🧾 “wtf is that?” — Say Hello to Tariff Fees. Costco’s 1st beer dupe. Return of the Mascots.
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This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, April 21st, 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. Yeti's big update. On tomorrow's show, we're going to pause our regular programming for a very good reason, because we interviewed the CEO of the trendiest tech company in America. This is the coolest

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Prepare for the tariff fee. But we predict you will see two names for the tariff fee. One is the Trump fee, and the other is the Patriot fee. For our second story, Costco's one weakness? It's never successfully sold a Kirkland beer. But one Oregon microbrewery is slapping Costco on their cans, and we'll tell you why. And for our third and final story, there's a new marketing trend taking over American companies.

Corporate mascots. Because Jake from State Farm will do one thing the Kardashian sisters won't. But, Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What up?

A mix of news stories. Love the mix, Jack. As we mentioned, we're dropping a CEO interview for tomorrow's pod. And Basties, this company has so much buzz right now, its name crosses borders. Literally. Only problem, the mascot is more famous than the CEO. Because tomorrow we are interviewing Luis Van An, the CEO and co-founder of Duolingo on this show. It's a big deal.

And the origin story of the owl.

Oh, the owl. Jack, what do you say we play a quick preview for the besties out there? Here's a teaser about Duolingo's Super Bowl commercial from last year. Roll the tape. One of the most talked about Super Bowl commercials. It was only five seconds and it was just the owl's butt growing into another owl. It was the owl and he was sitting backwards. You could just see his back, but you could see his butt crack.

And then it started growing, like his butt started growing. And then suddenly what it was, it was another owl grew out of the owl's butt. And then it just said, do your Duolingo. AI can't come up with that. Who comes up with that? You need an art degree to come up with that concept. But this is an example of the stuff they come up with. They come up with really weird stuff. And I actually believe that as AI matures, what's going to be most valuable is taste. And I

And I think just having all these artists here is very valuable because they have a lot of taste. They really kind of have an idea of what's weird and what's quirky and what's unhinged that lets us go move the brand forward. I think the artists are going to do better. I was talking to one of our engineers who pointed this out. Before like 50 years ago, math nerds were not in a good spot. They kind of were ostracized. And at some point, because of technology, math nerds, like the richest people in the world are math nerds. And like, they got a boon. Yeah.

likely that because of AI, math and nurse are not going to be all that valuable anymore. It's cyclical. So Yetis, stay tuned tomorrow right here for the special episode with the Duolingo co-founder. Really funny guy. He talks about the super app of education. Just beware that unhinged owl. Yetis, let's hit our three stars. Let's hit them. 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. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

Airbnb. Yetis, you know what time of year it is? Everyone's asking, are you doing any travel this summer? Our preferred question, what are you doing with your place while you're traveling? Well, Jack, you know, we're considering a trip to France in June and I may zuck your Airbnb hosting gig. You're thinking about hosting on Airbnb? I've been listening to our ads about it. You talk about it all the time. So I'm kind of drinking the Kool-Aid on the Airbnb.

Once you sign up, you're going to love setting up your host page. You take pictures of your house, you make it look beautiful. And if we put our place in Airbnb, we could set the rates, but Airbnb would help us set the rates from what you've told me. Exactly. And the best part, you get to decide what to spend the money on that you earn by hosting on Airbnb. So if we put our place in Airbnb, I'd use that money to pay for the trip that we go on while we put our place on Airbnb. That's how I do it. I always pay for my travel with my Airbnb hostings.

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For our first story, as tariffs start trickling down to consumer prices, you're about to notice a new thing on all your receipts. A tariff fee. Actually, Nick, are you going to see a tariff fee or are you going to see a Patriot fee? And that is the question. But yet is Jack and I noticed a wild hero stat over the weekend. Jack, can you share it with the Yetis? Sales of new cars surged 30% in March.

March was the best month for new car sales in four years. That sounds totally random, so what's the reason, man? People are trade war hoarding. Yeah, you're panic buying before the 25% car tariff set in and jack up car prices 5,000 bucks a car. The trade war is the biggest disruption to supply chain since the pandemic. Toilet paper trigger warning. So people are basically trying to beat the buzzer.

They're snatching up big ticket items before they get touched by tariffs. As they say, when tariffs loom, carts do boom. That is the poetry. But once tariffs hit, what happens to carts then? We'll all find out later this year. Well, this pre-tariff splurge, it has even affected our GDP. That's how big it was. That's right. In January and February, our economy was shrinking. But then in March, it suddenly grew as people started panic buying.

Paul Revere once yelled out that the British are coming. Well, in 2025, the price hikes are coming. The price hikes are coming. Which leads to something we think you're going to start seeing everywhere. The tariff fee. Nick subscribes to cleaning products. Okay, yeah, I do. They arrive monthly at his door so he doesn't have to worry about refilling them. And he just got a special email from the company he subscribes to. Yeah, it's a company called Grove, and here was the email subject line.

Prices of your subscribed products are increasing. And I forwarded it to Jack. And Jack, what did you see inside that email? The prices of the things you buy are increasing by 10% to 50%, depending on the item. Yeah, like soap and paper towels. Oh, also, over the weekend, Jack, Molly and I were going to buy new silverware over the weekend. I'm not trying to brag here, but it was French silverware. I was pretty excited about it, too. It looked really good. But then the store slapped on a 10% tariff fee at checkout. And didn't you walk away from the deal? Well, Jack, when I got to the checkout...

I saw that final price with the tariff fee and I said, not possible. Yetis, it's not just Nick. You and I are going to start seeing this too, whether you're shopping online or in-store. And the tariff fee, it's the new Fifi. Jolie, the showerhead company, they make their showerheads in China. Jack, what are they doing? Well, with 145% tariffs, they just added a specific tariff.

tariff fee at the checkout. In fact, Jack and I think this tariff fee could trickle down even to the restaurants you eat at. Even if they offer the same menu, their ingredient prices are probably going to rise because of these 10% across-the-board tariffs, so restaurants might add a tariff fee.

Now, tariffs raise prices. It's an economic reality. The question is, though, who absorbs those prices? Is it the manufacturer, the retailer, or does it get passed all the way down to you and me, the consumers? Well, all righty, massive this weekend. It looks like companies are starting to pass higher prices on to us. And they're doing it transparently.

They're sticking it right on the receipt like it's a separate tax or something. Like you have the subtotal, the state tax, the city tax, the automatic gratuity, and the tariff fee. The receipt yetis, the checkout cart, all of them are valuable real estate because we look at those final prices, which leads to our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are out to see the tariff fee? These tariff fees are going to get political.

Yeah, it is. These higher prices are coming. It's an economic certainty. Even our Fed chairman, Jerry Powell, said so last week. What's not certain is how these higher prices will be labeled. Okay, here's how this could play out. On the one hand, companies want to be transparent that these higher prices are out of their control. Basically, if you add a tariff fee, you're telling the customer, this isn't our fault.

It wasn't our idea to raise prices. So some brands, especially brands controlled by non-Trump supporters, they could call this the Trump tariff surcharge. Give it a little political angle. But others might want to show support for President Trump and use a fee like liberation fee or China fee or patriot fee. Remember the Freedom Fries renaming that happened in the early 2000s? Same rebranding concept, Jack. But I

having a label that feels political, Jack, that could also alienate customers on the other side just by having the fee. Okay, so maybe you just call it tariff fee and like try to be neutral with your fee labeling. But then Jack, even just calling it a tariff fee, that could be perceived as an anti-Trump move as well. Yeah, Trump probably wants no attention on this at all when it comes to consumer prices. So besties, add it all up and you're going to start to see the tariff fee and they are going to get political.

For our second story, Costco's wildly popular Kirkland brand finally has a good tasting beer. But the biggest winner of this Kirkland brew might be one Oregon craft brewery.

Now, yetis, as we've told you, we have a weekly show. It's called The Best Idea Yet, and on that show, Jack and I tell you the most viral products of all time, how they came to be. And our most popular episode is the one about Costco. Yeah. Specifically, the Kirkland brand. Costco's private label brand that makes up a quarter of Costco's revenue. Get this, just Kirkland brings in $66 billion of sale a year for Costco.

Kirkland Signature brand brings in more revenue every year than Boeing, America's biggest airplane manufacturer. More than Amex and a whole lot more than Lyft. We won't even get into that. This is the cult of Kirkland Signature. You are a Kirkaholic. But that cult...

Has been beer-less for seven years, haven't they, Nick? It's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Costco has one surprise weakness no one would have expected. They've never figured out how to get a good store-branded beer. Like years ago, Jack, didn't Costco have like a 48-pack Kirkland Signature Light you could crack open in the garage? Yeah, 48 light beers for 20 bucks. And even though it was 50 cents a can, they had to discontinue it. It tasted that bad.

Ah, the elusive Kirkland beer. It's been Costco's Achilles heel for decades. But here's the news. Kirkland finally has a keg worthy of the Costco brand. It's called Kirkland Signature Lager. And this one Kirkland beer is seeing accelerating sales. Let's talk numbers here, Jack. That failed beer, the Kirkland Signature Light from years ago, it got a two-star review on Untapped, the beer drinking app.

But this new beer has a 3.6 star review and apparently sales are doing really nicely. Now the key when it comes to the Kirkland brand, here's the business model. They don't make the products. They're just the brand.

So they basically vet some great food manufacturer and say, you're worthy of the Kirkland brand. So Jack, who is the beer worthy of the Kirkland brand in this case? It's Deschutes Brewery over in Oregon. They're the company behind this new Costco beer that is selling 12 packs for 14 bucks. Believe it or not, Kirkland branded Costco

Coffee beans sold at Costco? Those are actually Starbucks coffee beans. And Kirkland's new successful beer is actually Deschutes Craft Brewery Beer with a Kirkland label. But Nick...

These beers are sold as a 12-pack for just 14 bucks, so that's just over a dollar a can. I'm doing the math here, Jack, and for a little over a buck a beer, that must be a low-quality brew, right, man? Wrong. Kirkland's beer is actually the same Deschutes beer that won a gold medal last year at the Great American Beer Festival. And here's the key reason how. Kirkland's brand...

actually has a very specific financial rule. They will never set a price that has a profit margin higher than 14%. Now, that 14% profit margin magnet is unique in the industry. Other companies don't typically do this. No matter the product, though, Kirkland will never set a profit margin higher than 14%. But still, Jack, I gotta ask, $1.20 for a can of beer? Like, they must be diluting the ingredients for Costco's version. False.

because of our takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Costco? When you grab onto a rocket ship, you get a free ride.

Yeah it is. Deschutes beer has a problem. This craft brewery made a gold medal beer, but it was expensive. A fancy German malt is pricey. If Deschutes had tried to scale that gold medal beer like all their other beers, it would have been tough to do because of that high premium price. So instead they partnered with Costco. Because once Costco blesses a product, then its 100 million members start buying that endorsed product. And because of that guaranteed demand from the cult of Costco,

Deschutes didn't have to spend a dollar on marketing it. All those cost savings from the marketing, that let them keep high quality ingredients in the beer for a low price. As Deschutes put it, it would have taken them 20 years to scale this fast if they had done it on their own. This was all about scale. And honestly, it reminds us of the deal we did with Robinhood years ago. Selling to Robinhood exposed our podcast to a giant audience. It

It might have taken us 20 years to scale our podcast that fast if we'd tried to do it on our own. Because as Major Tom said to Ground Control, when you grab onto a rocket ship, you get a free ride. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Prize picks. All right, Jack, favorite player on the Knicks right now. You know who it is?

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Yeah, it is. I'm always surprised by the range of potential topics that just pop up out of nowhere in the middle of therapy. Last session, Nick talked about how choices in his 20s and 30s can help prevent a midlife crisis. Yeah, like Jack, like the level of autonomy you have at work

is key for preventing a midlife crisis. Makes sense. If you're feeling micromanaged, that can lead to macro problems years down the road. I like what you did there. Besties, that is all to say that therapy isn't just about talking about your relationship with your mom. You cover your work too. And speaking of work, let's talk numbers.

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So visit betterhelp.com slash tboy today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash tboy. For our third and final story, the biggest marketing trend of the year is, shockingly, mascots. Corporate mascots are being born across America because the best influencers are the ones you control completely.

All right, Jack, let's whip out the whiteboard here, because we have been keeping track of the rise of mascots like we're bird watchers. Just this year, Yetis, Domino's launched Max Scott, a new penny pasta-shaped mascot for the pizza chain. And they got 10,000 followers in one day after launching a pasta-shaped mascot. Also this year, Kava, the fast casual restaurant chain, launched Peter Chip, a pita chip,

With googly eyes. Jack, how about at the Super Bowl? Remember the Instacart ad? It was basically only mascots, right? And it's not just cartoon characters thriving as mascots today. Because who happens to be Gen Z's favorite influencer on TikTok these days? Jake from State Farm. I believe it's Jake from State Farm, Jack. No, it's OK Jake from State Farm. What are you wearing? Um, khakis. Red shirt, solid belt, pleated khakis. That's who we're talking about.

Get this. Jake from State Farm has 1.4 million TikTok followers. He has 300,000 Instagram followers, and he has 100,000 followers on Twitter. He's an insurance mascot. At this point, we need a new TV show on HBO. America's Next Top...

top mascot. Now, Yetis, you probably think to yourself, look, mascots are dead. Tony the Tiger? When was the last time you saw him? What was his phrase? They're great. I mean, mascots are so dated, the whole concept is corny. Why are they trending right now, Jack? We've found a few reasons.

First, we're all living in the attention economy. Yeah, mascots, they catch your attention really quickly in your Instagram feed. Boom! It's the Trix bunny. Okay, that captures my attention. But it's not just the attention, it's also the cost. It's cheaper to create a fictional character than to pay Brad Pitt to endorse your packaged goods product. The bigger reason, we think, for this mascot mania is cost.

Because you can make your mascot do anything. Okay, planters killed their Mr. Peanut mascot and then replaced him with a baby nut mascot. You can't do that to our Kardashian. Also, Duolingo's Duo the Owl, they also had the owl fake his death last month. And that thing is more unhinged than any paid celebrity would ever be.

So basically, if you are a company, you can go god mode on your mascot and no one's going to stop you. That's why every CEO is telling their marketing department, they need a cuddly mascot on my desk ASAP. Now, the key here is that brands are investing in creative to build out multifaceted mascots with real personalities. That's why customers like us genuinely like these mascots. These little quirks give them humanity, like Geico the gecko is successful because he is cheekily and...

Fakely British. But this mascot mania goes even deeper because it's all a response to one specific force. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies staring at these mascots? Mascots are influencers minus the risk.

It's a simple equation. Because yetis, we've said before, live by the influencer, you die by the influencer. It's a risk to your business, sometimes working with influencers. Publicly listed companies literally list influencers as one of the top risks to the brand. I mean, Jack, remember the fall of Bud Light two years ago? How could I not?

It began with drama over one of their influencers. Well, this mascot renaissance is the response to this influencer risk and politics fatigue. A mascot is how a company can play on social media and beyond, but control the narrative the whole time. Kava's new PETA chip isn't going to share an opinion on vaccine mandates. No. No.

Customers want less politics from their brands right now, and businesses want less controversy. Yes, mascot mania is the solution. Almost like an emotional support animal for both. Mascots. They're influencers, minus the risk.

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Tariff fees have already arrived. Tariffs are getting a separate surcharge on your receipt. Oh, tariff fees, they're coming. We've seen them, and they're going to get political. For our second story, it's Kirkland Signature Lager. They're winning praise from beer critics, but Deschutes is the real winner. Because when you grab onto a rocket ship, you get a free ride!

And our third and final story. It seems like every day a new Fortune 500 mascot is born. Because mascots are influencers minus the risk. They're Kim Kardashians without the sex tape.

But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First wild story from the Wall Street Journal you may hear at the water cooler this week. Elon Musk has 14 kids. There was deep reporting from the Wall Street Journal on how Elon manages what he calls his legion of offspring. Elon's big on population growth. He's actually fathered children with four different women, 14 total so far. And according to the Wall Street Journal, he has a compound in Austin, Texas, where he would like them all to stay.

the women and the children. And second, the top performing stock market of this year, guess what? It's Ghana. The African nation of Ghana, the stock market's up 23% because they got a big loan from the International Monetary Fund. Side note, best stock so far in America this year, it's Hertz rental car. Hertz stock surged 50% last week because it might not go bankrupt. And

Finally, a quick FYI in case you were planning a vacation around Firefest 2. Firefest 2 has been delayed. Billy McFarlane, the guy who went to jail for the first Firefest fraud, he was planning a second one. Tickets were $1,400. It was going to happen in Mexico in June, but... It's postponed. At least he's consistent.

Now time for the best fact yet, which on Mondays is trivia. Jack, whip it up for us. What comic book franchise started as a joke? Okay, we're not kidding. Like, the creators literally said to each other, what is the dumbest idea we can come up with? And then, that dumb idea became a billion dollar brand. No joke, it started as a joke. Here's a hint for you. This comic book series doesn't have a cinematic universe. Yes.

So besties, leave your guess about that comic TV and film franchise in the comments on Spotify or YouTube. It's the dumbest smart idea ever. And it's the next episode of The Best Idea Yet. Yeti!

You look fantastic over there. Jack, you look fantastic leading into this interview. I am thrilled to be on this mic with you. We're going to have a blast. It's such a funny and insightful interview. It's really good. It was absolutely our best one, yeah. Luis is hilarious and brilliant at the same time. There were so many gems in this one. And the fact that English is his second language, it made it even more impressive that he was more articulate than us.

In his second language. Yes, exactly. You're going to love to hear this, Yeti. So tune in tomorrow right here on this feed. That interview is going to be the best idea yet. Nick and I will see you there. Can't wait. Can't wait.

And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti Mia McConnell, a founding member of The Grext, celebrating the best birthday yet in Los Altos Hills, California. Happy birthday to Nicole from Atlanta, who's listening with her son, Nico. Oh, this is Nick, and I appreciate the names, and Jaden Enfield.

Ben Field from Tucson, Arizona just had the best birthday yet on 420 with a couple of Twinkies. And happy birthday to Aaron Garcia from Thornton, Colorado. This legend has been listening since our snacks days. And a happy belated to Shruti Kartik turning 13 years old in Sandy, Utah. Shruti, hope you had the best birthday yet. Congratulations to Laura Lynn Donahue, who just hit a huge milestone. She is a published author.

down in Columbia, Tennessee. And Megan up in Colorado Springs won a box of cookies at Trader Joe's because she answered the trivia question, where does Trader Joe's art actually come from? And she heard the answer on this pod. We got your back, Megan. And the legendary Alexandra Kravici-Kramer, a.k.a. A.C.K., walked

10,000 steps yesterday with the newborn strapped on and a two and a four-year-old in the stroller. Nick, when you're carrying three kids, you got to multiply the steps by three. Oh, absolutely. Three round up, apple round up. That's a hat trick, baby. And finally, congratulations to David Nelson, the anesthesiologist. We know someone who wants your number. And let's just say you knocked her out. And you gave her a colonoscopy yesterday.

And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock in Kava and Lyft. And Nick bought tickets to Fyre Fest 1. No, I'm just kidding. He didn't. No, but our buddy Timmy did. I think our buddy Timmy did. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did.

If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. We want to get to know you.

Whole Foods started in the counterculture city of Austin, Texas, and it took pride in being anti-corporate and outside the mainstream. But like the city itself, Whole Foods has morphed over the years, for better or worse, and is now a multi-billion dollar brand. The latest season of Business Wars explores the meteoric rise of the Whole Foods brand. On its surface, this is a story about how an idealistic founder made good on his dream of changing American food culture.

But it's also a case study about the conflict between ambition and idealism, how lofty goals wilt under the harsh light of financial reality, and what gets lost on the way to the top. Follow Business Wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge Business Wars, The Whole Foods Rebellion, early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.