🎾 “Shhhhhh” — US Open’s Influencer issue. Open Rogue AI. Hershey’s S’Mores bet. +Burning (Old) Man
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Tuesday, T-Boy. Tuesday, September 8th. And today's pod is the best one. Yeah, this is a T-Boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, it's time to start asking: what are your autumnal goals? True. It's basically autumn, right? Well, I'm gonna have more apple-based products this year than pumpkin-based products. Okay, that's good. That's a good first one. What do you got? I'm gonna choose my Halloween costume, not The week of Halloween and not do a couples costume either. And what about your sweater quota? Do you have a sweater quota this year? You had that giant turtleneck last year. I still can see it. True. I gotta get the flannel out of the closet before the moths get to them.
Is it in a closet or is it in like private storage in a giant bin somewhere, Jack? Okay, that's enough, Nick. Yeti stocks dipped because of a big jobs report. More on that in a bit. But in the meantime, three fantastic stories. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, the U US Open is the latest cultural institution to become overrun by influencers. Because for tennis to go mainstream, they must allow live streams. For our second story, Hugging Face is the AI company named after an emoji. It makes you laugh. But we just read the crime report of the Hugging Face hack, and that makes you panic laugh. And our third and final story is the one product that won Summer more than any other: The S'more. The S'more, Hershey's is going all in.
On s'mores, even though they don't even own it. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories, what a mix of stories to kick off the four-day week. I love the mix, Jack. Put away your goggles, your winnebagos, and your hallucinogenic fungi. Besties Burning Man ended yesterday. Welcome back to the office, guys. Shower up. Burning Man. It's Coachella for techies on Ashwaganda. Elon went there back when he was starting Tesla. And the Google co-founders went there before Google was a verb.
What is the US Open’s influencer problem and why does it matter?
Because for 40 years, the epic art festival in the Nevada Desert has inspired the young. Until now. Because get this. Burning Man is now a midlife crisis move. Yeah, here are the receipts. Ten years ago, one-third of festival goers were in their 20s. Today, just 10% are. Where are the kids? I don't know. Burning Man has gone from young person event to old. Oh, the one couple we know who's actually there right now? They're 37. Not old by any means, but like is Burning Man really where you're going? Yeah, because instead of drugs and art, it looks like they're playing bingo and shuffleboard right now. Burning man is now burning old man. Wait, Ajack, did I see your nana on the ply of this? Probably not. Probably Nick.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the burners are so old these days, they've banned smart glasses. Bifocals only. Yeah, meta ray bands ain't cool in the orgy tent, guys. But funny thing, while Burning Man is Getting older, it's also gotten richer. That's right, because 10 years ago, 11% of burners were earning 150,000 bucks or more a year. Yeah. Today it's triple that. Makes sense. Anything that's correlated with boomers is also correlated with billions. Yeah, tickets to Burning Man, they've doubled as well. So 20 somethings are getting priced out by tech moguls. And the midlife crisis car is getting replaced by the midlife crisis camp. So if you want to understand our economy, just look at Burning Man. It's older.
It's richer, but it's still getting high. Burning old man. Nana, you don't want to eat that. Trust me. You gotta go get your nana. Let's sit at three stores. You gotta shower.
15 years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm.
Why is Burning Man now being called “Burning Old Man” and what does it signal?
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 read to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. Start the show.
First, a quick word
from our sponsor.
For our first story,
the US Open is hitting all-time highs in revenue, attendance, and now influencers.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:40
2
What is the US Open’s influencer problem and why does it matter?
1:40–3:15
3
Why is Burning Man now being called “Burning Old Man” and what does it signal?
3:15–4:22
4
How are influencers changing the marketing playbook at the US Open?
4:22–17:05
5
Why did the US Open’s influencer presence cause on‑court disruptions?
17:05–20:11
6
How is the trade‑off between reach and control shaping brand strategy?
20:11–21:58
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Best One Yet
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