Transcript 0:00 Still waiting in line, again? That's time you will never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over four million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. 0:11 Join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds. 0:21 Get $20 in free postage when you sign up for the pro plan at stamps.com/blackfriday2026. Terms and conditions apply. [gentle music] Hi, everyone. 0:32 My name is Boye Kolade, and I'm co-founder and president of The Future Party. And I'm Chris Sawtell, CEO and co-founder of Croscheck Studios. 0:39 And welcome to The Future Forecast, a podcast where we explore the intersection between business, technology, and entertainment. We've done the research so you don't have to. 0:48 We're here to give our opinions on news topics and have a thoughtful discussion on the shifting landscape of our culture. Hell, yeah. Oh, yeah. But before we get into it, what's going on with your hair, bro? 1:01 Dude, we're in our soccer era. [laughs] I gotta, I gotta tell you, World Cup is thriving. Max is hating me. [laughs] Max is giving me so much shit for it. I love it. I'm like, I'm, I'm wearing headbands now. 1:12 I, I, you know, the... Listen, it's a, it's a, uh- It's great... yeah. You know what? I, I've actually never done long hair. Okay. 1:18 Like, uh, when I was a kid, when, when I was, uh, when I was three, I had, like, a long hair moment, but it wasn't my choice. Or two, my mom had me... Like, I had a bit of a curly Drew fro. Yeah. And, um, I don't know. 1:32 My, uh... Shout out, shout out Marcos. Uh, he, uh, he, he's my, uh, uh, my hair stylist. [laughs] Like, yeah, we're gr- we're growing it, we're growing it out. We're not giving you a choice. And so here we are. 1:46 I feel like long hair is, like, a midlife... Well, I don't know if we're midlife. Oh, you can say it. G- wow. Yeah. Wow, okay. You're gonna, you're gonna hit me with that right now? 1:55 But, like, I'm- Well, look, I have long hair... gun's loaded. Gun's loaded I- Gun, gun's loaded, so lo- no, lock the bullets. L- start loading the bullets. Okay. Let's, let's go. 2:01 I feel like it's, like, a midlife crisis thing, but not in a bad way. Wow. I, I feel like- Mm... it's just us experimenting. Like, I started to grow out my hair, uh, a couple years ago. Yeah. And I... 2:13 Traditionally, it had always been short, and then, like, as I grew older, I started experimenting with it, and now I have locks that are, like, t- almost to my shoulders, you know? 2:23 So I guess my question is, how long are you gonna let yours grow? Oh, not l- not... I- I think this is as long as it really gets. Like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not growing it out like Jon Snow or anything. 2:33 [laughs] I just- I'd love to see it. I'd love to see it. No, no, no. I actually don't even know if I could do that. Like, that'd be weird. I, I don't wanna be a... I just want, like, Spanish soccer player long-ish hair. 2:48 Hair. Right? Like, I, I'm down to, I'm down to do that for a second. That'll be fun. Uh- Speaking, speaking of soccer, are you watching the World Cup? Yeah. Yeah, man. Nice. And I gotta say, I'm, I'm a little surprised. 3:00 I'm a little surprised. I mean- At what? The US, I'm not. Uh, at, at, at how the games have gone. I thought Brazil... Spoiler alert for anyone that hasn't watched the games. [laughs] Yeah. 3:10 Uh, yeah, I, I thought Brazil was gonna win it. Yeah. And, uh, well, you know, they... I mean, so m- there's so much soccer still to be played. Yep. But- Yeah... I just think that right now everyone... 3:21 You know, they, they also, everyone also says this is where everyone is starting to get their... It, it's easier to play on defense. Mm-hmm. And, and you'll... 3:29 we'll see more draws than we'll see wins in the, in the starting, in the starting phases. Yep. But listen, I, I'm, I'm proud of the US. I, I think we have a great team. Yeah. 3:39 And I, I think that, you know, the r- the US, if anything, has only gotten better and better and better- Mm-hmm... over the years at soccer, and so- Yep... 3:48 I think, I think we have a chance, we have a chance to qualify to semis- Mm-hmm... I think, truly. Did you, have you been watching? 'Cause then I'll just spoil some of these. Uh, yeah. Or I'll, yeah, I'll catch you up. 3:57 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, I've either been watching or I've caught highlights, and, and, um, I've, I've enjoyed it. I gotta give, I gotta give the Netherlands credit. Did not think that they were gonna... 4:06 I, I thought that Japan was gonna take it. Really? So I'm pretty surprised with that little draw. The Netherlands, though, have traditionally been a pretty good team. Like, they've been, they made it to the finals once. 4:13 Yeah. Yeah, but they don't have... I, I, I would argue that I, that they were a better team- Back in the day... two, two World Cups ago than they are. Mm. I mean, then Japan has consistently been on their A game. Yeah. 4:30 Uh, yeah, to your point, Netherlands have made it very far- Yeah... throughout the stages. I just- I actually love watching. The Netherlands, to this date, have one of my favorite memorable plays I've ever seen. 4:41 I think it might have actually- Yeah... been the World Cup, and I'll try my best to describe it, but it was a penalty- Do it in your best announcer voice. [laughs] Okay. So we had Netherlands... No, I'm just kidding. 4:52 [laughs] Um, so, uh, basically it, um, it was a penalty kick. And you know, normally on a penalty kick... Did you play soccer as a kid? Yeah. Okay. 5:04 So, uh, it was out, an outside the box penalty kick, if I recall correctly. And so normally a penalty kick, you know, you have your kicker somewhere close- You mean a free kick, for clarity. A free kick, yep. 5:15 Uh, and, uh, you had people lining up, right? Uh, to, like the defenders lining up. 5:23 Usually they stand in a line, and usually what happens is the free kick guy will kick it towards the goal for, like, a header, or sometimes even try to go into the net and then I'll jump, right? Yeah. 5:36 And this play was genius. He kicked it on the ground. Oh, under the feet? Yeah, to, to someone else, and then just ki- and then that guy kicked it. It was... I was like, "This is beautiful. This is so cool." 5:49 [laughs] That's cool. That's cool. Um- Also, in, in, in opening, you know, speaking of soccer, doesn't need to be, uh, one of our bullets, it's not one of our bullets, but 5:59 so in the trades, uh, if we're, if any, if you, if for our listeners, if you're not familiar, Nike signed Marlon- A famous Twitch streamer- Mm... or live streamer, a $5 million deal. Whoa, I didn't see this actually. 6:13 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's something that we should touch on. We're just talking about soccer. I was thinking, you know, we're- we'll see more and more promo going on, but Nike- It's amazing... 6:21 I don't know the full intricacies of the deal. Uh, did not do that research. But yeah, $5 million deal. It wouldn't surprise me that the, the Marlin is represented by a- by Night Studios. Um- Mm. Yep... 6:35 uh, and Kai is also there. The- they- Mm-hmm... opted out of him being at... Kai dropped out of his Ni- out of his Nike deal. Kai Cenat. And so, mm-hmm. Uh, yeah, yes, Kai Cenat, for those not, not, not familiar. 6:51 And I would assume that as a means to not, not a make good, but- Mm-hmm... try to keep the deal in its form- Give him another creator... he swapped out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 7:02 They, they, they, they were like, "No, but like we'll give you Marlin." Yeah. Also, Marlin deserves it. You know, by all means, he's pl- he's is a, is a great soccer player. Uh, yeah. So. How wild is it- It's crazy... 7:13 where like lifestyle live streamers are getting shoe deals? Mm-hmm. Just wild. Well, yeah, Ray, Ray, Ray, for those not familiar, is at Adidas. Marlin got Nike. 7:26 It's, it, sports creator, a creator, creators that have an affinity for sports that have strong fandom- Yeah... it'll be interesting to see we'll get more and more and more. Yeah. 7:36 We'll get, uh, larger and larger apparel deals. Yeah. Two more quick things and then we'll dive in, uh, on the pop culture reference. One, we gotta give it to the Knicks, right? That was- I mean, do, I mean, do we? 7:50 I mean, I think so. So here, going in- Don't give in to me. Fucking fight back. No, no, no. Going in, I was actually cheering for the Spurs. Yeah. 8:00 And so- But you and I are similar in the fact that we like an underdog story. You know, we like to cheer for- Yes... you know what I mean? Yes. 8:05 And everyone would argue listening to us is like, "The Knicks are the underdogs. They haven't won in forever." But it was like, no, like it was 3-1. Come on, guys. Yeah. Like, clearly the Spurs are down. 8:14 We wanna watch that. It's exciting television. Yeah. Well, so for me, going into the whole series, I was like, "Wembanyama." And here's my- Yeah... 'cause, 'cause I'm not like the biggest sports guy necessarily. 8:25 I love the tournaments. So I love the World Cup, I love the Super Bowl, I love the NBA playoffs. That's when I tune in. The big events. Yeah. The big key events. 8:34 And usually the horse in this race, I'll either lean towards like, okay, do I have an affinity? Like, did I grow up there, live there? And if I don't really, I just ch- I choose whoever has the best story. Yeah. 8:45 And for me, I was like going in, I was like, "Wembanyama, bro." Like that, like he deserves it. He needs it. But honestly, I got won over by the Knicks as they played. 8:55 I like, I started going [laughs] I went in as a Spurs man, I left the Knicks man. You saw, you saw enough gu- uh, celebrity guests. Uh, Ben Stiller, Ben Stiller got to you? [laughs] Is that what you're saying? 9:04 Maybe Timothy did. That Ben Stiller's promos? I don't know, you know. God. That, that to me... Eh, fuck. Eh, fuck that. Fuck that. W- so you were Spurs through and through? Not through and through. 9:13 I, I am, I'm hi- I, I think it's a great Cinderella story. I think it's very cool to see th- New York getting that win. Yeah. 9:21 Uh, I think it's very cool to know that those people that have, the, the people that have sat in those seats for so long are finally... That's cool. It's, it's a cool story. Yeah. 9:31 That said, I, I will say that to your point about Wembanyana, Wem- Wembanyama, I just, I think, though, the, the narrative, 9:39 for me what I enjoyed so much of that, around that, around that narrative was it felt like it was him- Mm-hmm... versus the rest of the Knicks. Yeah. Now, of course, it's not the case. Mm-hmm. 9:49 The Spurs are a fantastic team. Yeah. His team's good. But when he is being s- discussed as being the face of- Of the NBA... the game- [laughs]... that's, that's where you go, "Whoa, okay. Let's see this guy start out. 10:05 Can he do it?" Yeah. Is it just him? Also, he's so tall. I know. Right? He's 6'10". It's wild. Uh, I don't know his exact height. We should look that up. He's definitely, I think he's 7". Or yeah, we'll see. Seven, yeah. 10:16 Yeah. I didn't wanna say seven and be wrong. I'd rather say 6'10. But yeah, s- he's 7 feet. That's- He was making Karl Towns look like a baby. Like, let's just say that. Yeah. He's 7'4. Yeah, yeah. No. Yeah. 10:28 That'll be so... A- and to- that'll be very exciting to watch- Yeah... progress and- And let's just say I weigh more than him. [laughs] Is, that's all it really is. Weigh more. Yeah. [laughs] Really? Wow. Yeah. Wow. 10:38 Or maybe how strong I am. Wink, wink. Yeah. Anyways. Yeah. Um, uh, yeah, I think, I actually think he- he'll win one. He, he, I actually could see him as the face, you know, to be honest over time. 10:52 But, you know, Jalen, you know, Jalen too, right? Like... But, um, anyways, did you invest in SpaceX? Oh, well, yeah. Yeah, I'll disclose. I did. Nice. I did, and I'm, I'm feeling really good. Oh. 11:05 I'm feeling really good right now. I love it. I love it. I have- I wanna ride that high. I wanna just ride the high- [laughs]... all the way, all the way to the sky. This is not financial advice. All the way to Mars. 11:18 I mean, why stop there? [laughs] Why stop there? Let, let's keep going, baby. Let's just keep going. Let's run it up. Run it up to the, you know, to the moon and back. Yeah. 11:28 I, uh, I have a horror- That's my, that's my Dogecoin, ladies and gentlemen. I'll tell you that. Investing in SpaceX- I love it... is my Dogecoin. I, I have a horror story. 11:37 I don't wanna get into it, but I, I missed the boat on it. And, um, I'll, I'll, I'll be thinking about it for a little bit. I will say, though, that I think investing in the public market still has a lot of potential. 11:50 I don't think... I think SpaceX could actually become the most valuable company in the world, and if you look at, uh, I think it's like 5 trillion. Um, and, you know, SpaceX will probably handedly beat that. 12:06 And- Do you wanna, do you wanna, knowing that th- and in a way it's a hot take, do you wanna, uh, express why? I mean, also it's- To say it's the most in- Yeah, so, so, so basically a couple reasons. 12:20 One, I think is actually just you can't even put, uh... I- it is really just the force of Elon. I do feel people follow people, not companies. Yeah. And of all of those company... 12:32 I mean, Jensen Huang, he's a founder in the seat, but, like, Elon has been a complete force in our American and worldwide industry for so long. He almost feels invincible, so I think in a way people are betting on him. 12:48 Like, look at all that he's already accomplished. The world's trillionaire, and I think he deserves it, right? He is beating America- Did you call, did you call him the world's trillionaire? 12:58 The, oh, the world's first trillionaire. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Um- That, uh, that, that [laughs] just seems so funny. [laughs] He's, he's, he's the world's trillionaire. He's- The world's trillionaire. 13:06 [laughs] But by the way, by the way, uh, when I w- uh, when I become a trillionaire, I just, I want people to address me as the world's trillionaire. Right? 13:15 You know, it's- [laughs] I, I, I am only a trillionaire for the people. For the people. [laughs] Built by the people, for the people. Yeah. But you heard it here. You, you heard it here, ladies and gentlemen. 13:25 Um- Feel free to address me as the world's trillionaire. The world's trillionaire. Uh, so anyways, I'll, I'll, I'll go quick, but basically, uh, there's a- an impervious force. 13:36 He has that Steve Jobs reality distortion field between SpaceX, Tesla. Eventually they may all just become one, you know. Uh, he's really changing the innovation of our, our planet. 13:49 And, uh, a lot of people don't understand SpaceX has, is, is making money. They have real lines of business. Um, Starlink is going to be sort of ubiquitous very soon as how people get onto the internet. 14:03 Uh, they're looking at building data centers in space. You know, there's a whole SpaceX mafia, like former engineers who are also building space products, right? They're all gonna interface with SpaceX. 14:14 So it's just- For those that are not familiar, can you, do you mind explaining what the SpaceX or, or what the Space Mafia is? So, so think like- Not, not going fully in detail, but just like- Yeah... a, a top line. 14:26 Yeah. So, um, a term a long time ago, uh, we got this term, the PayPal Mafia, right? And it was former PayPal executives who went on to make huge businesses in Silicon Valley that have touched the world. 14:43 Uh, and you have everyone from Elon Musk, uh, to, I think Peter Thiel was even in there, Reid Hoffman, the YouTube founders. Uh, it's a serious thing. And, uh, people now use that term mafia, uh, for SpaceX, right? 15:00 There are that level of entrepreneurs that joined SpaceX, that joined Elon, and so the idea is from this IPO, we're gonna see another revolution in entrepreneurship over the next decade plus, and we're gonna get new companies birthed from individuals who sort of went through the school of, of Elon. 15:22 All I'm taking away from this is I wanna... I, I-- sounds like I need to create the Creator Mafia. Creator- [laughs] The Creator, Creator Economy Mafia- Yes... is what it sounds like. 15:33 So if you're listening to this, if you're, if you're out there, DM me. Let me know if you wanna be part of the Creator Mafia. We'll, we'll start it now. We'll... It's not too late. We can take it over. Not too late. 15:43 [sighs] So let's dive into our first topic. So we've got a bunch to talk about today. We're gonna talk about McDonald's and Coca-Cola. 15:54 We're gonna talk about, um, everything that has to do with Fox buying Roku, and we're gonna dive into CAA and TPG forming their $250 million, uh, creator fund. And we're gonna start with McDonald's. 16:08 So, uh, here is the high level. So basically, they've had a 70-year partnership. So growing up, if you ever went to McDonald's, you could only have Coke products, right? 70 years in the making. 16:22 Recently, however, McDonald's is adding Red Bull and launching its own custom drinks in a, in a shift away from this integrated partnership. 16:34 And look, there will still be Coke products in, but it's no longer an exclusive sort of relationship. To clarify, did you say they're custom-made drinks? Yes. They're making custom- Wow... custom drinks. 16:46 So, you know, a little bit of a background, actually, 'cause, um, we got, we got notes from one of our, uh, producers. His name is Henna. He's awesome. Uh, and I love this story, so I'm gonna read this story. 16:57 Shout out Henna. It's story time with Boye. [laughs] Um, the partnership between McDonald's and Coca-Cola began in 1955 when a Coke executive named Waddy Pratt struck a handshake deal with Ray Croke in Des Plaines- Kroc. 17:14 Kroc... Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois. For 70 years, Coke has been McDonald's exclusive fountain partner, with the McDonald's division at Coke reporting directly to the CEO. 17:27 This year, McDonald's launched custom sodas and refreshers, and is preparing to launch energy drinks anchored by Red Bull, the first time an energy drink partner other than Coke's Monster has entered McDonald's at this scale. 17:41 Side note, I actually can't do all that caffeine. That sounds scary to me to have just, like, straight up Red Bull with my burgers. How much caffeine do you consume in a day? Zero. Really? I can't handle caffeine. 17:53 Absolutely zero. Next episode- [laughs]... next pod, let's... I, I, I'd love to do a CPG episode. Uh, not to non sequitur here- Yeah... I know we're kinda talking about... But, uh, what's... Let- we should... 18:05 Let, let's do an ep- let's do an episode on biohacking. Yeah. A biohacking/uh, CPG or consumption. Let's do it. 18:12 We should do, we should, we should do a, we should do a series, as I'm literally drinking- My caffeine [laughs] Let's do it I was, was, I was, I was curious. Wow, you really- Yeah Mm. 18:21 I live a- Mm And I, I stay up late, I wake up early. Like, I don't actually p- think people don't need coffee. I think we just- But you used to consume Yeah, when I was- Right? But I did it for the taste. 18:31 I did it 'cause I loved frappuccinos and, like, lattes. I didn't really do it- Mm... 'cause I was tired. Um- Mm... you know, some, like, I did be- when I got into the cycle- [laughs]... 18:42 of the- I, I, I did it for the taste. This is the... You're the, the type of person that's also like, "Oh, I don't drink to get drunk, I do it for the taste. I, I am very-" 18:52 I don't know about that, but- What's the, what, what's the word, what's the word, what's the word? Pretentious when it comes to- [laughs]... my thought process of consumption. No, I'm kidding. Yeah. Um- That's cool. 19:00 That makes sense. Anyways, so, um, tea- Nothing. Ju- no caffeine at all? 19:06 No, I, there was a, there was a time when I slowly went from, like, to matcha and green tea, but even that, it's just like I'm, I just get super jittery- Mm... and I, I don't enjoy it, you know? So- Yeah. 19:20 You know, I th- I actually appreciate the questions, and I think it's important because this deal, this, the reason McDonald's is pulling away is because they're realizing that people's behaviors are changing, right? 19:32 Yeah. So for me, I don't like caffeine, and there's a lot of people who don't like caffeine, but for McDonald's, they're seeing that people don't like traditional sodas, right? 19:42 And I actually think the bigger thing here, I, I think it's a, it's a 19:47 shots fired for Coke, and I think it's, it's McDonald's saying, "You guys, even though you're one of the biggest beverage companies in the world, the consumer doesn't like your core soda product a- as much as they did. 20:03 They've moved on to Poppi and juices and, you know, coffees," right? And so I think that, that to me, is the underlying thing here and the opportunity that McDonald's is seeing. 20:16 Well, can I piggyback on that for a second- Yeah... to say I think what's historically important for us to think about when it comes to food consumption- Mm-hmm... or just supplements in general, way back we had 20:31 the Supersize Me, we had Supersize Me come out, for those- Yeah... 20:36 for those living, for those that are younger that weren't around for that, Supersize Me was a documentary where the, the director was also the subject and made the decision that any time he was given the question or the opportunity or asked to s- if he wanted to supersize, he was gonna go to McDonald's and only eat McDonald's- Yep... 21:01 for- For like a month or something like that... a full month. 21:03 And any ti- a- a- and there were a couple rules, but he only ate McDonald's and wanted to see what the effects of solely consuming McDonald's- I remember this... for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yep. 21:15 And then whenever prompted to supersize, he would say yes to said supersizing his meal. The effects were i- insane. The amount of damage it did to the McDonald's brand- Yeah... 21:29 spoiler alert, if you haven't watched, it brought significant attention the nutritional facts behind McDonald's and the effects on the human body. Given the fact that McDonald's also used to 21:41 parlay the idea or the notion that it was a well-rounded, uh, well-balanced diet or w- it could b- be, be consumed in, as a well-balanced diet- E-... throughout- Yeah... you know, the week. 21:51 Very, tl;dr, long-winded way of saying 21:54 we as consumers, or we as, as a, as a population, are more and more awar- s- aware, or I'd like to think significantly more self-aware, around the products that we consume and what we're putting in our body- Yeah... 22:06 and what, uh, what we are willing to accept. And if we do consume, you know, there's a lot, uh... I have so many friends, I'm sure you do as well, that consume Coke Zero now. Mm-hmm. Uh, or Diet Coke. 22:20 There, there's plenty of people that still consume Coke- Yeah... or the classic Coke, but the idea is that it's sugar... 22:26 Uh, first, when P- when Coke first came out, I think what we can't forget is that Coke sold itself on being a ta- it wasn't a treat. It wasn't a, there were, calories weren't a thing. It was about the taste- Mm-hmm... 22:39 and the purest sugar, and it being, it, it being pure and tasty and, a- almost as if it was a health product. Yeah. 22:49 And as people, as we've now become more aware around the effects of sugar on our body, we're now seeing more and more products, soda products specifically or, or libation products, eliminate sugar- Yeah... 23:01 a- and, and replacing it with, what's the monk fruit sweetener? Yeah. For example. Stevia. Um, no, I, I, I 100% agree. I think there's another layer here, too. 23:13 Besides health, there is the TikTok-ification of our food, right? Right. I, I think if McDonald's plays this right, they, they take a, a, a, a page out of Erewhon's book, right? 23:26 With the Hailey Justin, or with the Hailey Bieber smoothie, right? Like, can you make something pretty- Oh... that, like, people- I see where you're going... wanna, like, you know, show on TikTok and try. 23:37 You know, I think, I think there's an opportunity, you know, here for McDonald's, um- Also, also most likely to own the actual product or the, the syrups that they come out with. Yeah. 23:50 Like, let's, let's not forget the hilariousness of, I'm sure, I can't, I don't wanna say the w- there, there, there used to be a phrase they used to say, I think you know, for when you would go to the soda machine and you would put multiple different variations of soda and mix them all together. 24:06 Oh, s- Are you familiar with this? Yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. Suicide. The un- suicides. They used to be, they, uh, they, they used to be... Yeah. I remember that. Which is such a weird thing to call that. To call it. 24:16 I know, I know. Yeah. Um, but we're also in a more politically correct universe. Uh, anyways, w- When was the last time you had McDonald's? Actually, what's funny is I do know. Three years ago. Wow. 24:31 And prior to that, prior to that it had been 10. Wow. Uh, I know for a fact because, uh, I happened, I happened to be in the airport. I, I believe I, we happened to be in the Paris airport- Mm-hmm... 24:48 uh, waiting on our transition from Cannes, uh, from Nice to Paris, and then Paris to LA, and there was no other food avail- or, or it was maybe the Nice airport. Yeah. 24:58 There was no food, there was not a, a, a space open, uh, early enough in the airport. And so I was like, "Well, I have to get some level of protein or something in my body." Yeah. 25:09 It was bre- it was around breakfast time. And so I went ahead and just got an Egg McMuffin as a means to... and just, just, you know. But I almost feel like- I don't have nothing to put it on... 25:17 European McDonald's doesn't count. Like- Yeah, but that's not my- It's actually- But, but- [laughs] Yeah, yeah. I, I get what you're saying. Yeah. I get what you're saying. 25:24 It's a- But that, unfortunately I, I, I gave in to consuming- Yeah... McDonald's. But generally speaking, I don't. I don't. I feel like as a meme I will have McDonald's, like, every other year or once a year. 25:35 Whether it's just- Really?... for the, like, McFlurry or just a late night, um- They've destroyed those fries. I gotta tell you. They had, they, they, they used to have the best fries- Agreed... in all of fast food. 25:47 Yeah. And- I'm downhill... so- society got in the way and said, "We can't use that, that, that fat- [laughs]... that you would deep-fry those things in," and so yeah. S- Now they just taste like cardboard. Yeah. Yeah. 26:01 So trying something s- trying something a little different today. 26:03 We've been, uh, playing around with voice notes, uh, at the end of the pod, and, uh, wanted to share a voice note we got specifically about this conversation topic today, right now. Uh, this comes from Emma Merber. 26:18 She works at TBWA\Chiat\Day, uh, in marketing, and let's see what she has to say about the whole thing with McDonald's and Coke. Hey, Boye. Hey, Chris. It's Emma Merber from the Connections team at Chiat. 26:33 I'm curious if the real problem is drink innovation or if it's actually cultural amplification. 26:38 What makes so many of the popular QSR drinks, or even competitor CPG drinks like Poppi, trend is the cultural ecosystem that's being built around the new launch. 26:47 There are celeb collabs, robust influencer programs, merch, and the sense of the drink only being available for a limited time, even if that's not actually true. 26:55 They might be adding it to their menu or their lineup, but they make it feel urgent and it creates clout. It builds immediate demand. 27:02 McDonald's and its Coke products are cr- more of a comfort craving, not really a cultural phenomenon. 27:08 So it'll be interesting to see how both brands continue to look at their competition and evolve from a comfort to something consumers need right now that everyone is always talking about. I love that. Yeah. 27:19 I, I, I mean, it's kind of what we're talking about to a degree. I, I, if I can further piggyback on what she's saying- Mm-hmm... 27:26 uh, especially when you're talking about creator or celebrity, a s- a celebrity or a creator component, if you're talking about Poppi- Yep... 27:34 celebrities and creators, the call to action is a healthy or pro- or a probiotic. Yep. The whole sales pitch was probiotic soda. It's great for your gut. Mm-hmm. That, that's what they hinge themselves on. 27:48 So your immediate call to action is, "Hey, don't drink the sodas that you typically drink. This is the healthier soda and, and tastier." Yep. 27:58 I think McDonald's back in the day was, it founded on the root of where family comes together to eat. Mm-hmm. Right? And so the call to action was m- the dad's always on the go, the mom's staying at home. 28:12 All come together to finally meet up and hang out. We'll get you food fast, but where you can come together and congregate. We're a culture... That's your call to action. Yeah. Yeah. The, the new fix. Mm-hmm. 28:23 And it's very, it's very hard to stay relevant if you don't know how to... It's not always easy to predict what the next trend is. Yeah. Yeah. 28:34 I think it's a lot of reasons, but I, I lean into what she was saying about culture- cultural amplification. Mm-hmm. And I think if McDonald's plays this right, you know, in a way they can become Coke. 28:47 You know what I mean? Like, you could- Yeah... you could launch whole new beverages, right? And you can use it as another means of kinda what I was saying about Hailey Bieber and Erewhon, right? 29:00 You know, there was a moment where McDonald's was doing, like, brand deals with, like, Travis Scott and J Balvin. Yeah. Right? I think it was Travis. I know for sure J Balvin. 29:08 And, you know, imagine giving s- one of them a drink, you know what I mean? Like, that's, it just becomes another marketing touchpoint. So it'll be interesting to see where it goes. Thank you, Emma, for that question. 29:21 And, uh, you know, maybe sometime in the next decade, Chris and I will go to McDonald's and we'll try, we'll try these drinks. But, uh, in the other side of the universe, Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion. 29:38 Fox already owns Tubi- [whistles]... uh, yes, which has over 100 million monthly users. Roku has over 100 million global streaming households combined. 29:49 Fox would become the third largest player in the US by share of viewing. Uh, this is, this is Fox, right? A company built on live news and sports buying its way into the streaming infrastructure layer. 30:04 And what's interesting is several years ago, Rupert Murdoch sold his studio business for billions and billions of dollars to Disney, and I have to say, I think this is just like a, just a savage move in my opinion. 30:20 It's like, "We gave you the studio business that's doing so-so, and we're still gonna be a big player in the room," and, uh, I, I think it was a brilliant move personally, but I'd be curious your, your thoughts. 30:33 Yeah, I agree. Also given, also given the fact that so much of, at least... I think it's a brilliant move particularly because 30:45 the amount that I've seen or the amount of deal-making that I've seen happen specifically with Roku and Tubi- Yeah... via the creator economy or via targeting specifically, uh, the support- Yeah... 31:03 and the inclusion of social media endemic talent. Yeah. Fox is winning. That's, that's a very enticing proposition. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. 31:20 Especially when you can parlay talent that can still participate on social media, but then also include their catalog on, on a Tubi or Roku. 31:33 I'll be curious to see if those brands ever merge, if they keep them separate, how do they balance that, owning both sides of the- I heard the- Owning both- I heard the intention was to keep them separate, um- That, that, uh, that's cool. 31:44 Yeah, which is smart, but who knows? Eventually they could merge, you know? 31:48 'Cause if I'm also not mistaken, what's also incredibly fascinating about that deal is that Roku and Tubi particularly when you buy a television set, when you buy, if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, when you buy a Samsung 32:07 TV- Mm-hmm... you already have Roku or you have... Well, you can buy a Roku TV, a TV that specifically has Roku on it. Yep. But Tubi, I believe, also comes on Samsung- Well-... if I'm not mistaken... 32:21 Roku, Roku is on a lot of TVs built in, um- Right... I believe T- On the smart TVs, like it's- Yeah... it is the button, right? Like, like TCL is a big one, uh, where Roku is, like, completely integrated. 32:33 Roku is like a, I call it a sleeper hit. I think it, it ha- it had flown under the radar for so long, but guys, this is a $20 billion company. I... Hot take, I... Maybe this is not so hot. I deeply 32:50 believe that we are... Everyone's established that we're in an attention economy now. Mm-hmm. Right? Or, or many agree that there's only so many hours in... 32:58 I think we can, we can all agree that there are only so many hours in the day. Yep. We're in an attention eco- in an attention economy, so ultimately you're fighting... 33:09 No matter what, anything that takes you away, takes your attention away to anything- Mm-hmm... you're losing out market share. So 33:17 I strongly believe, particularly as it comes to media, traditional or social, what we are going to witness, particularly as content creators or cr- any type of talent creator that has its own distribution via social or whatever they have built out, we're going, we are going to more and more witness studios 33:42 and/or networks, Netflix, YouTube, Roku, Tubi, et cetera- Mm-hmm... Amazon, we will witness those 33:54 businesses leverage their sales units or their sales force for brands as the n- next window or the next means to garner, uh, market share with brand views. 34:10 What I mean by that, to be as clear as I can, brands want eyes and want to be associated particularly with shows or content that helps push their brand sales, onboarding, awareness consistently. Mm-hmm. 34:28 And so if you can go directly to a talent at a cheaper rate, you might go directly to said talent to have them become an ambassador. Mm-hmm. 34:40 Brands, or, uh, uh, studios, knowing that they no longer have those talent in deals, need to go out to market and say, "Hey, talent, I wanna bring you into my network," kind of like an MCM. Mm-hmm. 34:57 A multi-channel network, as a reminder of the- Mm-hmm... olden days. Makers and Fullscreen, yep. Yes. And say, "Hey, come into my network. I will put you into my CMS. 35:09 I will go out to brands and I will sell your media, and I want a rev share amongst- Hmm... amongst those sales." And I think that as a means to combat, 35:21 you know, losing out to YouTube, 'cause YouTube has, is, is, is literally doing this- Mm-hmm... that's what we're gonna see more and more happen. Yeah. 35:30 And this might actually may be happening i- in, in a smaller way at Roku, um, but- I'm assuming that's what Netflix is literally doing already with their podcast deals they've been doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? 35:42 Like these things are happening at present. Yeah. But we might very well see it in mass- Yeah. Well, I s-... much faster... well, I feel like- Much... 35:51 what I like about this take is what, what is clear is advertising on streaming services. That is big. It's, it's here, right? You've got Pluto TV, you, you know, Roku, Tubi, Netflix, Amazon, right? 36:09 There's, there's ad-supported, uh, content right now. But this is interesting. It's like a one, one level deeper, which is these same streamers helping with the brand integration. 36:23 'Cause right now a producer could go out and do it on their own, right? 36:26 And integrate a brand and say, "Hey, you know, we've got, um, you know, Nike," we were talking about Nike earlier, "paid us for the production," and the characters are wearing Nike shoes, right? 36:38 Or maybe it was produced by Nike or something like that. And so you're saying- Netflix and Roku, you know, et cetera, et cetera, will help broker those deals, not just allow it to live on their platform. 36:51 Well, they're already having top-of-funnel conversations for their brands, their channels, et cetera- Anyways... or like their, their endemic shows. So at that point, it's just an, an, a means to fur- sell more media in. 37:04 Yeah. Or c- you know, add to the bottom line- Yeah... in the way of saying, "Hey, here's one product. Here's all our, our additional product." Yeah. That'd be smart if they were listening to this show, right? 37:15 [laughs] It would be like... I know, I imagine it, right, like imagine Dan Lin's team, right, at Netflix, and they're like, "We have this slate of shows. 37:24 We already know, um, Omnicom is, is buying all these spots, right, as ads in between. Why not have a conversation with Omnicom and see which brands wanna be integrated into these shows? 37:38 We'll give the bulk of that maybe to the productions, right?" Right. "And the talent, and then we'll take 10, 20, 30%," you know? Well, that's... I mean, this is literally what Vice, BuzzFeed, Barstool, Refinery29- Mm... 37:54 all of the publishers- Yeah... that we're familiar with literally have and, and do do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's now... 38:04 But, but typically what, what they've done previously was that they, those deals would be brokered where the talent would be, would receive a 38:13 salary as, or a fixed fee, and be guaranteed a, a, a home to be made within the ecosystem of the brand. Yeah. And the brand would help lift them up and help them build their brand. 38:26 And Barstool, all those publishers would take the, the majority of the pie, given the fact that they've, the one, they, they've built the ecosystem, they've built the system. Yeah. And so 38:37 I think, I think we'll see more of that, but it's a, uh, the traditionalists will safeguard their relationships. Yeah. The top-funnel relationships. 38:47 And, you know, it's tr- that, that, that's their attempt at staying the gatekeepers. Okay. Hot take. Let's see what happens. [upbeat jingle] You save, you invest, you keep an eye on spending. 39:00 So why do your finances still feel so complicated? Quicken helps you put the whole picture together and make sense of what to do next. 39:07 Connect accounts from more than 14,000 financial institutions and see how all the different pieces of your financial life fit together. With Quicken, you can make sense of your options and decide what to do next. 39:18 Quicken. Know what to do next. See how at quicken.com. [upbeat jingle] Yeah. Well, we should talk about our next topic. Uh, and you were talking about creators earlier. Uh, we've been talking about creators a long time. 39:35 You work in the industry. I dabble. And it, you know, we are in a place where we're understanding that the creator/influencer is here to stay. You know, they are bonafide talent. 39:51 They should be mentioned in the same breath as George Clooney or Timothée Chalamet. They just do different things. 39:59 And one thing, we just got a big signal over the last week, is CAA is partnering with TPG to form a $250 million company to buy creator businesses. Ay, ay, ay. Ay, ay, ay. 40:16 Um, and- Shout out Tucker Brown Shout out Tucker Brown. Shout out Tucker Brown. [laughs] Shout out to- Did you see the photo they gave him? I did. He is front and center just, just as serious- He's everywhere... 40:27 he's just, yes. [laughs] Come to me. We make deal. I just- Yeah... shout out Tucker. He's been working, yeah, uh, he's been working so hard. Yeah. And I think that, that, that's someone that deserves their flowers. 40:39 It's very cool to see, uh, working from behind the scenes to, and to- Totally... be anointed and, and then have that. 40:46 And there, and there, and also there's a lot of other people wor- you know, who worked on this, you know, behind the scenes. Um, Andrew Graham. No, no, no, no, no, no. This was only Tucker. He's the whole of it. 40:56 [laughs] I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Uh, Andrew Graham, uh, who's, who's great, and I know- Yeah... he's passionate about this and excited for it, and it's smart. 41:06 Now, here's the nuance, 'cause I think everyone salivates at that, you know, price, but this is really mainly for bonafide creators. They wanna replicate what they did with Dude Perfect, right? Yeah. 41:18 And they wanna buy big creator ecosystems. Can they find- For those, for those not familiar, CAA represented, uh, Dude Perfect in a sale, in, uh, in a sale to private equity for a significant amount of money. Yeah. 41:37 Uh, uh, I would say if it was, I'm, if I'm not mistaken, uh, 11 figures? Uh- I might be misremembering that... nine figure. Valued between- Nine-figure... well, it was valued between 100 and 300 million. 41:46 So, um, that was the valuation after everything. Um, and- So a 10-figure deal, essentially. Yeah. 41:53 And if I, if I understand that correctly, um, that deal, like I see what CAA is doing is wanting better economics in the future on a deal like that. Yeah. Right? 42:06 We don't just wanna be the brokers, we wanna be the stakeholders and participate in that upside, right? So the vision is can we find more, uh, Dude Perfects and replicate that success? 42:22 And it, and it, you know, I think it's smart. I think, though, the nuance is how do you get away from the key man issue that a, a lot of creators have, right? 42:32 Which is if they stop creating content, if they get off the hamster wheel, they lose value. And so I thi- I also think, 42:40 I think it's a handful of, there's only a handful of creators that this can actually really work for, in my opinion. Uh, currently. 42:48 I, I agree with that as it currently stands Though there's an argument to be made that though people start... I would s- I, I would say that these, that YouTube channels or social channels that we currently follow 43:06 over time the prediction is with the right talent or with the right purchases made we as individuals will slowly see a passing of the baton on many of these channels where it feels like 43:21 a natural progression similar to that of The Tonight Show or a similar passing of the baton from The Late Late Show. It is still very talent dependent, right? James Corden took over for Craig Ferguson. 43:35 But we're gonna see the bata- passing of the baton for all of these- Yeah... channels, right? Where if done right it will feel so much more like a television pass off. 43:45 Uh, and the key individuals that own or have the upside of these channels, it's no different than when you sell your company. Mm-hmm. Selling your channel, you just happen to be forward-facing for it. 43:58 So your job is to help build the universe, include the next guest or include the next person that's coming in to participate, uh, will, will have success. Yeah. Right? So 44:13 it's really a way for CA to have ownership over the next generation of networks. Yeah. If YouTube, if YouTube literally is broadcast television- Yeah... 44:24 then we the people just show up, bankroll our own little mini networks. Yeah. And this is CA's way of having both ownership and sales rights to said networks- Yeah... and success. 44:37 I've probably talked to four people in the last 90 days that are working on companies focused on consolidating channels and networks, uh, or building them, uh- A lot of M&A. Yeah. Lot of M&A. 44:54 Yeah, or building them. And it is fascinating when you put that into what you're saying. I just had like a light bulb, right, sort of ring. And again, I, I think yes it is let's find the next Dude Perfect, but, 45:12 but I... The key is the creator is so big that they're building brands, they're building those other channels that can live without them. Right. Because Dude Perfect has done that, right? They have built a brand. 45:27 They have different verticals, and, you know, part of that was from the investment as well. But I think it only works with a, a creator who can do that, right? Like could Jesser- Well, look at- Yeah... look at Mythical. 45:39 Look at Mythical. Yep. Look at Smosh. Yep. Now again, these are, these are millennial brands that we're talking about, but these are companies or YouTube endemic businesses that smartly created more of a cast. Yep. Like 45:52 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Yep. Totally. 45:56 A- interesting enough I feel like, and you might know more than me, I feel like MrBeast who's the poster child of probably the epitome of a creator business, he focused more on sort of the CPG of it all, the TV show. 46:11 I don't think he created more like channels, right? Hmm. I'd have to fact-check that. Yeah. He mi- I, I wouldn't be surprised if he has like a dummy acc- a, a dummy account or I think- Mm-hmm... 46:23 uh, perhaps a Spanish account or other language. I, I, I do believe he built a, a Spanish, a, a Spanish- Yeah... speaking account. Sorry, no he, he does have other channels. He does have other channels. 46:32 Beast Reacts, MrBeast Gaming- Yeah... et cetera, et cetera. So, so that is interesting, but the thing is you can't get like a new MrBeast in his case. Also, MrBeast first person to hit 500 million- Subscribers... 46:45 followers. Yeah. 500 mill- million subscribers- Yeah... on YouTube. Yeah. Um, which is bonkers. Anyways, I think we're, I think we're aligned. This is, this is a big deal. 46:55 I think I, I'm more so it, it doesn't mean everyone's gonna get access, you know. No. No. No. No. For sure not. You know. This is not like a one size fits all. Not all will succeed. 47:07 Who do you think could be candidates for something like this? I think th- uh, who would be candidates for this? Could be. I'll, I'll name one while you think. I think Jesser. Okay. Yeah. 47:19 Uh, I think Kareem, uh, is primed for it. I wouldn't be surprised if we s- uh, they'd be like, "I can't believe you're speaking on our business." 47:28 I wouldn't be surprised if Adam Faze and Kareem came together, shout out Adam, came together to participate in something like this. Mm. More so not that they have the means to... Not, not that, not... 47:42 This is gonna sound like a... I don't mean this as a neg at Kareem or, or, or a Keep the Meter Running or any of those shows. Yeah. They're obviously fantastic format shows. They're having a s- a huge moment. Yeah. 47:57 C- they're, they're, you're, you're buying more into cachet or cool kids club. Yeah. And I think that there that's more of a... I, I wouldn't be surprised if they would be primed to... 48:06 That, that's, that's more of an example of building in public- Yeah... or buying in to build something. Yeah. But it's all about vision, right? Yeah. 48:15 Like I could see Kareem becoming like an Oprah of, you know, the Gen Z type generation. Oh yeah. Right? That's a great segue to CEO, a diary of a CEO. Yes. Steve, uh, uh, you know- Yeah... 48:26 the, the, um, what, Stephen Bartlett. Yep. That'd be a perfect example of someone else who- Yep... also has already taken on money. Yep. So he doesn't really need it. Mm-hmm. 48:36 Slow Ventures I believe ran that, led, led, led that race. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah And huge valuation though, by the way. Yeah. But no- n- n- 48:49 but that, needless to say, that's, that's a, that's another example of, of a, of a type of person- Yeah... that would receive a deal like that. 48:57 Also, if he were to, talk about other names, I don't, I don't think that they would do this, but if they were to start burning out or wanting to be propositioned to continue on, look at IShowSpeed. Oh, yeah. 49:08 An example of someone who's like, "Yo, I wanna go build my own thing." Mm-hmm. Kai Cenat. Yeah. Like, could... You know, he's not a YouTuber. Yeah. 49:15 But he's someone who I could see wanting to jump in and taking his hand and, uh- Yeah. This one's from left field, Druski. Like, he's smaller than them, but he seems to be the one who's, like, very entrepreneurial. 49:31 Like, he's got- Yeah... a lot of ideas in him. Um- Yeah, I think that that's a... I think Druski definitely is, is a great idea or is a great mention. Though I would say that he... 49:45 Listen, they just announced he's starring opposite Emma Stone and Chris Pine in a rom-com. Literally, if you saw- Oh, amazing... 49:52 the announcement came out, literally his face, Emma's face smacked up in the center, and Chris Pine. Wow. Literally, I was texting Doug Waldman like, "Oh my God, did you package this movie?" [laughs] Jesus. But 50:03 yeah, I, I, I mention that solely on the basis of, uh, he might be someone that goes more cool kids club, traditional fanfare where it's like, "I'm not going to go build a social endemic platform." Mm. 50:20 Go more traditional. Because he, he might, 'cause he might get some guidance from Kevin Hart- Yeah... who is like, "Yo, I went and did that. I built, I built HaHa p-" No, not HaHa Productions. What's- Heart, Heartbeat... 50:31 uh, Heartbeat? Heartbeat. "I built Heartbeat. I started it. I did the whole thing. I did that game." Maybe it, you know, you're already doing your own thing and you don't need to go take on more capital. Keep doing it. 50:41 Yeah, just be talent. Again, I, I don't m- I just, I wouldn't be surprised if he was- Yeah... if he took that route. Yeah. 'Cause it seems to be that he is. 50:49 He seems much more keeping himself- Yeah, yeah, he's focused on content. Yeah. Uh, or, and, and not being- Like a sh-... "I'm the CEO." Yeah, yeah. You know, he's not, he's not... It's more, "Let me, let me be talent. 51:02 Let me-" Yeah. All interesting stuff. I, I'm excited. Congrats to all the CAA folks and, and Tucker and TPG and, um, you know, it'll be interesting to see who else, who else tries to do this, but, uh- Don't fuck it up. 51:15 [laughs] Don't fuck it up, guys. Yeah, stay, stay strong. Yeah. Uh- Yeah. Well, uh, that's all we got for today. I thought it was a great episode. Uh, thanks for tuning in, everyone who tuned in. 51:27 Uh, definitely subscribe, give us a like, and find us on various platforms, whether you listen to Spotify- Where, where, where can you, where can you tune in? We got Spotify, we got Apple, we got YouTube, we got TikTok. 51:42 We got it all, man. So, uh- Also, shout out, shout out Paul Urich. I believe we're on Spotify Video now? I think so. Shout out Paul Urich. Wow. So, uh, thanks for all the fan love, and, uh, we'll, uh, we'll jam soon. 51:58 Over and out. Peace. [outro music] You save, you invest, you keep an eye on spending, so why do your finances still feel so complicated? Quicken helps you put the whole picture together and make sense of what to do next. 52:14 Connect accounts from more than 14,000 financial institutions and see how all the different pieces of your financial life fit together. With Quicken, you can make sense of your options and decide what to do next. 52:25 Quicken. Know what to do next. See how at quicken.com. [outro music] This show is brought to you by The Future Party and Crossix Studios. Produced by Chris Altiel, Hoya Colade, and Paul Urich. 52:38 Special shout-out to our production team, Araceli Rubalcava, Max Goolen, Shannon Klein, and Eli Tafur.
