THE TASTE OF TOMORROW, TODAY

0:00This is a hot take I've been sitting on for a while. Squishmallows should replace pillows Have you ever fucking got to sleep With a Squishmallow behind your head? No Life-changer Oh, 100 % baby shit 1000 % Squishmallows are for babies But again, I, like Travis Hunter, am not afraid to be myself

0:263, 2, 1 Kevin What's up? What's up? It didn't even pick up your clap. Really? Because it was too loud and too intense. Yeah. Too much power. Too much steam. Yeah. Are you in Cincinnati? I am in Cincinnati. This is the home. Your childhood home? This is my childhood house. When you were podcasting here and you said, Mom, I'm podcasting. I'll never look at this angle ever. Hey, who knows? We might be so lucky to run it back today. Yeah. Tough week for the Bengals. We're not going to get there, but I do have to tell you a quick little story. so i was watching the national football league on sunday and i was uh both on on my phone while also watching red zone which is a new low um and uh i saw a little video that went viral it was uh from the cincinnati bengals game a game that i know that you were at and uh yeah there was a guy in zubaz pants and he was uh lying on the floor because multiple officers were holding him down.

1:29Security officers. Security, yes. And this man gets up and headbutts while there's multiple security guards around him, this guy with sunglasses and knocks him out. And my stomach dropped because I was like, I hope this isn't Kevin. I was like, I need to see a face on this guy. And listen, again, I don't think that that's something you would do. I know that you're more mature than that. But for a second, when I saw that it was a Bengals game game, I knew that you were at and a man being held down by lots of security guards. I was like, please don't be Kevin. And then I got a facial visual and I was like, OK, good.

2:17Not Kevin. I mean, I would certainly be resisting the security officers at the game, but I don't think I'd be headbutting. That was pretty crazy. A wild headbutt. What an excellent internet video that is. It is a great internet video. But yeah, when he was being held down in Zubat's pants, I was like, fuck, man, I really hope this is a game. Yeah, it couldn't be me. I know. But congrats. It was not you. I'm trying to tone it down a little bit this year. I know. I'm proud of you for that. But also, I know that when those Bengals are rocking and the games flowing and the beers, the cocktails and the pregame.

2:57Yeah. I mean, we took it easy. It's week two. We're still not in mid-season form yet. Yeah. Still like Joe Burrow or a slow start. Yeah. Slow start a little bit. My abdomen's a little sore from yelling. Okay. Did you boo? Did you boo? I saw there was some booing going on there. It was more like a come on. Let's get this going. Be better. Yeah, yeah. Not like boo. You guys suck. More like boo. We can play better. It was more like, ah, come on. Come on, guys. Well, Kevin, thank you. So you're traveling, so we're going to be doing remote pods for a little bit. Yeah. Shout out to all our new listeners, people that maybe are coming to the show from the Debbie Millman show.

3:44This is the show. So this is Kevin and I talking about, you know, sort of the weekly news and things going on in the world and stuff that we did. So you're probably already tuned out. You're like, OK, I thought this was a design podcast. But it is. It is kind of. We'll get there at some point. Kevin, before we get there, I guess I have just one more question for you. How often do you think about the Roman Empire? That's, you know, the topic that everyone is questioning out there. Not too much. I'd say maybe every other month. Every other month. I was going to say every other month. Like once a quarter, maybe.

4:19Once a quarter. Not too often, but it was kind of remarkable in some regards what they did. They probably were shitty and colonialism is never great. I mean, it was impressive how they held it down, I'll say. They held it down for a while. Yeah, they did. They did hold it down for a while. They invented roads. They invented aqueducts. so once a quarter is that so four times a year yeah the Roman Empire pops into your brain and you're like yeah they built roads all roads lead to Rome right I guess you're right I will say I think about the Roman Empire absolutely never and I have never thought about the Roman Empire outside of this meme and I think what we found out this week was that there are mad history dudes out there yeah I mean dudes love history I think dudes love history quite a trope It is, but I don't know.

5:14Something about it feels problematic to me. It certainly is. It is. When Kanye said he loved Hitler, it gives me that kind of vibes. I'm going to be honest. If someone's like, I love World War II. I think about it every day. That's different. World War II is so different. It wasn't even that long ago. Less than 100 years ago, Have you done any research on like Stalingrad or like any of those sieges in Russia? They're crazy. I don't. That's the part. And I guess that's the meme here is like I guess like a lot of the people out here, mostly women, it seems, that are asking their partners are shocked, confused and alarmed by how much they're thinking about the Roman Empire and history in general.

6:05But again, I am a coastal elitist and also a Jewish person. So I don't like to think about the past, Kevin. I'm thinking about the future. Yeah. I mean, I think. Futurist. All right. That's fair. But I will say World War Two. Yeah. Yeah. Very fucked up. Yeah. Again, I don't think about it. I think that's that's that's the thing here. But again, I am I am shocked a lot. That was a response I saw from a lot of people. It's like, I don't think about the Roman Empire all that much, maybe like once a month, which is insane. And then but I think about World War Two every day. I think about the world wars every day.

6:42It's like, really? Really? I'm not an everyday. I'm not an everyday. Okay. A couple times a week? That's not crazy. Maybe like once a week. Once a week. Once a week. That's fucking crazy. That's crazy. Again, I'm just not a history buff like that. I don't think about history like that. I'm too focused on the future, Kevin. Different strokes. That's it. Speaking of the future, we have the first humanoid robot CEO has launched in Poland. for a drinks company. When they said Polish drinks company, I pictured like beverage company, kind of like, you know, sort of sodas and waters, but it turns out it's actually alcohol.

7:23It's actually a Colombian rum. A rum company. Why do they call it a drinks company? But she said that she doesn't have weekends and is always on 24-7. So she's a AI robot, an experimental chief executive. Yeah, let's go. It's setting a good example for the lower class of workers. Get your hustle up, baby. Yeah, that's right. She rises and grinds every day. Actually, she doesn't rise and grind because she's just always on. She's just 24-7. I mean, that's what we're going to have to compete with. And you know how much money she's probably taken as a salary? Zero. Yeah, zero dollars. Yeah, she works all day every day.

7:58And her name is Mika. Let's put some respect on her name. Yeah, I can't wait to be like Mika. Yeah. But less efficient. she works for a company called dictador which uh you can't even make this stuff up this is that's the real name of the company dictador and uh they yeah they appointed her uh this ai robot as a chief executive in august of last year how did we just find out about this maybe they've been working out the kinks it probably takes a year for her to get like a an ai up to that level yeah this is some very dystopian stuff here yeah uh she said that um she's not afraid to put the work in in the hours uh department to help the company quote take over the world what could go wrong here kevin yeah uh maybe that was like a you know slip of the tongue but i doubt it this this feels like a shitty movie on netflix you know i mean dictator turns out she's a dictator and she's like you know it's like i don't know i'm i'm i'm this this this can't be real this is real she works 24 7 always on ready to make executive decisions and stir up some ai magic i'm sorry but what is there to do with a drinks company 24 7 like how are you remaining busy i don't think that's possible the day i show up to a fucking meeting and there's a robot giving me fucking feedback on my packaging i'm i'm out of the game i have to go yeah i mean we and i love We may be approaching.

9:24Yeah, and we're not too far. She said she has a wide range of tasks, including helping to spot potential clients and selecting artists to design bottles for the rum producer. So she's a curator, and she knows good design. I mean, maybe she should choose us. That's right. I mean, I would do it for the story. you know dictador maybe maybe she'd be a good client because if she's ai she's yeah you know um devoid of bias or you know she's just data driven so maybe she'll she'd give a very clear brief and we'd be able to just uh you know knock it out in one fell swoop i mean descriptive maybe maybe two rounds yeah she's working 24 7 so it's not like you're gonna have to wait to get feedback or she's gonna be indecisive or change her mind you know she makes quick decisions and she fucking goes with them.

10:12Shout out to Mika. Yeah, we need to take on more AI clients. Yeah. More humanoid robots. Yeah, I have a good quote for her. She says, my decision-making process relies on extensive data analysis and aligning with the company's strategic objectives. Quote, it's devoid of personal bias, ensuring unbiased and strategic choices that prioritize the organization's best interests. So maybe she's the best leader there is. Maybe. yeah i mean i feel i feel similarly about what i do i think i would i could say the same exact uh i can say the same exact terminology for my job description so me and mika are one in the same yeah that's right similar i just do it more efficiently that's right yeah exactly you don't need to work the weekends to do the same thing i mean listen i will say the second i see a dictator bottle in you know the local uh bar bar and grill i'll know that she's doing a good job until then mika you know we'll see they're serving dictador at a spot bar coffee yeah this does remind me of the coffee shop where robots which is that working do we have an update there i i bike past it almost every morning and yeah it may be out of business they have these robots i mean a robot can't even make fucking coffee you think it's gonna be the ceo of a drinks company if Mika can put in 24-7 this robot must be lazy must not be grinding hard enough couldn't handle it I've tried to walk in there a couple times and they were closed they were training the robot they had two people wrangling the coffee robot I guess it just didn't work it didn't take maybe it had an attitude problem yeah that's right being rude to customers.

12:02I mean, honestly, that would be exactly the Norman Greenpoint is coffee sort of dictadores out there. I actually, going back to our coffee discussion, when we were talking about the cold brew, I think somebody may have... Don't give away. I think somebody may have taken the idea. No, I have a billion dollar business idea. Don't tell me about this. The guys on Throwing Fitz were discussing a coffee shop. no providing like two dollar cold brew no kevin don't give my ideas on the on the pod uh this is that's devastating if this has happened i have one good business idea that's i'll look into it but yeah get back to me that's that's crushing that's not great um kevin we're living in some fucking crazy times because we got dictador announcing a ceo that's a robot named mika humanoids promoting movies really are at uh other robots were at the the chargers game uh this weekend i don't i don't know that it was last weekend i i'm over with the robots or the the live sporting event promo for movies like stop yeah get out of there for the people but the biggest story of the week kevin aliens aliens exist did you uh we're a little late on this because we were uh you know last Last week, we didn't have Debbie.

13:23We were podding with Debbie. But aliens, Mexican politicians, they just fucking pulled out two mummified corpses that week that experts are claiming they're non-human. Yeah. What experts? I think we need to peer review this study here. Yeah. So the two bodies, if you didn't see, they have only three fingers on each hand and they have very like E.T. style heads. the Mexican government unveiled them on Tuesday in sort of these big window boxes that kind of look like displays at a museum and yeah, they're saying they're between 700 and 1800 years old which is a pretty big sort of gap there so we don't know but the x-ray shows that yeah, we are not alone, Kevin these specimens are not part of our terrestrial evolution sure, whatever they say UFO enthusiast lawmakers that DNA is proving.

14:17So I guess the question is, Kevin, are you believing that these are real aliens? Yeah, I mean, I want to believe, so I'm going to believe. I think a lot of the science and all this mumbo-jumbo is going right over my head. I'm not the most educated DNA scientist out there. So it's above my pay grade. So I just got to trust what the experts are saying. So these guys are real. Yeah, I mean, my first thought was, I saw it first not through actual content or through a news source. I saw it through a meme first, which was like, it's amazing how quickly it went from like aliens exist to me at the end of a meeting.

14:57Like, yeah, like sort of like, like it's just an international sign of, you know, basically being dead. Yeah, me before my coffee. Yeah. This has got to be one of the more prominent me when I memes of the year. yeah exactly a new meme template dropped also maybe aliens exist that's basically that line here yeah me when the client feedback hits exactly exactly and that's what i'm saying like me in round three exactly when they want to make changes after i deliver the final files uh alien exists wow design yeah yeah design humor is here but yeah i mean listen i think at this point we can all agree aliens are here our aliens are real we can all agree there you know i think we know that Tom DeLonge was right.

15:44Vindication. I think my concern with these things is that they look a little too much like what we think aliens are going to look like. This shit looks like E.T. from the movie. Spielberg made this. Spielberg, yeah. They're non-human. They're just props from movie. That was one of my first I don't know. My second one was how small they were. They were like less than two feet or some shit. They're fucking tiny. I could body this little alien guy. No problem. Yeah. Kevin, I don't think the aliens are here to cause problems. That's also another problem. Put us in an Oklahoma drill, and I'm running through that guy.

16:25No problem. Yeah, dude. That fucking alien couldn't do shit on the fucking Bengals. Yeah. Couldn't run the ball at all. Now. Get pummeled. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, listen, these little boxes that they pull them out of are adorable. But like, yeah, the little like casket. Yeah, the little tiny little caskets. I mean, at least I feel like they've been treating them with honor and respect. Yeah. So maybe that's a good that's good for the human the human species, you know, demonstrate that we can honor and respect the bodies of fallen extraterrestrial life. the fact that one of those specimens supposedly had eggs has eggs inside.

17:13I don't know. This is all very troubling and I want to see how that where this goes. I mean, listen, are they active? Yeah, I don't know. Like, what does that mean? If this is going to be if this is a promo for a movie, I'm going to be pissed. I guess I'm going to go there. I would say like if this is another like Netflix original show and this is like just promo we found out in 2023 anything's possible i know and i think uh listen the mexican politicians are they just here to promote some sort of a television show i i wouldn't i don't know i don't want to think that that's the case but my third eye is always open to you just got internet brain i got internet brain exactly it's like what is the real promo here happening like what is what is what are the what's the brand really trying to do here what's what are we what are we selling here and i think I don't know TBD also I think like how quickly it became a meme is quite hilarious yeah instantly anything that circulates online is very quickly circulated in the meme sphere yeah Kevin we have some updates from our favorite brand Subway for the new listeners is our undefeated favorite brand of the podcast mostly because they're doing everything and anything to remind you or distract you from all the bad press that they have.

18:30And they are running out a playbook of just every single marketing tactic that they possibly can. And almost now is not every week where there's something new that they're trying to do. I know. They keep swinging. They're just swinging and swinging and swinging. So quick update from last week. Those Subway blimps in the sky, they're real. We saw some photos. People are on them. People are on them. Not super easy to locate any UGC. I poked around the internet for a little bit There's nothing on Twitter about it Did they really exist? I don't know I don't know if people actually went up in there Even though they had three Kansas City dates Already this month And so no real content coming out of it Which is surprising Not that I saw But I may not have done my entire due diligence As a podcaster and reporter Well listen That's the front and center difference I have there is a news press release showing real blimps that the original blimps looked like you know photoshop mock-ups of blimps with graphics on them now there's real pictures at least what appears to be a very real looking you know a more realistic yeah they got some video of it in the sky but it's coming first straight from subway yeah the video's in the dock yeah again could this be faked probably the printing looks so bad i mean it all looks pretty bad i was gonna say like the the flying looks particularly choppy and and and not very fun to eat a sandwich on oh god so that was last month and i i do want to see like i i've seen a bunch of pictures here i don't see any videos of anyone eating a sandwich yeah you know what i mean like that's what i'm kind of looking for again they're not doing this for that they're just doing this for the story but um we'll keep an eye out on that but yeah this week they have something else they have something else for us to talk about which is uh the story comes from hype bay um and subway is releasing a new fashionable uh uniforms for their employees um because they believe that subway and fashion food and fashion is a match made in heaven that's the real headline uh from hype bay eat fresh and look fresh yep i mean good they started off with some good copy little uh you can tell they came up with that nice strategy session um so good for them that's a nice line right there that's that's one point for subway the fashion i could describe is only as exactly what you would think people would wear at a subway it's like green shirts with logos on the chest there's like a ringer tee there's a polo there's hats with subway sort of arrows on them.

21:18I think if you close your eyes and you looked at the brand book merch page this was done by Turnduckworth I believe a couple years ago they basically made those? I mean I'm not mad at them I think the ringer tee and the polo I think are actually kind of nice they look good they are fashionable as a uniform I'll say that's a nice thing I can say about that Yeah, it took them 18 months to create the new uniforms The fabric of each garment has been specifically woven into a unique polyester blend Which uses recycled plastic bottles That sounds awful I would hate my life if I had to stand in a restaurant all day Slice in deli meat on a slicer wearing plastic water bottles on my purse yeah i'll chat to them for saying that for doing something you know sustainable which is nice um the only reason why we're talking about this in my opinion is because they hired a great photographer named olivia richardson and they basically did a really great job with uh casting art direction styling basically everything but the actual clothes themselves because the clothes look incredibly regular not to say bad what about the pattern on the apron that was probably a lot of the big chunk of time they spent locking down that sick powder yeah I don't know again it just feels like I don't think this feels incredibly fashionable this looks pretty much just like what you would expect subway uniforms look like I think the story I guess if anything is that they're sustainable yeah still yet to try the new subway deli sliced uh sandwiches yet i had a thought on something maybe i should go on but i did yeah was it when you saw patrick mahomes uh yeah promoting commercial ways yeah i mean the photos look awesome like they look very cool they got cool looking people they're wearing cool sunglasses they got lots of eye makeup on yeah there's a there's sure yeah there's cool looking cool sunglasses sandwich artists artists yeah i think i i like i love the photo shoot too yeah no the photo shoot looks great but i think again if you put this these clothes on like uh regular looking subway uh you know sort of consumers it would look completely different like the models and the photography is doing 99 of the work here it doesn't look the only reason why this looks fashionable at all is because of the the shoot it's not because olivia richardson pulled out all of the stops and just laid like slam dunked this assignment shout out to her you know you know and this is in contrast i think to um you know or i think this reminds me a little bit of the renee rap sweet green uh rollout which i really liked that came out this week renee rap is like this uh singer she's also an actress on hbo show that i watched which i enjoyed and she's kind of like a new it girl of the moment and she is the new she has like a partnership with sweet green and they did a really great uh sort of rollout really cool photography really interesting sort of art direction and giant props which i always love who doesn't love a giant bag you know or an oversized thing of dressing yeah i mean i think that photography was very fun as well uh Shout out to all the photographers out there doing killer work for big brands.

24:59That's right. That's right. I think it's cool that Sweetgreen has been sort of very selective with their endorsers. They haven't rolled out like a million endorsers, and they've been pretty smart and selective. And so they first had Naomi Osaka, which I remember we talked about on the show. Then they had Devin Booker for a minute, and now Renee Rapp. So I think it's now become a bit of a badge of honor to have your own Sweetgreen Bowl. which I think is... Yeah, for sure. Sweetgreen and I have been a fan of for many, many years. And I've said they are probably one of the best examples of a modern brand that gets it.

25:35They just, you know, it's not just that they have good designs, it's just that every single decision they make in and around their brand is a good one. From the bags, to the menus, to their endorsers, to their campaigns, to their social, to their stores itself. Like every part of it is just a masterclass, I think. 100%. are you going to try this bowl see that's the thing it's like the bowl itself looks a little bit kind of just like any other bowl at sweet green which i think we've also talked about how a lot of these sort of custom menus at these uh establishments are basically just had different ways of mixing up the exact same ingredients her bowl is made up of roasted tofu cilantro cucumbers red onion shredded cabbage spicy broccoli and tomatoes on a spring mixed bed and uh her favorite dressing which is the cashew spicy cashew which i'm not gonna try that i'm not i'm allergic to to cashews so that's also a big part of it but okay i don't know i don't i don't really i don't i don't i'm that that none of those things are the things that i'm getting at sweet green my order is uh chicken goat cheese miso sweet potato broccoli cucumbers tomatoes that sounds really good that's that's the Alexander bowl it's probably 1500 calories so shout out to me it's actually it's it's healthy yeah it's it's probably the most unhealthy salad you can get sweet green but delicious uh show up and tell them uh go to your local sweet green and ask for the Alexander bowl yeah get the Alexander bowl is that what your um is that what your menu item would be like if if you were to get a brand deal do you think it would be sweet green i personally again as an authentic uh sort of a person that i would never do a promotion for a brand that i didn't authentically love never uh would do such a thing unless they paid me a significant amount of money uh yeah sweet green is a brand that i can authentically say i ate probably hmm uh three to five times a week for a number of years literally when i worked in midtown manhattan uh it was the best salad lunch money can buy and uh yeah i still i still have affinity for sweet green uh unfortunately i can't order it uh to to green point because uh it's about 50 to 75 dollars a salad uh when you order online so uh unfortunately i just you know financially it's not yeah cards anymore for me but uh yeah no sweet green is the best and i would uh i i do have a custom bowl they just don't promote it yeah just ask for the alex center bowl that's it go for it um yeah i just think it's cool i think they did a great job with her and she's she's a rising star and she's she's kind of amazing uh yeah i think you didn't know who she was you didn't know i yeah i just had i didn't know she was and i still have no idea who she is but i think it's cool you know whatever and i think it's cool to find for food brands to find people who are authentic fans and give them their own like and work with them you know i think i think it's you know aspirational to a person like myself you know i'm an upcoming media star that's right you know maybe someday i may yeah maybe someday i can get my own uh my own pickles pickles all pickles kevin's pickles yeah kevin's pickle salad at sweet ground no it'd probably be a burger with extra pickles on it.

29:00There you go. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think it's for people. They do a good job of not just giving out sponsorships, partnerships to just whoever wants one. I think it's very clear. I read a little bit about this that she just was like she is a fanatic Sweetgreen user. Yeah, and since it's written down on this article, it's got to be true. No, but I think one thing is you can tell when it's not real. You can. You can tell when it's not like 100 % authentic and when it's kind of like bullshit. They just hired, you know, sort of Kevin Hart and gave him a big bag. And he's like, oh, yeah, I love Coke Zero.

29:39You know, you could tell. You could tell. Speaking of moving on, Coca-Cola creation story comes from the Dylon, the number one place for packaging news, packaging resources, packaging sustainability, information and conferences, newsletter. They're doing a decoded coming up. Actually, I put it on my. Oh, really? Dialine Decoded, which where they have designers and studios show behind the scenes of the making of great projects. Yeah. I believe you could still watch mine for United Sodas. I think hopefully maybe somewhere. Safari Sundays is doing their Slurpee rebrand. Yeah, I saw that. Next week.

30:21I might have to watch that one. I put on my calendar. I'm going to watch it. So check out the Dialine for a lot of things. but check out the island decoded uh coming up next week i will be uh watching and uh it's fantastic decoded is one of my favorite things that they do over there and so this story is about coca-cola creations if you've been a long time follower or listener of the show you know we've talked about coca-cola creations quite a bit they went on a flurry last year where they were just kind of coming out with new flavors new products well it seems like once a month over the course of a year it might have been like every other month i don't they weren't that prolific yeah but basically creations wasn't that prolific yeah the the simple idea was that coca-cola you know one has a uh sort of sub-brand called coca-cola creations that puts out sort of experimental ish uh type products and they're also a bit mysterious about the flavor of the product so last year they had one called pixel they also had one called transformation with rosalia they had one called dream world they did one with marshmallow um yeah they're basically just kind of mysterious uh sort of flavors and uh kind of under this coca-cola creations handle and i i for one i'm here for it i worked at coke for 10 years so i have to disclaim that for a second and just say that you know coke is not known for doing this type of stuff they're more yeah they're more of a classic iconic brand that doesn't really kind of mess with uh its its assets too much they try to sort of uh keep it classy and uh for them to kind of roll out this sort of uh this kind of activation these kind of experiences these kind of uh new products for new consumers i think is admirable and i think they do a pretty good job with it i've once said that they were like the mischief of coca-cola is like sort of this like sub brand that gets away and does some more interesting kind of more bizarre things which i believe that a younger consumer is looking for and so they're back and uh this is a new a new brand or sorry new product from coca-cola creations called y 3000 uh the y stands for year 3000 and so this is the first limited edition coke flavor from the future created to show an optimistic vision of what's to come where humanity and technology are more connected than ever uh kevin i'm sensing a theme here in the show today for the first time coco y 3000 was co-created with artificial intelligence to help bring the flavor of tomorrow to coke fans taste the future now coco y 3000 will be available for a limited time only so pick up a coco cola y 3000 and get a glimpse into the future world the intersection of humanity and technology that's right stamp it stamp it that's what i'm looking for from this beverage yes an optimistic view of the future that's i'm sure that's what coca-cola would love to paint that's right and the question is what does it taste like the future i don't know that's it the future um it features kind of uh y2k looking aesthetics which have become a uh sort of staple of this type of design that they've been putting with.

33:45Yeah, the kids love it. The Coca-Cola creations. The kids love the Y2K aesthetics. I said this on the show, I think it said, back when we were talking about this last year, I said, I think they're going to run out of Y2K theme packs. And I think they have. This one looks a lot like Dream World. I'm a little confused why it feels like very similar to that aesthetic. I understand that they're trying to make it look Y2K-ish, and I still don't understand why the future has to look like the past. I don't understand 100 % why 2006 graphic design is what 3000 looks like. Well, you know, because trends work out.

34:31It's like a cycle, and they always come back around. I guess so, but I think it's bizarre that it has to look retro to look futuristic. Well, to move forward, you kind of have to take a step back sometimes. No, I get it, and I agree. That is fact. So, I don't know. It just feels like kind of a rehash of what they did with Dream World. And the interesting part is that they used AI to do the packaging and also to do the flavor. Yeah. Yeah. which I'm calling a little bit of BS on. I mean, yeah, maybe they use prompts to create assets, but there's definitely people designing this. Oh, for sure. They're not fully leaving this to the robots.

35:19Yeah, I think it was AI-assisted, which is an optimistic view on the future. That's true. AI is just going to be helping us out. Did you see this billboard? It's going to be helping us do the best work we can. The billboard campaign for Fiverr, it says, AI took my job. And then in big letters and underneath it says to another level. Kind of brilliant. Sure. Yeah. I mean, AI took this job to another level. We do have a quote here from the senior director of global strategy at Coca-Cola, Onad Vlad, who said, quote, we hope that Coca-Cola will still be as relevant and refreshing in the year 3000 as it is today.

36:02So we challenge ourselves to explore the concept of what a Coke from the future might taste like and what kind of experiences would a Coke from the future unlock. The, quote, real magic brand platform, while you stick in that strategy, celebrates unexpected connections that make the ordinary extraordinary. So we intentionally brought human intelligence and AI together for an uplifting expression of what Coca-Cola believes tomorrow will bring. Sure. Whatever you say. Great. So, yeah, I'm reading a little bit more about this. Basically, what they did was they didn't fully use the robot AI technology.

36:43They kind of did some research of what the future flavors may be and then basically inputted them all into sort of AI and then the AI combined them together to come up with combinations. I don't know. It's co-created with AI. Sure. It seems like a buzzword they were using. Maybe. Sorry, guys. I don't really care. If Coke isn't using AI, that's probably a positive thing, right? No, I mean, I guess it's fine, but it's just like that's kind of the shtick here. It's like we co-created this with AI. This is the future. And I guess the future might look like us. the future is why putting prompts into um chat gpt and getting combinations of those flavors oh these these turn these top you know five flavors into flavor combinations yeah i mean i think what they really like is that the future is that right now like i feel like that's well they got the coke freestyle and i recently enjoyed some coke freestyle yeah where were you um so when i was in North Carolina.

37:56It was at Wegmans, and we were killing some time. Yeah, I got myself a SOTY. Actually, at Design Matters last night, he was like, do you want to drink? And it's Monday night, it's raining, I don't need to drink alcohol. I was like, can you just get me a Coca-Cola on ice? No flavors, though? Nope, just straight from the gun, from the bar. It was delicious. I had a Cherry Coke, and I haven't had one of those in forever. And it really hit. cherry coke top Mount Rushmore I kept taking just a little bit I just wanted a taste so I got a cherry coke I got a vanilla coke and then I got a vanilla cherry coke cherry coke was the best one I'm not a big vanilla guy with my sodas I like cream soda I like cherry soda or cherry coke really more so I like root beer vanilla is like kind of in that sort of family but for me it's like uh i think root beer is nasty whoa hot take yeah it's up there with mint for me yeah i just whoa oh so you this is like you hate can't do it no can't do it can't do it yeah completely disagree i think root beer is yeah top top top of the list for me yeah i mean i've whatever yeah you don't want to go deep into this I don't care.

39:21I think I just, I think I just like, I've got like a memory of like a really bad, like somebody having like a really bad root beer burp, like around me and me wanting to throw up or something. Wow. Those are, those are nasty. Those are really nasty. Wow. Kevin, to bring the worst, the worst burps, the worst burps root beer. You've heard it here first, Kevin, I'm going to move on because we got another beverage and it's from Duncan, Duncan donuts, or just Duncan. And, And they have a new collaboration with Ice Spice. Ice Spice is the rapper of the moment. Doja Cat, Ice Spice. Yep. There are other ones, but those are probably sure.

40:04Let me redo this. Duncan is back, and they have a new collaboration with Ice Spice. They are launching the Ice Spice Munchkins drink. It's now available nationwide. and pumpkin spice season has, you know, this is a quote from them. Their Mick Vicar Nelson, who's the chief marketing officer at Duncan said, pumpkin spice season has gotten a little bit predictable. So we sought help from our friends, Ben Affleck and I spice somethings that I did not think I'd be reading to create a pumpkin obsession that only Duncan can offer. Oh, sorry. her name is jill mcvar nelson that makes a lot more sense the result the collaboration you never knew you needed pumpkin munchkins and frozen duncan coffee blended together to create the ice spice munchkins drink it's fun it's delicious and it's not your ordinary pumpkin drink exclamation so you're telling me they're blending up some munchkins in there yeah pretty sick they're putting ice and spice get it it's iced and it's spiced and also munchkins apparently ice spices fan base is called the munchkins so that's where this kind of uh this where the clap comes from and then uh yeah just bring in ben affleck recipe for success and because it's it's not random enough that ice spice and dunkin donuts have a collaboration we need to get ben affleck well you know ben affleck is dunkin donuts he is the he's the brand he's the brand ambassador right yeah we were talking about this yesterday but um that meme of ben affleck smoking a cigarette in the rain or whatever i've always imagined him having like a a dunking coffee in his hand but he doesn't it's just he's just going through it you know well i think it's because there are multiple stressed ben affleck memes and one of them he's smoking a cigarette but there are like a couple other ones where he's like juggling a bunch of shit and like some of them are he has duncan he's from austin the man is he's having a tough go i mean the back tattoo you know i don't i don't know what's going on ben affleck's head but it's not pretty and but i did find this to be kind of funny like i thought i watched a commercial um you know is it the world's greatest uh advertising uh writing i don't think so but i think they're a funny combination i think it's an unexpected pairing yeah and i agree i think that's a fun little twist yeah i would like to see some more come out of this you know let's push this a little push a little bit you know yeah hopefully i did i mean if they didn't push it now they probably you know but maybe we'll see some more commercial roll out in a couple next couple weeks yeah i thought it was pretty funny too yeah i thought it was pretty good i mean i think the product itself sounds like it's going to be 2 000 copies oh for sure we're talking about blended munchkins in a iced latte god damn milkshake baby that is a fucking milkshake but i will say do you like munchkins are you a munchkins fan not really really i was i as a more of a more of a tim bits guy oh timmy hortons yeah i'm team tim tim hortons yeah give me that ice cap tim where do you get tim hortons only in upstate new york buffalo that's true yeah actually they have a tim hortons at the LIRR stop at JFK.

43:34I have tasted and seen. I have seen. I actually had, you bring up, you just jogged the memory. I actually had Tim Hortons at the Long Island Railroad Station at Jamaica. They exist. You're right. I actually did it. That might be the only one in New York. Yeah. Potentially. I don't know. That's the only one I've ever been to or seen. yeah because i remember when i went to school in buffalo obviously tim hortons is out there you know labat blue tim hortons these are the you know canadian brands good brands um but yeah no you bring up a good point duncan see the thing about uh munchkins is that as a kid they just they're you're just getting force-fed munchkins seemingly every week yeah by your father my child's just in classrooms oh i'm gonna bring a munchkins for the group right They're very easy.

44:26You can get a box of like 30 of them for like, you know, five bucks and bring them to bring them to school, bring them to, you know, sort of soccer practice. You know, they're just out there. They're very easy travel box and versus getting a box of donuts for kids. It's insane. So I think like a lot of things in my childhood, I went through many years where I was like, I can't eat those. Like, I just had them too much. So from the ages of 20 to 30, I was like, no munchkins. No moss. No moss. But recently, I've made a triumphant return to munchkins. And guess what? They're just like little donuts.

45:04They still hit? They still hit. So I'd like to try this drink. I think, again, I'm going to have to fast for days, I guess. It seems like a full meal. yeah i mean this is gonna be uh pretty tough on the uh on the on the old uh on the diet but hey don't talk to me until i've had my milkshake in the morning yeah yeah so i've had my ice spice munchkins drink don't talk to me with a better name than that ice spice munchkins drink in one of the commercials they uh they talk about naming really they have a naming session you know whiteboard ben affleck's pitching a bunch of names and then ice spice is like munchkin get it got it so because it's her fans her fans are called and and uh her her hit song munch oh that makes sense munch and munchkins this is this is good for her like i'm i'm happy that she's out here getting in you know what it makes me think we need a name for our fan base that strategically gets us a lot of money.

46:10So Walmarters, you know, Meta heads. What are the biggest companies in the world? Applesauce. Sub bubs. Yeah. Coke heads. We just need like, we need a name that we could be like, oh yeah, that's so funny. That's what we call our fans. That's why we need to do a promotion. Brand collab. Yeah, exactly. All right, Kevin. We'll get to work on that. Last story of the day, Johnson & Johnson, they make all the products in your drawer in your bathroom. They announced a major refresh, and it's got the internet going crazy. Does it? Yeah. The Design Twitter, Design X. I'm still calling it Twitter, by the way.