The Best One Yet
🥤“The Secret Lives of Coke Zero” — America’s oil record. Coke Zero’s Mormon surge. Starbucks’ Sharpie Marker.
Mon, 04 Nov 2024
Starbucks is buying 200k Sharpie Markers to put names on cups... we’re calling it “The Sharpie Doctrine”.America just produced more oil in a month than any time in history… USA is the new OPEC.Soda sales are rising for the 1st time in a decade… It’s thanks to Coke Zero and Mormons.Plus, the 4th episode of our new show drops Tuesday: The untold origin story of The Jeep — The car that saved the world… and united the country. 🚙 Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen. Episodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.$GM $KO $XOM $NWL—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of Starbucks' Sharpie Doctrine?
This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, November 4th, and 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. Jack, looking fantastic over there. Big week. Should we hit the three stories? For our first story, we got Sharpie.
Sharpie sells 200 million permanent markers every year, and they just got an order for 200,000 of them from Starbucks. So we're going to look at the world's first permanent marker and why Starbucks is obsessed with it. For our second story, America just produced more oil in one month than we have in any other month in our history. The USA is the new OPEC. And our third and final story, soda sales.
Soda sales are surging for the first time in a decade. And it's all thanks to Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Mormon moms. That's right. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Hey, Julie, one more round of dirty soda for the kids. Election day is tomorrow. America is anxious, eager, and divided. And that's why Jack and I wanted to talk about an episode we just did that united us.
It's an episode about the Jeep. The Jeep, because the Jeep is an American creation that saved the world. Yetis, our latest episode of The Best Idea Yet drops tomorrow, and it's on the Jeep. It's on the Jeep because during World War II, the U.S. military asked the U.S. car industry for a favor. Create a vehicle for the allies that can help us win the war. But here's what we found fascinating.
Chapter 2: How did Coke Zero contribute to rising soda sales?
Few know that the Jeep was actually a wild group project. That's right. To create the Jeep, three rival American car companies came together. They put aside their differences and built something unprecedented, baby. The Jeep wasn't just the first SUV ever, which it was. It's also been ranked the most patriotic brand in America the past 20 years. And probably the next 20 years.
And the Jeep surprise story is the fourth episode of our new series, The Best Idea Yet. The Best Idea Yet. The untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. So Yetis, tomorrow on election day, after you listen to this show, go make sure you voted. But then after that, if you're looking for a break from political coverage, listen to our new episode on the Jeep.
Chapter 3: What historical significance does the Jeep have?
We dropped a link in the episode description. It's the Jeep, a creation of many Americans from competing companies that saved the world, literally. It's a wild story. We got three fantastic stories in this episode. First, let's hit our three stars. Jack, what's in it?
15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in a dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It'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. Start the show.
First, a quick word from our sponsor.
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For our first story, Sharpie, the famous black marker, is about to get its biggest order ever. So we dove into the business of the Sharpie marker because it's a work of art. Can we get a little Sharpie sound? Yetis, you may have heard our story last week that Starbucks is switching back to handwritten names on their coffee cups. No more computer printed stickers they stick on the side there.
Does it say John or Juan? I don't know, whatever. Well, that means that Sharpie is about to get an insane order from Starbucks. 200,000 Sharpie markers are about to be ordered by our buddies at Starbucks. All 15,000 Starbucks locations are about to order Sharpie markers from one company. So yeah, it is Jack and I got curious and we dove in T-boy style.
Turns out Sharpie was actually the first ever permanent marker. In 1964, they differentiated from pens by giving it a felt tip. And now before the Sharpie, you only had pens with like ballpoint or fountain tips. Huge ink risk, Jack. Huge pocket risks right there. That stain's not coming out. But Sharpie was fast dry and fade resistant as a marker, so you could write on any surface.
It actually became popular with blue-collar and white-collar workers alike. You could make a mark on a piece of wood, or you could make a mark on that earnings report. Oh, and a timeless use case for the Sharpie marker? It's autographs. Yeah, markers blew up. The Sharpie blew up because of celebrities. Picture Happy Gilmore signing that fan's chest in Happy Gilmore.
Jack, legend has it that Marlon Brando would walk around with six Sharpies in his pocket. I don't know if he needed six. If you sign with a Bic, that autograph's going to disappear, man. Yeti's Sharpie. It's become synonymous with any premium marker. When you say Sharpie, people think you mean a heavy, expensive pen.
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Chapter 4: Why is America now the largest oil producer?
Now, American production of natural gas was flat from the 1970s all the way through the 2000s. But back in 2010, fracking took off, and it actually gave Pennsylvania an energy industry to rival Texas's. So when you hear drill, baby, drill, and we need to drill more, you'd think that our country is short on oil. It feels like we're low on the black stuff, Jack. But the reality...
In fact, the reality is our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies in America? America has become the world's largest gas station. Yetis, what do we produce and export to the rest of the world from America? It's movies, music, technology, Pop-Tarts, all those good things. And gas. Gas. In 2019, the United States actually became energy independent thanks to all of our oil booms.
And that's allowed us to export our energy leftovers. In a big way. No country exports more natural gas than the United States right now. Before the war in Ukraine, we used to say that Russia was Europe's gas station. But Jack, is that the situation today? The United States has become Europe's gas station. Okay, in fact, right now, German homes are getting heated by American liquefied natural gas.
Which we shipped overseas in a giant tanker. In fact, this is a wild one, but the United States produces 50% more oil and gas than the number two country. And who's that, Jack? Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia. 50% more than the Saudis. We're like the Shohei Otani of fossil fuels. We got natural gas and oil. We're the T-Rex of fossil fuels, Jack.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of lateral drilling?
It might be a big surprise to you, but America is already the world's biggest gas station.
Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and At Will Media, I'm Misha Brown, and this is The Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time, like Quibi. It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to, like, get other people to do it.
and the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats. Like, if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie. Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery+.
Chapter 6: How does fracking affect natural gas production?
Get started with your free trial at wondery.com slash plus.
For our third and final story, in a shocking reversal, millennials are driving soda sales. Why are we drinking Coke Zero? Because one group of women in Utah told us to. Besties, honestly, Jack and I never thought we'd see the day, but Jack, we're seeing the day. Millennials want Mountain Dew again. I say again because when I was a kid, I chugged the stuff. I've seen some pictures, Jack.
But besties, when millennials like us had graduated college and we were buying groceries, we were rejecting soda over an aisle six. In 2015, per capita soda consumption in America hit a 30-year low. We called it the Great Pop Purge. Syrupy soda water wasn't healthy. You weren't buying the stuff. I mean, there is so much sugar in there.
But during the pandemic, you bought soda as a home comfort food to make you feel a little bit better. And even though the pandemic's over, this year, soda sales have continued to surge. Get this, Yetis. Dr. Pepper's earnings last week, they said soda has outperformed every expectation. Coca-Cola said soda is resilient. I hope soda's resilient. That's your only product.
The other day, I caught Jack chugging a Fanta underneath our podcast recording desk. Don't deny it, Jack. Don't deny it. Don't you want a Fanta Fanta? But the wildest part about this is that the soda surge has been caused by one particular soda, the Coke Zero soda. Sales of Coke Zero rose last quarter by 11% for Coca-Cola. Now, one reason why soda sales are surging, soda's cheap.
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Chapter 7: What does America's energy independence mean for the world?
Oh, it's cheap, Jack. A two liter of Pepsi costs two bucks. That's cheaper than water. In this economy, that's a good deal. But the other big thing going for soda... It's Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons are having a pop culture moment, pun intended. And that is bringing soda sales back, baby. Can we open up Religion 101? Sprinkle on some context. What do we got, man?
The Mormon faith prohibits coffee or alcohol consumption. So sugar is an acceptable Mormon vice. And that cultural sweet tooth of Mormons is a topic we've discussed on this podcast. Crumble Cookies, the largest cookie chain in America, its headquarters are in Utah. Chicago does logistics. Salt Lake City does dessert.
And there's this popular Mormon pastime known as dirty soda that's been trending on TikTok recently. The dirty soda is when you take a Diet Coke and you mix in syrup, like two pumps, Darlene, right in the Diet Coke. Two pumps of cream along with the syrup and the Diet Coke. But the timing is perfect because Utah moms have now gone viral on TikTok for exactly this.
They're filling up their Stanley Tumblr with Coke Zero dirty soda. And on Netflix, a new show called The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is also focused on this. It's all anyone's watching. Mormons on Netflix drinking dirty Coke.
talking about their men so the gospel of sugar-free soda it is so big that dr pepper even launched their very own dirty soda it's like a canned alcoholic cocktail minus the alcohol plus the dirty soda it's dr pepper and coconut cream but bottled and sold by dr pepper So you can follow the trend from Mormon social media into Coca-Cola's earnings.
Coke Zero, its sales are up 11% and Coke Zero got called out six times on that Coke earnings. Because regular, original Coke, sales are flat. But Coke Zero is up 11%. And that leads us to a takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in marketing? Sometimes the winner is blatant branding. Yetis, sometimes a product gains success because it literally spells out what it is.
We call this blatant branding. Blatant branding. Like 1-800-Flowers. The name of the company is the phone number of the company. And that helps them stand out in a world of distractions. Or Dollar Shave Club. Five-hour energy. I can't believe it's not butter. It's not butter. And they can't believe it either, Justin.
like you it's the same with coke zero sugar yeah actually coke zero was invented in 2005 as coke zero but in 2017 they added the word sugar to make it coke zero sugar now we should point out it's not clear that artificial sweetener which is what's in coke zero sugar is any healthier than natural sweetener which is in coke but rebranding this product to coke zero sugar led to a sales jump
Coke Zero Sugar stood out in the soft drink aisle. And we think that's a prime example of the rare but successful blatant branding. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Starbucks is ordering 200,000 Sharpie markers because they are handwriting names on cups again. We call it the Sharpie Doctrine, when one small change symbolizes a company's entire priorities.
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