👞 “Shoes Stay On” — Clear vs TSA. Uniqlo’s Dodger Stadium pitch. Pam Anderson’s anti-AI. +Fridge Ads

0:00This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday, March 27th. Then today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Oh, besties, it's the yin-yang of the stock market. Oil's up, stocks are down, same formula, we've been seeing it for a month now. Oil prices jumped 4 % yesterday as the president stopped talking about peace and started talking about war again. So stocks dropped nearly 2 % yesterday. The NASDAQ has reached correction territory, it's down 10%. But this episode is the best one yet. If you know, you know, and you already know, Jack, three fantastic stories for today's pod.

0:36What do we got on the T-Boy? For our first story, Major League Baseball celebrated opening day yesterday. Nice! And Japan's richest person took over Dodger Stadium. Uniglow, the Japanese clothing icon. It is the new Shohei Otani of the strip mall near you. For our second story, the one winner of the air travel disaster caused by the government shutdown, it's Clear Secure. Clear! This is Clear's one shot. Don't throw it away. And our third and final story, Reddit, Pamela Anderson, and Fruit Love Island. Three stories that pit humans against AI. I'm going to sit down and repeat that one. Reddit, Pam Anderson, and Fruit Love Island, one story.

1:11Because AI is about to mess with our most precious resource, our metrics. Spoiler, Pam Anderson hates AI. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Oh, I mean, the best mix to go into the weekend with. Love the mix, Jack. This morning, I made the boys pancakes. Nice. I opened up the fridge, got some maple syrup, some eggs, some milk, some butter. Boom! Boom, suddenly Jack's looking at a 30-second car ad for Jeep next to the orange juice? It's true. Advertisements are already arrived at your refrigerator. That's right, Yetis. Your refrigerator is running ads. Here's the news. Samsung launched a line of refrigerators with screens on the door.

1:48You can see what's inside without opening the door, playing music, and control all those smart devices in your dumb home. And look at ads. Because in order to access all that helpful information, you must put up with ads. You open up the fridge for breakfast, boom! Yep. An ad for the next Yellowstone spinoff on Paramount+. Jack, you're looking for that sandwich, boom! You're smacked with an Uber One ad out of nowhere. You ready for dinner? Boom! You should consider talking to your doctor about some Phatastrosol. If that pot roast lasts longer than four hours, please consult the doctor. Because in between your eyes and your tummy is your wallet.

2:19So consumers, how do they feel about the fridge ads, Jack? According to the Wall Street Journal, consumers hate this. They say they're never buying a Samsung product again. Because Samsung won't even give you the option to pay to stop seeing all those ads. The screen is either on with the ads or off completely. Besties, the ad creep, it is real. And Jack and I don't expect it to stop at the fridge, do we, man? I mean, it's coming to the bathroom. Is there any more perfect captive audience than when you're in the bathroom? I mean, Jack, why are there no ads on toilet paper? White space, blue sky opportunity.

2:46That'd be a real example of inchidification. Besties, we've told you before and we will tell you again. Where there are eyeballs, there will be ads. And there are eyeballs on the produce drawer. The refrigerator advertisement. Is this commercially acceptable or socially reprehensible? We got a poll going on Spotify. Vote now. We're about to see in our poll how many people work at Samsung's marketing department. Enter code T-Boy for$12 off your next grapes. Jack, let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm.

3:18It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show.

3:37Start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

3:47This episode is brought to you by Built, the intelligent finance platform that helps businesses scale with proven results. Look, Yeti's paying and getting paid. That is a pain for small and medium businesses out there. Did you send the invoice? Did they see it? Did you remember to remind them to remember to pay it? Oh, I totally forgot, Jack. Besties, if you drop the ball on any of those, you don't get paid and you're missing out on cash flow. And unless your customers are mind readers, which they aren't, they're probably just busy and forgot. You shouldn't have to chase them down. Powered by AI, Bill does all that, simply and automated so that you don't have to.

4:18ACH, check, credit card, international wire transfers, they probably do carrier pigeon. Bill lets you pay and get paid how you want. Bill is the intelligent finance platform trusted by nearly half a million businesses and over 90 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms to manage, move, and maximize their money. They've securely processed over a trillion dollars in real transactions. That is proven infrastructure you can actually trust. Talk with an expert at bill.com slash proven and get a$250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.com slash proven. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details.

4:52buying good seafood shouldn't feel like a gamble with wild alaskan company you can cook with confidence you'll get wild caught perfectly portioned seafood delivered right to your door frozen right off the boat to lock in fresh flavor texture and key nutrients never farmed No antibiotics, GMOs, or additives. Just high-quality fish that tastes incredible every time. And it's all backed by a 100 % money-back guarantee. Get seafood you can trust. Go to wildalaskan.com slash cast, C-A-S-T, for$35 off your first box.

5:40For our first story, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated opening day yesterday on Uniqlo Field. Uniqlo. The Japanese clothing brand. It's part of their takeover of America and they're doing it slow, slow. But first yet is Yankees Giants. I can't believe they're starting interleague play on opening weekend. Happy opening baseball weekend to all those who celebrate. But the game you're going to this weekend, it's kind of like inter-nap. Okay, Jack, it's strategically timed. The baseball game this weekend with the Yankees, 4 p.m. That is just after nap time. You can bring a two and a half year old Maxie.

6:17Perfect. The game though is at Oracle Park, a corporate stadium name. But yet is there only eight teams left in major league baseball without corporate names on their stadiums. And the Los Angeles Dodgers are one of them. Barely. Barely because the Los Angeles Dodgers, as of today, play on Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. The owner of the Dodgers said he'd never sell the stadium's name. True story. So he sold the field instead. And the buyer, who is it, Jack? Uniqlo. Yeah, Uniqlo. So we got to ask the question, why is a Japanese fashion brand buying an American baseball stadium? It's really the power of one player.

6:52It is. Shohei Otani, league MVP, hero of Japan. Born in Japan, get this, 12 % of Japan, the country, watched his World Series Game 2 in 2024. That's more viewers in Japan watching the World Series than in the United States, a country with three times as many people. So Japan is making it official, kind of. They are. By buying the naming rights to the field that Otani plays on. Okay, but Jack, pause the pod for a second. Batter's up. Let's focus on Uniqlo for a moment, please. It's Japan's gap. It is. It's like Zara and J.Crew had a baby raised in the Old Navy. It was founded by a man named Tadashi Yanai, who was born in post-war Japan in 1949.

7:29And this guy may as well be forever 21, because in 1984, he took over his family's clothing business and renamed it to Unique Clothing Business, which he shortened to Uniqlo. And today, Mr. Yanai is the richest person in Japan. Not a tech guy, not a car guy, it's a fashion guy who's running Japan's numbers. Bit of a surprise, isn't it? He's also the richest person, despite selling the cheapest product. Nine dollar t-shirts. We just jumped in T-Boy style to Uniqlo's annual report. They did$21 billion in revenue last year and$2.8 billion in profit. Despite a trade war, these guys are growing double digits on both those numbers.

8:04Jack, could you sprinkle on a little more context for us? Uniqlo is four times bigger than Abercrombie, twice as big as Lululemon, and bigger than The Gap. Uniqlo just passed H &M this year in sales. Even Anna Wintour is impressed by these guys. Now, 15 years ago, they entered the United States. But first, they tested to see if Americans were interested in Uniqlo. Yeah, they did an interesting thing. They went to Washington Square Park in Manhattan, handed out free fleeces, and then watched how people reacted. One of the employees brought a Sony camera and filmed the reactions of the Americans trying on these fleeces.

8:34When Mr. Yanai saw how excited the Americans were, he said, open a store in that country. And besties, Jack and I could do an entire episode in The Best Idea Yet on their hero product at UniClub. Heat Tech. Heat Tech, yeah. It's their material that turns body moisture into heat. And here was their strategic move with Heat Tech. They noticed that if they entered a new country, no one knew about their Uniqlo brand. But everyone understands the concept of a heated shirt. But today, here we are, and Uniqlo has an insane new goal. They told the New York Times they plan to triple their store count in North America by adding 200 new U.S.

9:09locations this year. Jack, that is like one new store every other day. And one of them was yesterday at Dodger Stadium. The devil doesn't wear Prada. The devil wears Uniqlo and then hands it to Shohei Otani. Thought you were going to say the devil wears a cup. So, Chad, what's the takeaway from our buddies over at Uniqlo? Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Yetis, that's a quote from the United States Navy SEALs. It's about how you should slow down to accomplish more. It's counterintuitive, but it makes sense. If you start fast, you're going to make mistakes. Classic. If you start slow, you'll go further.

9:42And we think no company embodies that concept more than Uniqlo, because it is considered by most metrics to be fast fashion. Uniqlo focuses on timeless styles, unlike fast fashion companies. But just like fast fashion, Uniqlo is a high-volume, low-priced business model. But here's the shocker. To compete with H &M and Zara's speed, Uniqlo moves incredibly slow. They take 12 months to get an item from design to store. That is slow. They send older Japanese artisans overseas to their factories to teach how to sew. That is slow. That's incredibly slow. And that Heat Tech patent they developed? Yeah, Jack.

10:16It took them 10 ,000 prototypes to get it right. That is so slow. Because Yeti's in business, just like in the Navy SEALs. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. For our second story, the travel industry has never been crazier than this week. There is no end in TSA sight. But there is one winner of it all. A clear winner. It's clear. And it reminds us of Marshall Mathers. Yeti's laptops in the bins, water bottles to be poured out or drank, shoes. off. Nick, I don't see a future career for you at the Transportation Safety Administration. I don't either, Jack. I'm not good with those kind of rules.

10:55But there is a 47 % chance by our math that you're listening to us right now in a TSA line. If you've got five ounces of Skippy peanut butter, it is not making it to your final destination. Nick, these are safety officers and we respect the hell out of them. Besties, there are two hour waits right now at JFK. There are three-hour waits at O 'Hare. There are four-hour TSA line waits at Houston's International Airport. Might as well walk to Austin. Besties, wait times at the airports just hit their longest in recorded history, and that is according to TSA. Since the Department of Homeland Security had a partial government shutdown starting on Valentine's Day, 50 ,000 TSA agents have been working without pay.

11:35And today, they were supposed to get paid, but they won't. Republicans and Democrats are pushing for a bill next week, but so far, clearly no end in sight. And they're going to get back pay when this finally gets resolved, but that doesn't put money in their bank accounts right now when they need it. Now, interestingly, before we dive in T-boy style, we should point out for some cities, the situation's actually worse. Some cities have longer lines. Houston is where it's the worst. It is. 50 % of agents have called out sick there because they need to make some money. So ironically, they're driving people to the airport for Uber.

12:03On the other hand, over here in San Francisco, the airport situation's actually the same as always. Because they use private security. It's one of the rare airports that doesn't use the TSA. It's actually the largest airport in America that has its own private security doing security, not the TSA federal agents. But all the disruption and chaos in our airports is an opportunity for one clear winner. It's clear secure. It's literally clear, clear secure. The biometric ID company that scans your face and then swoops you in through the line awkwardly like you're a quasi VIP. You know, the best thing, Nick, as a non-clear member is when I get through faster than clear members.

12:38I know. That's like the ultimate win. But usually I'm having like two sandwiches by the time Jack gets through to me. Yeti's Clear, it's the only publicly traded line cutter stock the way we see it. Pretty sure. And it pairs well with the weigh luggage and a Bose Q35 headset. But get this, Yeti's Clear's app has been downloaded 289 ,000 times just this month. That is up 3x from last year. It's already a record quarter. It is. Clear's stock is up 10 % this week. It's up 50 % year to date. And it's up 100 % since 12 months ago. Because besties, this TSA wait time drama has become the ultimate free ad.

13:12300 people waiting in line is the best billboard for clear that there is. Oh, that is better than Times Square. And according to the Wall Street Journal, passengers are literally signing up for clear on the spot while they're waiting in the regular line. Because their flight takes off in 60 minutes and the estimated wait time in this regular TSA line is two hours. Of course they're signing up for clear. Now, prior to all this, the big growth hack for clear was that every millennial luxury credit card added it as a perk when you signed up for Platinum Super Diamond. And before that, Boomer parents would forward to their kids that you should get Clear.

13:44We'll both get$50 off if we do. Love a Boomer referral link, Jack. They always struggle with how to text it to you. But Nick, in recent years, I used to own Clear stock. People were wondering if Clear was worth it. Right. Because sometimes Clear is the same speed as TSA PreCheck. But there is a new angle here that's emerging that we thought we should share with you. Clear as travel insurance. What if you think of Clear less as getting you through faster every time, but getting you through faster when it matters? Like right now. That's the new travel math. Here's the question. Is 200 bucks a year for Clear worth it if it ensures you don't miss one important flight?

14:19I think Clear should run with that marketing, Nick. Thank you, Jack. I think we're onto something here. But forget about missing one flight. Is Clear missing the one opportunity of their corporate life? So Jack, you really set up this takeaway. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Clear? Call it the Slim Shady Challenge because you only get one shot. Oh yeah, as you know, the famous Eminem song. You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. Mom's spaghetti. If you know, you know. But a lot of founders and businesses do miss their one shot. Peloton had their one shot during the pandemic.

14:51I still own that stock. Yeah, we do. But Peloton misprioritized, mispriced their bikes, bought a new bike factory to make more bikes when they should have just raised the price of their bikes instead. Yeah, Peloton missed their shot. But on the other hand, Airbnb seized their shot, right, Jack, during the 08 financial crisis? In the years after the 08 financial crisis, when the economy was struggling, people saved money traveling by using Airbnb. But now it is Clear's chance at a one shot. Can Clear lean into hospitality, build emotional connections, and create lasting value in these next couple weeks?

15:22Can they show people it's worth it for life, not just during this government shutdown? Or is Clear just going to see a temporary bump because they're better than a long TSA line right now and they just happen to be at the right place at the right time and the value will fade? Call it the slim shady test. Yes, this is Clear's one shot. Now a quick word from our sponsor. Top hats, baseball hats, Von Dutch hats. We wear so many hats on this podcast. Honestly, we're not great at all of them. No, we've been avoiding hiring someone to wear those hats instead of us, especially the Von Dutch one, because hiring and training can take forever.

15:56Well, I'm proud to say that we are hiring right now at T-Boy and this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Because Sponsored Jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. So besties spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes, less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. And listeners of the show will get a$75 Sponsored Job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast.

16:27So just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed-sponsored jobs.

16:44When it comes to managing money, forget the hype and look at the results. Bill has a trillion dollars of secure payments powering our BillPay tools. Instead of just moving money, Bill is powering the financial operations of nearly half a million customers. So stop the guesswork and start scaling with the proven choice. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit Bill.com slash proven to get started. And grab a$250 gift card as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details.

17:18For our third and final story, it's three stories yesterday that were either pro-human or anti-AI. Pamela Anderson, Reddit, and Talking Fruit? So we're covering all three, because these three insane stories highlight a threat to how we measure everything. Now, Yetis, let's go a little behind the scenes here. Every morning, Jack and I wake up super early and do something we call the headline hammer. It's our daily editorial meeting where we pick the three stories for this pod. Funny thing, Jack and I noticed three stories yesterday that were either pro-human or anti-AI, and they all stood out as top potential candidates for the pod.

17:53So we're going to cover all three, and we might as well start with Pam Anderson. The former Baywatch actress is the new face of Aerie, the underwear brand of American Eagle. Back in October, Aerie trended by pledging to never use AI in their marketing ever. We covered it on the pod. That built off their 2014 decision to stop retouching Aerie models. And now Aerie is doubling down with 58-year-old Pam Anderson. Pam Anderson, no makeup, no AI, never. Not a fan of Sam Allman. All right, so Nick, apparel and fashion, that's an understandable AI-hating industry. But how about we move over to tech, which is an understandable AI lover?

18:29The CEO of Reddit announced yesterday a major new policy. Bots must wear name tags on Reddit. Here's specifically what Steve Huffman said. You should assume that anyone you are talking to on Reddit is human unless otherwise labeled. So Reddit will let humans remain anonymous. That's a key part of the platform. But they'll verify that you're a human, not a bot, in other ways. I mean, pause the pause, Jack. We interviewed the CEO of Reddit last year, and didn't we tell him they should name the company Real? So they're taking our advice, basically. And the blog post that they announced it in used the word Real seven times.

19:01All right, so we got Pam Anderson and we got Reddit. Jack, how about we close with something that is not real at all? Fruit Love Island. Yeah, Fruit Love Island, a TikTok account that just rocketed to 3.3 million followers out of nowhere. Fruit Love Island posts three-minute videos that look like episodes of Love Island, the reality dating show, but they're obviously fake. Because instead of aspiring influencer hot people, the characters are animated anthropomorphic fruit. A kiwi is in a hot tub floating with a banana. A mango is hooking up with a strawberry. Jack, that coconut, I don't even want to know what he's doing with that mulberry.

19:35But yeah, these videos have 30 million views. And reportedly, this is the fastest growing TikTok page in history. But we got to say, the view counts are sus. And why are they sus, Jack? As one commenter said, if they're desperate enough to post AI videos, they're desperate enough to use bots to drive up their view counts. That's the question. Is this fake fruit TikTok video being viewed by people or viewed by bots? After all, it's projected in many places that bot traffic will exceed human traffic on the internet. by next year or even this year. When Jack and I thought about that, our heads started hurting, so our heads came up with this takeaway.

20:09Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies, Pam Anderson, Reddit, and Fruit Love Island? The next thing AI will disrupt, the metrics we use to measure business. Besties, here's what we're thinking. If Instagram likes can be manipulated, why can't podcast downloads? What if we asked Claude to create one million fake Spotify accounts, which are free, and program each of those Spotify accounts to listen to our show every single day. I mean, Jack, if we did that, we could attract real advertisers paying for that fake audience that doesn't really exist. We wouldn't do that. No, we wouldn't. This is just one example in our industry of how we could use AI to manipulate the metrics that matter.

20:48But Jack and I bet that you could theoretically manipulate your own company's metrics using AI too. Not that you would. You're not that kind of a person. Amazon ratings, Apple App Store rankings, those already can't be trusted due to bots. But with AI, box office numbers, financial markets, political polls, they all could be mass manipulated with AI. The White House sent Congress its wish list for AI regulation this week. We think they gotta add metric defense to the list. Toss metrics on the list, because the next thing AI will disrupt, it's the metrics we use to measure everything. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us going into the weekend for the real Friday?

21:26Uniqlo is the name every Dodgers fan will see all season. And Uniqlo is coming to America's strip malls. Because Uniqlo's approach is the same as the Navy SEAL's. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. For our second story, Clear Secure is the big winner of the government shutdown, causing chaos at the airports. So we got a message from Eminem to Clear Secure. You only got one shot. Do not miss your chance to blow. And our third and final story was three totally different businesses, showing how everything needs an AI policy. But the thing nobody's talking about, it's metrics and whether they're safe from manipulation.

22:00But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. Uh, did Google just zuck HBO? Google announced a new AI memory compression algorithm. Yes, just like the plot of the show Silicon Valley. Yeah, it is. Google calls it the turbo quant, and there's a working title, and it's a novel way to shrink AI's working memory without impacting performance. Second, Project Hail Mary, the new Ryan Gosling movie. It's the top box office hit going into its second weekend. In fact, last weekend, Riot's movie was just the second non-sequel, non-franchise movie to hit 70 million bucks in the last 10 years.

22:35Oppenheimer was the other. But get this, Amazon is behind Project Hail Mary. Yeah, Amazon is behind it. And shockingly, they didn't use any green screens. All of it is an original bet that paid off. And finally, drones are having a moment, not just in the military and in war. This is pretty wild. the latest drone startup is actually using drones to wash windows. Lucid Drones raised$20 million to fly up really high to like the 100th floor if necessary to wash skyscraper windows. So best is if you're in the Empire State Building right now and you can see all the way to Massachusetts, it may be thanks to drone window washers.

23:13Yetis, now time for the best fact yet. This one kind of a correction sent in by a lot of you. Sent in by Chenille Kalan in Winchester, Virginia. Aaron Hess in Idaho, Daniel Paul in Denver, and Kevin Erickson on Spotify. Because yesterday we told you about the biggest innovation in American air for the United Airlines debuted flying mattresses, the air mattress. It takes over three seats. Now we said United had exclusivity on this concept in North America, but they're not the first company to do it. Jack, who actually invented the three-seat air mattress concept? Air New Zealand did 15 years ago.

23:43Yeah, Air New Zealand, they called it the Sky Couch, and they're actually licensing this technology to United Airlines. Yetis, you're looking fantastic going into the weekend. Jack, celebrate the wins. New York Live show almost sold out. There's like 10 tickets left right now. I'm celebrating that win this weekend. And Jack and I can't wait to see you Monday. Drop down to give us five stars. Helps grow the show. And celebrate the wins.

24:12And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Skip Nelson in Idina, Minnesota. Skip never skips a T-Boy episode, especially keeping him entertained during his layovers as a pilot. And a happy birthday to my brother, Nicholas Kramer, the eldest of all the Kramers. And happy birthday to sixth grade teacher, Raina McConnell in Nevada City, who just bought a house and is getting married in May and is having the best party yet. Happy birthday to Daniel in Queens. We'll see him at our New York show in two weeks. Can't wait. And Paul Reynolds in Hinesburg, Vermont. Happy best birthday yet. And Luke Ridgely in Alexandria, Virginia is turning seven while his two-year-old sister is dancing to the rap jingle with him right now.

24:48Happy 43rd birthday to Michael Contini in Brooklyn, New York. And Robert Hill, enjoy that birthday in Nino, Wisconsin. And David Leo in the Bay Area, happy birthday. And Sharonda U, we see your birthday in lovely Los Angeles. And happy birthday to Bridget Martin, the publishing badass and the Gatsby of Long Island. And we've got a fantastic wedding celebration coming to Adriel Kond and Claudia Vega, who are getting married in Chicago, doing way more than logistics.

25:15This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Reddit. I don't own Clear anymore. And we do own stock of Apple, and I still own Peloton. And we also own shares of Airbnb.

25:27Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things. So why waste time sending important documents the old-fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with Stamps.com. Print postage on demand 24-7 and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90 % with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust Stamps.com. Go to Stamps.com and use code PODCAST to try Stamps.com risk-free for 60 days.