not welcoming. It's not Toys R Us. No. No. Not Toys R Us. No. And that's why they need to stop using the trademark. Called me old fashioned, but I still bike to my guy's house. Whoa. Wow. You go to him? You go to him. I go to him and we hang out for a little bit. Sometimes we'll smoke a blunt and he'll tell me a crazy fucking story.

1:01:40Wow. You're a proper gentleman. Yeah. You know? I'm out and about. I'm on these streets. I love that. I love moving. You go to him. I go to him. I've never heard that. I've only seen that in movies. Yeah. Seth Rogen goes to his weeds. The most I will go to him was when I was like 15 and like the Toyota Camry pulled up on the corner. Yeah. And I'd have to get in and they'd be like. Same. Yeah. I'd be like, I might die, but it's worth it. Yeah. Yeah. I need these drugs. Yeah. Well, we have a report. His name was always Nickel. Yeah. He's told me some fucking insane stories that I cannot share. You go to him.

1:02:11Yeah. It's crazy. This is fucking insane. That's a business model. That's a business model. I mean, this says everything about Kevin though. Yeah. Stand up individual. Good guy. He'll go to you. Yeah. I'm just picturing it's like it's got to be an apple store. It's like a lighthouse brand. Do you have to go to this weed dealer? No, it's a pretty dingy apartment. I was going to say, I picture him going to someone's house, sitting on his couch. I do too, but I'm also just like Beblum Good maybe. I don't know. Let's watch a movie, Kevin. I mean, we watch YouTube. So are you Seth Rogen in Pineapple Express?

1:02:44Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what I picture. Yes. Okay. Yeah. All right. Does he hook you up or are you guys like - Sometimes, yeah. I mean, right before the pandemic, he owed me like$10 and change. And he was like, just take this. You lent him money. No, no, no. This is crazy. No, we had a transaction. And he was like, I don't have the change, but you want this thousand milligram brownie. I was like, yeah, sure. A thousand milligram brownie? Yeah, it was crazy. What happened? So basically, I would cut a sliver off at night when I was trying to unwind. And half the time, I'd have a really good time.

1:03:18And then half the time, I would like, you know. have a mental breakdown and think everyone hated me. Understood. Still finish brownie. Yeah. Wow. Mind's blown. Noah and I are now the co-host of the podcast where we just interviewed Kevin. Honestly, I need to know so much more about the day-to-day of your life. Yeah. Do you eat cereal with water? No, I don't eat cereal. Okay. All right. That's a fine answer. Yeah. Wait, what do you eat for breakfast? I don't usually eat breakfast. Yeah, but it's your go-to. I mean, if I go to, it's like eggs, toast. All right. I fucking love eggs. Yeah. You go to him.

1:03:54Yeah, I go to him. You go to him. Yeah, I go to him. Does he go to other people or does everyone come to him? I don't know. I don't ask him about his other kids. Is anyone else at his house? Sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Does he have a family or a wife, kids? Dog? No, he's around my age. Okay. I'm not sure. I don't know. Yeah. We don't talk about that. How far is he from your house? He's not that far. He's probably like a 25-minute bike ride. that 25 minute bike ride i love that for that is so far that's it's probably like that's gonna be half of this podcast yeah yeah then i'll listen to half my podcast yeah yeah and then the other half on the way back i literally like yeah it's one of those things where i'm worried the door is locked yeah i'm not gonna get out now like i'm scared oh my god yeah yeah i'm hungry at night i don't even know if i want to go to the bodega directly under my apartment same thing i'll order go puff i'll go yeah yeah yeah exactly or seamless seamless ice one thing of ice cream i guess i guess i like rolling the dice you're a mensch you are a mensch and uh that is true um kevin your favorite brand liquid death is back that's not sorry kevin your favorite brand that's not ruby is back correct um and it's liquid death and they have a new commercial recycled plastic surgery center it is a youtube did you watch a note i honestly didn't And I know Whitney Cummings is in it, right?

1:05:14Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think you can picture this. It's an infomercial. Whitney Cummings is a spokesperson for a plastic surgery center. They do all the surgery with plastic bottles. Yeah. And you see the plastic through the skin. Got it. Understood. Got it. Reads like an SNL ad, and it's perfectly weird. It's a little bit off and kind of scary, I guess, is maybe the right way to describe it. how would you describe it not scary is probably a little dystopian yeah it's it's it's creepy yeah a little weird and very liquid and then they hit you with the hard facts at the end yes and then they hit him with 1.5 million pounds of plastic 95 percent of them not be recycled yeah so that's like per minute or something right uh every minute yeah 1.5 million plastic wonderful what do you think of liquid death as a brand i i wouldn't bet against them every time I've said that like they've hit their ceiling yeah and like you know their p &l must be a mess like then they then they're like I heard what you said here's our p &l bitch and I'm like oh my god you're making so much money yeah and like there was there was data released this week about how they're crushing it and sparkling now I mean like their new flavors are killing it their water is killing I wouldn't bet against them they continue to find ways to to to reinvent or just make great content.

1:06:37I think that's what I think of them, honestly. Obviously, they're a great water company and they have a great product. They have a great package, but they are tremendous at making content. Their socials are phenomenal. They're just pumping content out there, doing weird collaborations. I think on this podcast, we talk about what brands do each week. So we need things that brands are doing. Yeah, we need things to talk about. Daddy needs his content. And daddy needs content and liquid death like they're pumping out like something once a month i would say yeah a banger too yeah pretty good yeah hit high numbers yeah i think what sets them apart and you know what also your i would categorize you in this same category is like as you should yeah you guys are both like i don't know being true to yourselves and having fun you know let it rip you're you're look on the liquid death side like they have brand coat like there is a brand vision there like again the travis parker enema like the the plastic plastic surgery literally like it all it all lines up yeah people might not like it but like it's it's true to the brand vision and you got to give them that like they're not straying from their their tone of voice or their dls like it's pretty dls uh design language system damn you guys did whoa i gotta go i gotta go to my drug dealers guys that's on me dls uh we use or vis visual identity system.

1:08:03Sick. Viz, baby. Yeah. DLS. I don't know. That's some cornerstone Zaza sort of design acronym. Listen, man, DLS. You got a favorite acronym? Yeah. What's your favorite acronym? Oh, man. I mean, right now it's DLS. DLS. No, I think you're right. They know their brand and they're very good at expressing it. I think that's the truth. And I think, obviously, we have some insider vantage points so I won't talk about it too much but they have such a good grasp on what feels right for them and what doesn't. I think they just like... They've created a pretty big sandbox for themselves. That's what's fun about it.

1:08:46That sandbox has hundreds of millions. It's a very big sandbox. It's making a lot of money. Oh yeah. No, I'm saying in revenue. I'm not talking about how much they're burning. No. There's been a little bit of stuff about i don't read as much about the sort of uh the business side of them i just i just love the the content and what they're putting out is is compelling it's awesome they take swings yeah they take big swings and yeah this feels snl-ish yeah adjacent which yeah that that plays for them they're a comedy brand i think they they like to be funny they like to be a little weird and they like to make people look twice yeah and they do that better than anyone else i agree except for Ruby.

1:09:27Moving on. Taco Bell. So we talked about this story last week on the show. I don't know if you're aware of this. You listen every week right now. Every week. Right after sound radio. You know that Taco Bell has been trying to liberate the phrase Taco Tuesday from a competitive taco place called Taco John's. I knew Taco John's. I did not know Taco John's. How do you know Taco John's? How do you know them? It's a cool chain, man. They've been around forever. Yeah. Taco John's. Taco John's. 400 locations. Yeah. So not a small spot, but not as big as Taco Bell. No. But they created Taco Tuesday. Yeah.

1:10:09And Taco Bell is trying to bully them into giving up their trademark. Taco Bell with help from LeBron James. Yeah. I saw the visual on that. And so last week, I kind of came in defense of Taco John. I was like, this is bullshit. Yeah. Taco Bell, you got your shit. You got fucking huge commercials with Pete Davidson, Liv Moss. You got the fucking cantinas, whatever the fuck you're doing. Yeah, yeah. You don't need Taco John's. Let Taco John's have this. Let Taco John's have Taco Tuesday. Let Taco John's cook. Yeah, let them cook. They invented this shit. And don't try to fucking steal it from them.

1:10:45Yeah. Because you didn't come up with it. It's not yours. Try to come up with some other shit. And so they came out with this petition that they're creating to try to get people to like side with them to sort of allow Taco Bell to use this trademark that this other restaurant did. And I think it's bullshit. And then this week they got LeBron to come and sort of be a spokesperson for Taco Bell because LeBron's been talking about Taco Tuesday for a long time. It's something that he talks about on his personal Instagram. He loves Taco Tuesday. he used to do it I love LeBron of course he loves Taco thank God he just gets better he is the best he really like a fine wine he did he was he did get a little bit in trouble because he would say Taco Tuesday in a sort of problematic tone understood yeah yeah on Instagram and I think people are like hey LeBron maybe cool it with the ayayayayas at the end of the Taco Tuesday that he was saying which rightfully so fair just do not do not do that no comment I refuse to comment on LeBron James.

1:11:50Yes. And so, yeah, I think I wonder if Taco John sent LeBron James a cease and desist. I wonder if he was not allowed to sort of to use that as well. But on May 22nd this week, they announced that LeBron and longtime Taco Tuesday proponent was joining the fight to release the phrase from its legal bind. Here's the thing. you don't fight to release a phrase. It's their fucking trademark. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how are you fighting to release it? It's not like it's captured. Is that like Adidas being like, hey, just do it. It's exactly like Adidas being like, we want to use, just do it. Let's liberate, just do it.

1:12:35It's exactly the same. Taco Bell should just buy Taco John. That's exactly right. If they want it so bad, they should fucking buy it. Buy the whole establishment, we didn't buy the fucking or pay for a licensing deal or something that instead of fucking fighting them in the public opinion under this fucking guise of liberation poor taco john man yeah how many how many locations are there of taco bell 1700 cheesy that seems low it does seem low but is it 17 000 it's four times as many i this was in this was in the stats last week i remember being 1700. I could be wrong. Are you looking it up now?

1:13:13No, I'm texting my wife because she literally just texted me bitch hungry. Okay. Well, we're wrapping up soon. I got the number way wrong. I got the way wrong. Sorry, I'm just... Just downloading the 1600 Taco Bell, Taco John, bitch hungry. Yeah. A lot going on. You got a lot going on, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot to process there. I'll add some more. It's 55 ,000 restaurants. 55 ,000 Taco Bells. Yeah. How did you get 1600? You got 16. Yeah, yeah. That was from last week's memory. Oh. Yeah. So in the last week, just to bully Taco John, they decided to open 54 ,000 restaurants. Yeah. I believe it could be either bad memory or bad stats by Kevin.

1:13:55Got it. Bad stats. It's potentially one of those tips. Let everyone know you just pointed at Kevin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're on YouTube, so they can all see us. Is it a live stream? Yeah. It's live now. That'd be so dope. That would be cool, but I got to edit. Yeah. We should Twitch it. All the things I said that could get me canceled. I have to cut all those things out. Okay. Last quote. Taco Tuesday is a tradition that everyone should be able to celebrate. All restaurants, all families, all business, everybody. That's from LeBron James in a press release. Taco Tuesdays create opportunities that bring people together in many ways.

1:14:25It's a celebration that nobody should own. Everyone knows you can't celebrate Taco Tuesday unless you can monetize it. Yeah. That's where I'm like - Money's got to be coming in my pocket. The thing that keeps coming to mind is that in the movie The Menu, when Ray Fiennes is like, we would have tacos on Tuesday. Yeah. Taco Tuesday. Yeah. And he's allowed to say that. But Taco John's lawsuit incoming. Yeah, I'm a little on Taco John's side here, man. That's where I stand. I mean, it is literally, just like you said, Adidas being like, we should all be able to just do it. We should liberate it. And it's like, no, that's their fucking phrase.

1:15:01That's their trademark. Taco Bell should do Taco Thursday. They should do Taco Thursday. Yeah. Thursday. Thursday. Yeah, yeah. Oh, sorry. Take it back. It's fine. It's totally fine. We're workshopping. Yeah, yeah. We got it. It's going great. It's going great. It's just my DLS. Yeah, yeah. Last story before you get out of here and go to dinner. Cool. Because bitch hungry. Yeah, yeah. And it is another brand that is sort of taking advantage, monetizing. And it is an iceberg that fell off the coast of Canada. And it's got a nickname. It's called Dickie Berg. And that's because it looks like a giant penis.

1:15:44And so a week ago, the world was blessed with this glorious sight of a giant dick-shaped iceberg. Dick and balls. Can't just have one without the other, right? Yeah. And so a company by the name of... True Kids? Kevin. Yeah. Kevin, where's my facts here? I remember we were looking at this morning saying, who is the company that is monetizing it? I dropped the balls on this one, I guess. Low-hanging fruit. I feel like such a dick. Oh, God. It's Diva Toys. Makes sense. By the way, it would be. Yeah. That's not surprising. And so they decided to create a dildo that is in the shape of this iceberg that is proceeds are going to fight climate change.

1:16:34Okay. So this, I think, is a company taking something that maybe they don't have the right to, but using it for a good cause. Yeah, I agree. And I think if you're going to make a dildo that looks like an iceberg, that looks like a penis, go for it. Just help fight climate change. Yeah. Simple as that. By the way. Yeah. Yeah. Go search him on the Indiegogo because that was looking a little bleak when I found this story. I think only one person had purchased it. I will say that as a Jew, Dickie Berg might be the best thing to happen to the Jews in a long time. Yeah. I know. As a fellow Jew, I also thought this is very Jewish.

1:17:13Dickie Berg. Dickie Berg. Sounds like such a nice kid. Sounds like a cousin of mine. Yeah. Sounds like a nice boy. It sounds like someone my dad would say, you remember Dickie Berg? You remember the old Dickie Berg down the street? Long Island especially. Dickie Berg, you remember him. He played soccer. He made it. He made it, that Dickie Berg. Have you heard about Diva Toys, son? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They've raised$82 at a total$69 ,772 goal. Is that true? That's their fixed goal. No, no, but right now, they're not at$82. Right now, they're up to$37 ,000. Right now, as of right this minute of recording, they have one backer that has donated$82.

1:17:58They had one yesterday. That bums me out. In my mind, Dickie Berg deserves a little better than that. Yeah. I agree. I wonder if the Indiegogo is fucked up. I don't know. But this has made news. You guys are aware of this. This is on Ad Age. I was going to say, how did we find this story? This doesn't make any sense that they only have one backer at this point. Let me refresh the page. I want you to refresh that page. Hey, yeah. yeah still still one backer for a 70 000 goal i think dickie berg could service more than one backer i mean we got we got good mock-ups we got a great name yeah we have an environmental story and we got press all around the globe yeah we're looking at global news mirror the guardian this doesn't this is not this doesn't add up yeah yeah but uh maybe there's a new page i don't know The dildo is made with eco-friendly materials because we're not total dicks to the environment.

1:18:53It's good for the planet and good for your most delicate bits. Yeah. Masterly crafted down to the tip of the iceberg. It looks just like the world famous Dickie Berg, only this one won't get flaccid and melt. Wow. Some good copywriting. Oh, this one won't get flaccid and melt is actually really sad. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's sad. But listen, this is a beautiful story. Yeah. Unfortunately, the dollars being donated right now is making us all a little sad. Yeah. Hey, somebody buy it and send it to us. Yes. It's a little flaccid. Get out there and support this movement. How much time is left on it? Because again, this is coming out next week.

1:19:30Let's make sure the Indiegogo won't be - 30 days are left. 30 days. Go buy your Dickie Berg, guys. Yeah. Go out there and get a Dickie Berg. Hell, get two. Yeah. Get one for a friend. They've got a package deal. Yeah. Yeah, go over to your drug dealer's house. I was just thinking of you the other day. And they're like, oh, is that that iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland? No, it's a nice Jewish boy I picked up. His name is Dickie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Little Dickie Berg. But this is a weird story. But maybe this will be in the Rubyverse newsletter. It won't, because we've talked about it now, which means that it's no longer special.

1:20:06Wow. Those are the rules? Those rules are, if I find it from a newsletter and I see it in another newsletter, I will not put it in the dispatch. Dog, this is a podcast. Wow, my, my. I know it's a podcast. What? What? What am I doing here? What are we doing right now? Yeah, those are the rules. Wow, those are some tough self-imposed rules. Oh, it doesn't make it easy, man. I respect your rules. That's sick. I appreciate it. That's pretty sick. I'm not trying to service people with some bullshit content. Yeah. We go deep. Yeah, I know. Like Dickie Berg. If you've seen it before, then it doesn't fly.

1:20:43It doesn't fly. Well, Noah, you've been a mensch and a lunch. Oh. And we're thankful for you. We appreciate your time. Glad to be here. Thanks for coming to the studio. Thanks for kicking in with Kevin and I. And expect a few hundred texts from me asking you about more recommendations in restaurants and things because I really appreciate it. I'm here for it. Thanks for having me, guys. Thanks for coming on. It's a pleasure. Get out there. Try Ruby if you never had it. available wherever Noah is shelving. Look on their website. You can find out where they are. Ruby.fun. Ruby.fun. My domain name is KevinVittori.fun.

1:21:17Hey, there we go, man. Just two fun guys. Let's be buds. Yeah. Yeah, go to your drug dealer's house. Well, I wished you a happy work anniversary today on LinkedIn. Oh, thanks, man. And which work anniversary was it? It said like visitor beer. Oh, visitor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're the best. Shout out to visitor beer. What is that? It's a non-alc beer, and I'm an advisor for them, and they're really great guys. One year. They have a great agency. One year. Congratulations. Hey, yeah. Called DBA. They're based in Chicago. Cut it off, Kevin. We don't want to hear about them. We've talked enough about Alex Delaney and all these other great podcasts.

1:21:51But Noah, when's your podcast coming out? I've thought about it. Yeah. But it's similar to the newsletter where I'm like, you can't just be me doing what you schnooks do. Wow. You know, it's got to be, there's got to be a slant. Yeah. No, you need a slant. I mean, listen, we're the only podcast out here talking about iceberg dildos. I know it. Zaza R. Ross. Yeah. Alex Delaney talking about Dickie Bird. Yeah. Fucking lawsuits. You know, we're the number one. Yeah. Thank you for coming. Thank you for having me.

1:22:32Let's have some fun tonight Let's have some fun tonight Yeah, I might start a fight Cause we're all on the break of suicide Yeah, oh come on, let's turn the lights down Oh come on, let's turn the lights down Oh, come on, let's turn the lights down Yeah, you better see this place when the sun's out Touch me, then say you need me Me, like we were meant to be Girl, I got no money, you got no money We got a good time