SO MUCH SHIT IT’S A BIOHAZARD

6 Sep 2023 · 54 min

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Podcast Summary - Front and Center

SO MUCH SHIT IT’S A BIOHAZARD

Episode Overview In this episode, hosts Alex Center and Kevin Batory celebrate the arrival of Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) season while delving into various pop culture and branding news, including Subway's latest marketing efforts, legal issues surrounding food branding, and the ongoing chatter about the Burning Man festival.

Key Discussions

  1. Pumpkin Spice Latte Season Kickoff
  2. Celebration of PSL: The hosts enthusiastically discuss the 20th anniversary of the PSL, a cultural phenomenon that has taken the nation by storm.
  3. Personal Preferences:
  4. Alex expresses his love for PSLs, admitting to enjoy a few each season.
  5. Kevin confesses he has had very few PSLs in his life.
  1. Personal Experiences
  2. Kevin's Labor Day: He shares his experience at a West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, indulging in Caribbean food and nutcrackers.
  3. Alex's Return to Tennis: Alex discusses his attempt to return to tennis after a long break, humorously recounting the physical toll it took on him.
  1. Burning Man Festival
  2. Recent Controversies: The hosts talk about the recent mud issues at Burning Man due to heavy rain, leading to chaos among attendees and contrasting the event’s ideals with the reality.
  3. Elon Musk and VIPs: Notable individuals like Diplo and Chris Rock reportedly were helicoptered out, raising questions about privilege at the festival.
  1. Subway in the Sky
  2. Innovative Marketing: Subway announces a unique promotion involving a blimp experience where guests can sample new sandwiches.
  3. Sandwich Innovations: The hosts discuss Subway's new sandwiches, including their creative names tied to sports figures.
  1. Legal Issues in Fast Food
  2. Doner Haus Lawsuit: A restaurant named Doner Haus faces a lawsuit from Pornhub over branding similarities.
  3. Burger King Class Action: A class action lawsuit claims Burger King exaggerates the size of its Whopper in advertisements, allowing for a discussion on food styling practices.
  1. Cultural Commentary
  2. Pop Culture Reflections: The hosts reflect on various societal behaviors, including the way people react in the face of marketing strategies and branding.

Key Takeaways

  • Cultural Impact of PSL: The PSL has transcended simple beverage status, becoming a seasonal cultural staple.
  • Branding and Marketing Strategies: Innovative and sometimes outrageous marketing efforts (like Subway's blimp) can create buzz but also raise eyebrows regarding safety and credibility.
  • Consumer Rights: The discussions around lawsuits highlight ongoing consumer concerns about truth in advertising, particularly in fast food.
  • Pop Culture and Personal Experiences: The blend of personal anecdotes with broader cultural discussions creates a relatable podcasting experience.

Conclusion The episode combines humor, personal stories, and insightful commentary on branding and pop culture, making it both entertaining and relevant. As the hosts navigate various topics, they invite listeners to reflect on how these themes intersect with daily life and societal norms. ```

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Transcript

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0:00um but it is funny to see passenger diarrhea all over biohazard i agree two things we do not need this person's name because we don't want that for them because this is an embarrassing situation. Yeah. And to be honest, we don't know what happened. Like, are we going to circle back to the story and program like they had to circle back to Atlanta? Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, this is rough. Is that enough? Do you think we have some shit in there? Yeah, probably covering the whole airplane. It's all over. So much shit, it's a biohazard. Oh, my God. Wow. That's the episode title. Wow. It's rare we hit it right in the beginning.

0:43Yeah, pretty sure.

0:50Three, two, one. Kevin, what's up, buddy? What's up? It's Tuesday. It feels like Monday. Oh, my God. But for you, listener, it's Wednesday. Yeah. It's the biggest Monday of my life. I know. I'm feeling a little sluggish. Yeah. I had several nutcrackers yesterday. There should be a limit on those. Yeah. It got. It got three. It should be the cutoff. Honestly, we got we had two nutcrackers. Yeah. And we split two or whatever. Tell the listeners where you were. I was at a Caribbean parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. It was fucking lit as fuck. I believe it was carnival. West Indian Parade. I believe.

1:32Yeah. That's what it's called. It was incredibly lit. People everywhere. Jerk chicken, oxtail. Oof. Yum. I mean, we ate very good yesterday. Were you aware that this was happening? Were you planning for this? No, we weren't really planning. We knew what was going on. We were just going to like... Originally, we were just going to go and walk around for a little bit, grab some food. But then it was just like such a poppin' event that we decided to stay longer and get more nutcrackers. The West Indian Day Parade is the official title and happens each year. It did look quite festive. Yeah, it was pretty crazy.

2:05um met up with some friends there and then went to went to the went to a nice tiki bar afterwards and i saw eric andre there wow yeah just just enjoying the festivities yeah he was he was lit we're all lit i didn't say anything to him he was busy yeah uh but yeah it sounds like what you did what you're supposed to do on labor day which is not labor yeah you're supposed to enjoy or relax and uh you know sounds like you had that uh in spades kevin yeah i was laboring too much i uh I decided to make my triumphant return to tennis, a sport I haven't played in well over a decade, and picked the hottest day in recent memory, or at least in the last couple of weeks here in New York, and found a great place to play tennis, but not a single piece of shade to be found, just straight sun for two-plus hours, way too hot to be playing tennis like that.

3:00I may have sun poisoning or dehydration. My body's fucked. So, yeah, we're fully juiced today. And my back hurts. My knee hurts. But listen, I was, you know, it's a great sport, a beautiful sport. I've been watching the US Open a little bit. Who are you pulling for? I like Taylor Fritz. Cool. I also like Tiafoe. I like the new young guys, Americans. there's a couple of them coco on the inside uh i'll tell you watching that netflix show i know the full swing oh yeah is that the tennis one or something yeah something like that who cares um look it up some tennis reality show on netflix and now i know a lot about the players and i'm fully invested and i really enjoy it so um my game uh you know it's like riding a bike It comes back to you, but I would say it needs work.

3:57Yeah. You challenged me to a match I saw on Instagram. Yeah. I was pretty deep in Nutcrackers. How's your game, Kevin? Awful. Awful. Okay. I got a baseball swing. Okay. But can you volley? Yeah. I can do whatever. I'm an athlete. Well, I'd like to play. I'm going to need a couple of weeks to recover. But, yeah, no, I'm going to try to stick with this. I think tennis is a fun sport. You don't really need too much, you know, a net. Some balls. Some balls. Racket. Racket. And that's really it. And Jackie was pretty good. So, you know, we were out there. All right. So you're going to be at McCarran Park this year?

4:42You know, I actually passed by the tennis courts at McCarran. I saw there was like a line. Yeah. It gets a little too rowdy for me there. I'm not trying to wait in line in any regard for anything. I'm too old, I think, to wait in lines. What about pickleball? Pickleball, I have never tried. I know it's America's fastest growing sport. Yeah, I'm not against it. I'm sure it's fun. It's fun. It gets a lot of tennis people shit on it. Yeah. For it being lame. I mean, listen. I like it. It's fun. 10 of us are a lot of running, and pickleball looks like less running, so I can kind of get down with that.

5:21But also, part of the reason why I'm playing is because I need to run. But also, pickleball is about as intense as you make it. You could play really athletically and be all over the court. I'd like to try it. I'd like to try it. Kevin, should we do a team pickleball day? Sure. I saw a video online recently. I think it was from one of the professional pickleball leagues. but uh the guy's like trying to hit he's like going to his right on the back line trying to hit a ball and he hits it and then falls into like the glass barrier behind him and it just shatters oh wow so it's good video it's good i'm sure it's even better with me describing it yeah no it sounds sick it sounds really great kevin another thing that i'm going to describe that sounds sick uh burning man oh yeah burning man is the thing that everyone's talking about it is the festival for Silicon Valley and sort of investors it's been co-opted by some fucking yes tech bros it's a giant party in the desert on the playa on the playa I have never gone yeah Kevin assume you've never gone I've only I've been to a regional burn oh yeah that's right you went to a regional burn which is like a local fucking basketball game the Ohio burn Yeah.

6:37So I've always kind of wanted to go, but I've been just a little bit too anxious or scared to be in the middle of the desert with a bunch of people doing drugs. Like, I'm sure I would get into it, but I feel like, I don't know. Yeah. Something bad could happen. And then this is what happened, I guess. It's about as bad as it could get, right? So what happened was rain, I guess. Big storms. And big storms. And so the playa is just dirt and sand. Now it's all mud. And it's now just mud. And I guess it kind of looks way shittier in the mud. Yeah. People are having a difficult time getting around.

7:22Okay. I think there are a lot of abandoned bicycles out there. Yeah. People, they're really breaking the rules. Pack in or leave no trace. They were certainly leaving traces and abandoning their camps and shit. Apparently, all of the Elon Musk level guys were helicoptered out. Oh, so I'm reading this right now. Attendees were asked to not leave because that would mix the mud or that would make it harder for other people. I don't know. And then they said, fuck that. And I guess Diplo and Chris Rock were like, yeah, we're rich. We're like really rich. And we're not going to stay in this. Oh, Chris Rock was there?

8:11Chris Rock was there. Yeah. There needs to be some sort of like next burn. There needs to be another like, I mean, maybe there is. It's probably good that nobody knows about it. But there should be like a more authentic like. Yeah. I don't know. It's been it's kind of out of control at this point. Yeah. Yeah. People are upset, Kevin, to your point about not leaving their stuff behind. People that left their vehicles and personal property angered the attendees who said they were, quote, not showing compassion to their fellow man who have endured the same issues over the past few days as they tried to leave the desert.

8:46As usually happens in what Burns referred to as, quote, the default world, people allow their emotions to override their reasonableness, and they're lashing out at each other as they leave the playa and attempt to make it to their next destination. Gross. I hated that sentence so much. I mean, they're kind of spitting facts, though. The people who are still there are the true burners. They're not there to have a spiritual experience to improve the profit of their company or improve the stakeholdership, shares, or whatever the fuck. I don't know what I'm saying. Yeah. But they're the real deal.

9:27They're there. They're riding it out. They're packing in, packing out. It's a big community, dude. I got another quote. This behavior definitely does not fall within the 10 principles of Burning Man. That's what I was about to say. But that is not the fault of the Burning Man project either. It is a societal issue. Damn right. Oh, man. So I guess this was just a massive shit show. And some people were like, fuck it. I'm out. Yeah. And other people are like, you don't leave your fellow man, you know? Family, family. Yeah. And yikes. Exactly. Now that all the losers left, I'm sure it's probably very, very cool.

10:06I did see a lot of TikTok-ing and video. Yeah. Which I don't recall in the past. Did they get Wi-Fi this year? Did they? I don't know. Yeah. I have no idea. They sell a lot of the... There's a ton of audio equipment that got destroyed. like just a ton of destruction i'm gonna ask a really dumb question has it never rained in this desert before like i think it's pretty rare okay right so i guess it is a desert yeah they're just not used to it and so yeah all hell breaks or maybe it just hasn't rained like i think it really fucking rained got it like tip yeah yeah it looks like woodstock 99 or it looks like fire festival It just looks like a fucking mess.

10:48And I will say that one thing that everyone loves is rich people suffering. Yeah. But they're not probably the rich people aren't even suffering because they're abandoning their shit there. Yeah. I guess so. I would stick it out. I feel like that's I feel like if you go to Burning Man, you're like, something's going to happen. It's going to be crazy. But like, yeah, I'm here for it. Yeah. They lit the effigy last night, I believe. You know so much about Burning Man. It's troubling. It's confusing me because I feel like Burning Man stands for kind of everything that you stand against. But I guess you're right.

11:29Your allegiance is to the origins of the principles, the 10 principles. I very much fuck with it on an ideological level. I think it's an admirable thing they're doing to raise the collective consciousness. But it's just the thing where it's just been co-opted. I don't know. If you add tech pros to anything, it goes downhill so fucking fast. Yeah. So we got poop on a plane, poop in the desert. It's messy. It's a messy shit everywhere situation. um so yeah welcome to the show uh show front and center we talk about things going on in news and culture and branding and design because we're a design studio we both uh we work at a design company we do and we talk about brands brands do crazy things uh we care about design and uh things that are going on in the world of pop culture and so uh guess what kevin what the big story because now it's September.

12:36Welcome to September. First podcast of the month. Yeah, wake me up when September ends, though. It's officially PSL season. Let's go. Which is, if you're not familiar, Pumpkin Spice Latte, PSL for short, is the Starbucks flavor that took the nation by storm. Yeah, 20-year anniversary this year. No way. Yeah. 20 years. That's what they're saying on the dye line.com. Wow, the DineLine.com, the best place to get news, sustainability news, packaging resources, packaging inspiration. Pumpkin Spice Latte. Conferences. And yes, an incredible roundup of Pumpkin Spice season returning. And I think this is only the tip of the iceberg for them.

13:25They usually run. Yeah. I think that in the fall, they usually have a couple PSL updates. Yeah, this feels early. They love tracking it. I know Chloe particularly loves tracking the PSL-ification of things. I mean, it is hilarious. It is a flavor that, again, any brand can really run with. And it does get mocked. But I'm going to go on the record here. I'll look straight to camera. I love a PSL. I like a pumpkin spice latte. I think it's delicious. It's sweet. It tastes like candy. And I'm here for it. Yeah, pumpkin spice. Pumpkin's great. I love pumpkins. Yeah, it's delicious. Pumpkin pie. It's a shame that it's become such a meme.

14:09I'll probably have. Yeah, it's kind of like Burning Man. It's kind of like Burning Man. It was good until, yeah, the people ruined it. We can't have nice things. I'm good for three a season. Three pumpkin spice lattes? Maybe two. Under five, for sure. Under five, yeah. Yeah, there are people that are like, that's my fucking shit. And the day it comes out, and for the whole month, they're going to go crazy for it. That's something. Yeah, maybe three is being too generous. Maybe I'm down for one or two. If you go to Starbucks during this time, which I don't even go to Starbucks much, I'm going to be like, oh, shit, it's PSL season.

14:44Might as well do it. Do you like it, Kev? No. I think I've had less than one PSL my entire life. Really? Yeah. Does that mean you've never had it? I don't know. I can't remember. So 20 years. Shout out to Starbucks. They invented it. They invented pumpkins. They invented pumpkins and the spice. And this is now a flavor that every brand can capitalize on. So shout out to the Dye Line because they have rounded them all up for us. I'm just going to run through them and say, yeah, I'd be down for that. Or nah, I don't know. How's that for a plan, Kevin? Yeah or nah. Yeah or nah. Oh, what's the trick or treat?

15:26Yeah. That was our famous old games issue we play. Death Wish Pumpkin Chai Coffee. sure uh yeah whatever wish is a popular coffee brand i guess at this point um i've never had it have you ever had it i i think maybe once before like it's something you go maybe maybe i've had on like a ski trip when my friend was in charge of buying coffee at walmart yeah and it was between that and duncan and i don't i don't know i guess we maybe maybe we just got that what does it say about us as a as a people that death wish that's a that's a brand that's a that's a that's something we're like yeah i want that um shout out to death wish coffee um yeah i don't have death wish i'm drinking a tomo coffee here today yeah delicious beanless um wow uh yeah i mean i guess if you're pumpkin i don't like chai i'm not a chai guy not a chai guy no i like chai yeah so I'm not I'm not here for this but it's coffee so it makes sense layered is a is a brand named after layered Hamilton which shout out to who is that surfer big wave surfer big wave surfer yeah hell yeah all right well I'm automatically here for this one yeah have you seen 100 foot wave yet Kevin you need to watch dude that's one of my top 10 recommends I what's the product the product is a dairy-free vegan gmo free creamer cool yeah we're cream boys yeah so pumpkin spice creamer i would take it i would take it in the creamer yeah for sure uh chobani oat milk pumpkin spice oat milk sure i'm out you're out i'm out i'm kind of out on oat milk recently yeah really yeah i'm with you i've been almond all the way i'm on fucking whole milk baby i'm back i'm back on the utter i love it you look strong i get it from the farmer's market yeah really yeah yeah hey you need to get on that raw milk i mean it's illegal right wasn't that something we talked about i may i may snag it when i'm at air one in los angeles i'm gonna say a very funny sentence right now pumpkin spiced whip shot which is a cardi b backed vodka infused whipped cream brand give me that yeah me too i did not know that there was such a thing vodka infused whipped cream with cardi b backing it oh yeah i've had i've had some i've had a whip shop before really very minimal very clean does not feel like cardi b whatsoever but i assume she's for her she's just an investor she's getting on her angel investment game you know diversifying her portfolio yeah love to see that yeah that's awesome yeah way to go cardi um pumpkin spiced a blondie from a brand called dolci sure i'll take a brand that makes brownies and blondies and so this is a psl blondie sure you know sounds good sounds good i've never heard of dolci but it looks like every other startup brand with a serif type is and it looks pretty good so shout out to uh crispy cream has a crispy cream pumpkin spice doggy donuts okay i don't yeah do dogs need pumpkin spice pup friendly ingredients so is this for dogs and people because i'm gonna be honest if the packaging says doggy donuts i'm gonna have a hard time eating it yeah but i'm also not a big Yeah.

18:53That's not the last doggy brand on this list. Dog Brew from Bush. It is pumpkin spice dog brew. That's too much. It's just like, do the pumpkin spice beer, do the dog beer. It doesn't need to be one thing. I don't know. Is pumpkin really good for dogs? Is that what I'm gathering here? Yeah. Why are so many dog stuff? Contains no alcohol. Dogs love pumpkin. And it's made for dogs. So it's not a beer at all. I think dogs should be allowed to have a little bit of alcohol. Yeah. A couple beers on a Sunday. When they're watching football. Yeah. Of course. Of course. Yeah. That would be uncivilized.

19:32Let the dogs drink. Let the dogs drink. Pumpkin spice avocado oil caviar by Chosen Foods. It is a caviar that is not made from salted roe. It is made from avocado oil. Oh. Get out of here. Okay. Get out of here. No. No. I think I'm good on that. I think I'm good on that. Stop. Let's stop alternative foods. Like, we've gone too far with alternative foods. It's like, if you don't want caviar, don't eat caviar. It's not like everyone needs to eat caviar. Yeah. And you're like, oh, man, I wish it was a caviar that didn't have any fish. It's like, what the fuck are we doing? That's the whole point.

20:23That's the fucking point of it. It's fish eggs. That's what you're getting. Yeah. Now you're just getting probably really processed oil. Salty oil. That's sick. I'm out. I'm out on this one. I'm out on that. product and the pumpkin spice variety, which is like, it was bad to begin with. A brand called Tree Hut has pumpkin spice latte shea sugar scrub. So this is a beauty product, not something you eat, something that you put on your body. I'm in on that. Me too. That looked really refreshing. You know, I'm a little hungover this morning. Nothing sounds better than a nice sugar scrub and a hot shower and then just taking a big nap.

21:08Yeah. Kevin contains multitudes. Yeah. I don't just talk about vacation. Yeah. Or drinking or being a high school football player from Cincinnati. He also likes to scrub. He likes a massage. Yeah. He likes to be pampered. I love to exfoliate. That's right. And he also likes his beauty products. Yeah. It's sort of a facial routine. Yeah. The next one is my favorite on this list. Dude Wipes has Dunkin' Spice with clove, nutmeg, and other fall shit. This is a huge W. Yes. A lot of shit on the program here today. So much shit. So much shit. You might even call it a biohazard. so Dude Wipes is the brand obviously that knows that dudes be also pooping yeah dudes need to wipe too and has apparently built a ginormous business out of this discovery and this I like because they're making fun here, they know what they're doing oh for sure, they know that there's going to be roundups, they know there's going to be articles they know there's going to be discourse this is why you play the game This is why we play the game.

22:23And so shout out to Dude Wipes for getting in on this and doing this in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Oh, nice. Yeah. I'm here for this. I would use this. I think this is a much better product than their Mint Wipes, which are sound repulsive to me. Yeah, Kevin hates Mint. Shout out to Dude Wipes. They sent us a boatload of Dude Wipes a couple years ago, and we still have them. We're still wiping with them. Yeah, it was too many. They sponsored the podcast. Did they? Indirectly. Okay. With their products. And so, yeah, no, shout out to them. They have a good brand and they know what they're doing. Yeah.

23:06And they just like, they hit it home. Dumpkin Spice Latte. Dumpkin Spice Latte. It's a shame that Jimmy Fallon and the late night shows are still on strike because of the writer's strike. Otherwise, they would have a field day with Dumpkin Spice Latte. We're stepping in for them. Shout out to us. Yeah. I mean, listen, you know, when one America, when one thing sort of is gone, you got to step up, right? One door closes, another one opens. Thank you, Kevin, for helping me. That's that's called podcasting teamwork right there. There you go. I believe this is the last one. It is Mama Lupe's pumpkin spice tortilla.

23:45I did not know this, but pumpkins have grown in Mexico for quite a while. They date back to somewhere between 7 ,500 BC. You said a lot of numbers there. That's a lot of numbers. And apparently pumpkins grow in Mexico. And so they were a part of the Aztec Nation's cuisine. And so shout out to a Kansas-based brand, Mamo Lupe. And they're doing a pumpkin spice taco tortilla. Sure. Would you have this? Probably not. I mean, if somebody had them, I would try one for sure. What I'm looking at on the packaging, which I do really appreciate, is a savory, not a savory taco, but a sweet taco. It kind of looks like it has some drizzle of caramel on top, whipped cream, some nuts.

24:35All right, I'm in. Some candied pumpkin on the inside. I was out, but now I'm in. Yeah. So I think that's the way to do it. If you're going to offer a sweet tortilla, you got to show it. How am I going to use this? imagination i cannot figure it out um wow that was a good kickoff yeah that's it there's like two more but none of them are great a lot of stuff to look forward to when it when the when after labor day you know yeah psl kicks off nfl cook kicks off yes it's gonna be it's gonna be grateful yeah we're trying not to talk about the nfl this season quite as much i think last season kevin and i no we did fine talked a little bit too much football for our uh graphic design based audience but just know we're excited we're excited kick off pso uh kevin not not tonight not tomorrow night but the night after that nfl i know it's gonna be great are you is that is that your game no what do you guys play sunday sunday okay um let's let's talk well you know what goes perfectly with uh football season kevin right taking dumps on a plane no a foot long sub from Subway.

25:43Yes. Yes. Our favorite brand. Bar none. Yeah. Absolutely. Brand of the year. Brand of the year. Multiple years running. Honestly, we've even thought about changing our podcast structure to just be a Subway-based show. It's almost like they have news at least once a month. Yeah, I think they've really put some marketing spend this year to try to clear their name. I think the last few years which we've been doing this podcast, have overlapped with Subway's desire to rebrand and change their public image away from all the troubles of the past. And what I would say they're doing is the most. They are absolutely trying to, yeah, confuse people, distract people, and get them talking about Subway in different ways that do not involve Jared Fogle or the tuna not being tuna or anything else that people may think about.

26:47Their latest idea, Kevin, here is called Subway in the Sky. Wow. Poetic. Yeah, beautiful. The idea is simple. It is a restaurant that will be a 180-foot-long blimp that will take guests 1 ,000 feet above ground, and they will be able to try some of Subway's recently launched sandwiches, the new deli varieties, not to be confused with the old ones. That's why they brought in the deli slicers. Yeah, they got the deli slicer. they have four new sandwiches. One is called The Beast. And according to Subway, the blimps gondola is big enough to carry six passengers at a time. And each guest will get the chance to sample all four.

27:36So it's a Subway tasting. Oh, that's nice. And they float above the city. And yeah, they're going to give 40 fans a day the opportunity to ride this giant sub. In multiple locations? So we have four U.S. cities throughout September. Kansas City, Atlanta, Georgia, Orlando, Florida, and Miami, Florida. It's probably the cities with the easiest flight regulation laws. Yeah. It sounds strategic. And you get to fly around in a giant sub. A couple things of note. The sub itself looks like a sub. Yeah. What sub did they slap on there? Yeah. So the graphic of a sub. Do you think it's the beast? submarine, I guess, or a blimp, which not to be confused with blimpy, which is another sub sandwich restaurant.

28:30The sub itself has what looks like the beast on it, on the front, and then has the, which is just a printed photograph of a sandwich. So it looks like a giant sandwich is floating through the sky. Think about the DPI on that print. And then the other half of it is the wrapper. Yeah. So it kind of looks like a sandwich being unwrapped, flying through the air. Good. So I got to say, that fucking rules. Yeah, it's pretty good. This is pretty amazing. This sounds also a bit terrifying, if I'm going to be honest. Like, I don't know. I'm not afraid of flying. I'm not that kind of guy. I mean, those deli slices are pretty sharp.

29:12But to be in a blimp eating sandwiches 30 minutes, it lasts around 30 minutes, is kind of, I don't know. It feels a little terrifying, but shout out to Subway for doing, again, last month changing people's names was the thing. This month, a giant blimp. Literally, they'll just do anything. What are they going to do next? What are they going to do next? I don't know. One thing, Kevin, I did want to talk to you about is the Ultimate Deli subs. They have spent over a year crafting these things. I bet they have. With the new slicer, the highlighted new slicer. We got four sandwiches. I'm going to run them down.

29:52Titan Turkey. Turkey, double provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and mayonnaise. That's pretty good. Sounds good. Sounds good. The Grand Slam ham. Ham. Double provolone again. Lattice, tomatoes, red onions, and mayonnaise. So basically just the same exact sandwich. Good name. Just ham. I wonder who's going to be promoting the Grand Slam ham. Yeah. Yep. It's probably. They have numbers on these things. Number 99, which makes me think. It's Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge. Oh, Grand Slam Ham. Yeah, Grand Slam Ham. Titan Turkey, number 15. Is that Mahomes? Mahomes 15? Titan Turkey. I don't know why he'd be Titan.

30:30Yeah. What number is Patrick Mahomes? He's number 15. He is. Okay. Who's number 17? Because that's our next sub. Is that Josh Allen? Is that Josh Allen? This is the garlic roast beef. Roast beef, double provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions, and roasted garlic aioli served on a turzinal Italian bread. Okay. All right. These all look the same. And then the reason why we're all here is the beast, number 30, which I assume is Steph Curry. Yeah. Pepperoni, salami, turkey, ham, roast beef, double provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, mayonnaise, and MVP vinaigrette. All right. MVP, baby.

31:09Why do all these sandwiches have double provolone? I don't know. That was my number one question. Why so much provolone? I mean, provolone's great. Mm-hmm. It doesn't really have much flavor, though. I mean, but maybe now with the new Subway. Maybe if it's sliced now and not just pre-cut of those half moons. Double provolone. Pepperoni salami turkey ham roast beef. That's a beast. It's a beast of a sandwich. It sounds like it's going to take a long time to slice all that meat. What could go wrong? Wow. Yeah, this sounds great. Honestly, they got the slicer. They got the blimp. They got the beast.

31:46I'm here for all this. We're here for Subway's relaunch, if you will, and good for this very random idea. It just feels like they just got in a room with an advertising agency of some sort and said, what can we do? And they're like, a floating sky restaurant. And what if we got everyone to change their names to Subway? And what if we made a sandwich called The Beast and we put all our meats on it? And Subway sort of executives were like, yes. All of them. All of them, please. we'll do all of that bring out the whole menu yeah yeah we'll do it all and uh to be honest maybe i'm just hungry maybe i'm just uh you know reminiscing about subway uh sandwiches of the past i kind of uh i'm here i want to try it yeah me too it's been a couple years now yeah we got i gotta get my hands on one of those beasts we gotta get one of these new subway sandwiches kevin would Would you fly through the air, though?

32:45Would you get into a blimp? I don't know. I think I'm going to pass on the blimp, to be honest with you. Yeah, it's a little scary. Have you ever seen that clip of restaurants where they suspend people over a falls of some sort? That's not for me. Yeah, I would just prefer to have the nice meal and maybe go there afterwards and look at it. I don't need to be suspended. Yeah. I'm out on being suspended over a body of water or any mountain while I'm eating a meal. Yeah. You know what I like? To be sitting on the ground. Yeah. Maybe I can go out and be suspended after I eat my meal. Yeah. I mean, you know what?

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33:28I like a booth. Yeah. I like - Hot take. I like sitting with some nice back support. Yeah. Especially after I play tennis. I need that lumbar support. There you go. I can't be suspended over something. I don't want to. Also, I'm not sure that fear goes well with food. I feel like I'd be just freaking out, scared the whole time. And I just don't know if that would make me hungry. Yeah, I don't know if I really trust Subway with aviation. You bring up another great point. Of all the major brands that I trust with my life, Subway, low on that list. Low, very low on that list. So shout out to Subway.

34:07Keep trying. Keep trying. You got to get the trust up before you take people in the air. Yeah. Hopefully this doesn't go wrong for them. But, you know, 30 minutes you just go up and down and hopefully the weather is okay. And, yeah, we're here for these new sandwiches. Kevin, a new restaurant has opened up, I believe, in Williamsburg. Is it? No, it's on East 14th Street. It's in New York. I didn't know that. And the brand is called Donor House. It looks particularly delicious, I'm going to be honest. It serves kebabs and sandwiches and pita breads. But they have a very interesting logo. And it has donor in white type on black.

34:53And then house is in black type in a sort of rectangular orange shape on the right side. And some say it looks a little bit like Pornhub. What's Pornhub? Pornhub is a very popular website with videos. Oh, okay. Run by a company called MindGeek, which I always think is kind of interesting and hilarious because that sounds like a children's educational platform. MindGeek? MindGeek is just a bad play on MindFreak. Yeah. Criss Angel's MindFreak. Yeah, that's true. Criss Angel has nothing to do with this. Don't bring Criss Angel into this. But yes, the MindGeek crew has gotten wind of this East Village restaurant, and it says that it has the, quote, the same general look and feel between Donor House and Pornhub.

35:53It threatens to cause confusion, deceive the public, and misappropriate the goodwill of the Pornhub's trademarks. so it sounds like they got a little c and d and uh i guess uh we'll see what happens they had to know this was coming maybe i don't they probably just thought they were flying under the radar i guess my real question here is like why outside of just getting it like getting publicity like what connection between the two brands other than donor feels a little bit like boner do the two brands have you know what i mean not not just the logo just the logo so i think that's what's interesting to me is like this is a very this is a very bold decision i wish we i wish we could call a lawyer right now i wish so too um we we we we pro he probably would say that they have a real case here my guess but i don't know i don't know i'm not a lawyer i'm not a trademark lawyer um but this does feel like something that uh yeah you know the good name of the people at mind geek and pornhub like that's uh they seem like a litigious group i'll say that yeah i bet they are yeah i feel like i wouldn't want to be in a lawsuit battle also i feel like they got mad cash yeah because uh pornhub i'm gonna go on a record here i believe that is one of the top viewed websites on the internet and I also believe it's the number one porn website on the internet.

37:31I don't know if those, either of those two things are fact. But I believe them to both. They're probably up there in both regards if not those like, it's probably right. I would also argue you know again this is just my opinion I think it's the best brand in porn. I can't think of another one. They make the best videos? No I'm saying they like, they have an award show I know they do like sort of like influencer marketing yeah they come you know they've done a couple things they do have the most palatable brand yeah they're trying to make porn normalized normalized and i don't think they'll ever be able to fully do that because of uh we live in america but i do think they have kind of like become they've come the closest i think and uh yeah they got a brand to uphold yeah and just because you're serving kebabs down in east village doesn't mean you could just kind to play uh you know have some fun with our branding yeah pornhub doesn't fuck around yeah i guess i'm i guess i'm standing standing by by this yeah i think standing by pornhub i don't know it's parody law and stuff i don't know i wouldn't i'm not a judge i'm not a lawyer but i believe starbucks i believe parody law to be very forgiving yeah so but who knows i yeah i guess we'll keep our finger on the pulse.

38:51Let's see if we can get an anonymous lawyer with an unrecognizable voice on the podcast. Yeah. Kevin, side story here. Do you see that Diddy is giving the publishing rights back to the bad boy artists? Famously, Puff Daddy has made artists sign the absolute worst deals, in which case he owns all the rights, all the everything. And I guess he's been basically been told that he's a, that's a prickish thing to do. I mean, there's a lot of talk about like music rights and who gets to own the masters and sort of like all the music stuff. And so he's giving back the bad boy artists their, their, their music.

39:35That's good. So shout out big day for Cameron, Mace, 112, The Locks, and all of the various bad boy artists that he's going to give his rights back to. That's awesome. Good for them. Good for them. And good for Diddy. Yeah. Definitely not trying to get into the public news cycle with that one. Definitely doing it for the right reasons. Yeah. Who was that producer that everyone's stepping away from? Scooter Braun. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We still don't really know what happened there. He is the manager. He made Justin Bieber famous. Okay. He found him on YouTube when he was like eight years old. Not creepy at all.

40:17And then obviously Justin Bieber, one of the biggest stars on the planet, and then has gone on to manage like Ariana Grande and Kanye West at some point and Demi Lovato and like just a number of different people. Yeah. he is number one enemy of Taylor Swift Nation because he bought her music masters and then he like sold them to someone else and so the story here is that like last week Selena Gomez and like a bunch of other people that were signed to Scooter Braun all started like basically dropping like flies being like we he's no longer our mission disavow disavow we disavow and so people were kind of like Like, what did he do?

41:04They were waiting for some giant scandal to come out. And it never really did. So be on the lookout for that. I'm sure there's something. But there's got to be something. There's got to be something. And I'm going to go on the record here and say that I don't think that Scooter Braun is a good guy. He does give me, like, that dude is dickhead vibes. So I wouldn't be shocked to hear that he's, you know, kind of treating these musicians poorly or taking all their money or whatever, signing them into bad deals. who knows but hey people were saying crazy stuff they were they were people there was no story about why all these artists were dropping so they just started making ones up which i feel like that's a bad place to be in as a society it's like oh this guy's bad we think he's bad he's he's enemy of our favorite music artist so let's just like make up like fbi's yeah they're like fbi's raiding his house and it's just like none of that was true so yeah we live in crazy times here, Kevin.

41:59Damn. Last story of the day, another legal battle. So Burger King is under a class action lawsuit in the District Court of Miami where four people have filed a lawsuit alleging that Burger King exaggerates the size of its burgers in its advertisements. They are particularly calling out the Whopper and they're saying that it inflates the size of its sandwich and its photographs by approximately 35%. Damn. And I know we've talked about some people kind of trying to just like, you know, get money from these big giant companies and making some pretty crazy claims. I don't think this is that crazy of a claim.

42:47Yeah. I think if you put a Big Mac burger next to a Big Mac photograph. You mean a Whopper? no I'm talking about McDonald's yeah you put the two next to each other I think the difference is there clearly right we're talking about food styling and all the kind of stuff like but I think what you're buying on the board is what you're getting in the package most most likely it lines it certainly lines up better it's it's it's remotely similar substantially the same I think a Whopper, what you're seeing in an ad and what you're getting. They're doing a lot. Those two things are almost indistinguishable as the same.

43:31That food photographer and the food stylist are too good. Yeah. They're doing too good of a job. I think there's a line where you have to represent reality in some sense. And I think if you were to line up all the fast food sandwiches, I'm sure someone has done this. Yeah, I think Burger King is getting away with the most egregious photo styling and retouching and just straight up lying. The Burger King spokesperson said, quote, the flame grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising. I love how they had to specify how they were flame grilled. Damn right they were. Are the same patties used in the millions of Whopper sandwiches we serve to guests nationwide?

44:16I mean, they are. That's not the argument. The argument is the photo. The photos are just too good. The creative for Burger King was just too good. JKR did too good of a job. Yeah. I don't want to put this on JKR, but those photographs are misleading. The brand guidelines state that the photographs need to be fucking juiced, and they are. Yeah, they're juiced. They are fucking juiced. No, I don't think it's J.K.R.'s fault. No. They've tried to mediate this. Burger King attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, and a judge has rejected their request. Oh, wow. In a 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman wrote that the lawsuit may proceed, and Burger King will have to defend itself in court against the plaintiff's allegations.

45:10What? This sounds like a reality show. This is crazy. They wrote, there's a 22-page report on this case that... Yeah. this fast food company is lying about they're inflating their meat. The judge said, who are we to decide whether such a seemingly substantial difference between what was promised and what was sold or was not enough to alter the purchasing preferences of reasonable American consumers? Sounds like he's on their side. Brother, you're the judge.

45:42What? Who are we to decide? It's like literally, you're the guy. Yeah. isn't that what your job is yeah no that's like yeah that's hilarious it's the dumbest thing a judge could ever say yeah who are we to decide that's like a doctor being like who am i to decide whether this is a broken leg or not yeah it's like dog you are the one you're the guy for better it seems to us to leave that determination to the customers themselves who in this case survives that far will get to sit in the jury box and tell us what reasonable people think on the subject so he's like yo let the people decide yeah let them cook yeah um burger king attempted to argue that it wasn't required to sell whoppers that look exactly like the picture that wasn't enough to sway altman in its favor this is not looking good for them they'll be fine yeah they'll throw 10 million dollars at this yeah it's four people yeah meanwhile the plaintiff's attorney explained that these four individuals are just trying to make a difference quote these people aren't looking to get$5 million because they bought a hamburger and it didn't look like what they were advertised.

46:46They're only looking to get a million dollars. Anthony Russo told Good Morning America, the consumers really want to bring about change. They have a lot of choices. They just want to be told truthfully what their choices are. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if going down a class action lawsuit, this class action lawsuit rabbit hole is promoting good enough change. I don't know if this is a positive avenue to create change. I love this. What the fuck? I love this story. Yeah, we're really altruistic now about class action lawsuits. They don't want money. They just want Burger King to do what's right.

47:28Yeah. So do what's right, Burger King. Interesting. I'm also looking at they did change their advertisements. so their latest advertisements has it even more juiced so like the old ads were like a burger and pickles and like lettuce and tomato the new ads have like burger overflowing on the bun they have like tomatoes stacked up they have like lettuce overflowing out of these uh this bun and it looks insane especially when you compare it to just a regular burger photographed from an iphone i don't know kevin this is interesting this is interesting i think one of the things that for me is such a big difference is the height like when you look at a photograph it looks like a burger has got like five inches or so six inches uh which is a lot of inches that's pretty big it's pretty big and if you look at a real whopper and you order one yeah it's it's it's it's like it's half that size it's maybe three yeah which is good enough but um what is it a crime to yeah to send this to portray it as six when it's really three yeah should you go to jail for that i don't know who am i to decide yeah i mean listen there's there's a lot of comparison yeah which is um i'll show you this one for the telegraph that one is that's crazy that's the one i was referring to where the meat is overflowing the bun it's like actually bigger than the bun is in the ads i don't know it's all about context yeah i think bird king will get a little slap on the wrist and i'll keep moving but like this is um again jimmy fallon is sitting in his uh mansion you know up state like like god damn it i wish i had my show tonight so i can talk about this big whopper issue you know uh did you see uh we have speaking of jimmy fallon there's competitors in the podcast landscape there's a new podcast called strike force five it is jimmy fallon jimmy kimmel seth meyers stephen cobert and john oliver so essentially all of the white male hosts of late shows because they do not have a job they're out of wow they've come together to do the most noble thing they can do start a podcast that's a good salute to them hopefully salute to these men talk about change yeah yeah that's what we need that's what we needed damn that's crazy isn't that wild but i guess they're independent media baby yeah i guess they're trying to raise money there's There's a good answer.

50:16Yeah, I'm sure there is. For the writers of their shows or their strike or their striking. But now they're podcasting. And to be honest, I have no interest. Yeah, I'm not going to. Those people without writers, most of them are unfunny with the world's best comedy writers behind them. Think about them without them. Yeah, I can't even remember who you said. but I think there's it was all of them yeah it was all of them so I got a couple I mean yeah I got a couple good ones yeah uh before we go Kevin we should say R.I.P. to um uh Jimmy Buffett yeah and our uh Wasting Away Margaritaville and then uh Steve Harwell Smash Mouth two uh Legends of the game gone too soon both yeah r.i.p 56 for steve harwell and then jimmy buffett was a little bit older but not that much older yeah way to end the show on a counter yeah geez uh should i make a hard pivot to uh pumpkin spice's new uh sorry starbucks's new drink now 20 years after the psl they have a new drink.

51:31Is this breaking? Apple crisp oat milk shaken espresso. Now. It's an homage to a warm apple dessert that's made with a creamy oat milk. We're done here. That is a lot of words. Iced apple crisp oat milk shaken espresso. So it's just a apple flavored coffee. Where's the pumpkin? No pumpkin, Kevin. This is the thing. They got the fucking architects back in the lab. They're like, pumpkin spice, 20 years, how do we top it? Big idea. Apple crisp. Apple, yeah. Apple. Apple ASL. You know what people like in the fall? Apples. Apples. Yeah, that's facts. All right, shout out to Starbucks. Let's end this one.

52:17Big pod coming up next week. Ooh, big guest alert. Arguably, not arguably, unarguably, the biggest guest we've ever had on the program. Yes, tell your mom. Tell your mom, tell your friends. I'm going to just say right now, the goat in the building next week. Peace. Later. Later.

52:45Summer has come and passed. The innocent can never last. Wake me up. When September ends Like my father's come to pass Seven years has gone so fast Wake me up When September ends Here comes the rain again Falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again Becoming who we are As my memory rests But never forgets what I lost Wake me up when September ends

54:10Summer has come and vast The innocent can never last Wake me up, when's the difference?

From the publisher

Alex and Kevin are incredibly excited to kick off the PSL SZN! The fellas review the first pumpkin product drops of PSL’s 20th SZN. They also talk about Subway in the Sky, the Doner Haus lawsuit, the Whopper lawsuit, and more!

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