This is Nick. This is Jack. And the TBOY holiday merch drop is officially here: Crewnecks, beanies, hats, and tees — The perfect gift for the Bestie in your life, the ideal present for the Yeti you love. We traveled through the gum-drop forest to design this winter lineup, so grab ‘em while they last here. #ShoppyShoppyTilYaDroppyDroppy

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1) The Romance Series by Walmart

Walmart just launched an entire TV series with shoppable ads. Just when you thought a Hallmark rom-com couldn't get any cheesier 💏…

“Add to Heart” is the cleverly named 23-episode holiday-themed series. For Walmart, it’s a love story that goes cha-ching while the sleigh bells ring. 

• The Money Grab: The series features over 330 different shoppable Walmart products.

• The Key: You can add the engagement ring seen on the screen to cart (literally) while watching. How romantic. 

• Add it all up: You get 1 long product placement. 

This is “Rom-commerce”: But is Walmart’s love story of girl-returns-to-small-town-marries-boy a 23-episode series… or a 23-part commercial?

The Takeaway →

We’ve entered the era of Product Productions.

• First: We had The Barbie Movie — The title is Barbie, the Barbie logo is in the title, and it’s produced by Mattel. The movie didn’t explicitly say “go buy Barbie dolls this holiday season,” but it did help boost sales by 25%.

• Now: we have Add to Heart — The “show,” really, just makes a seamless shopping experience. 

Mark the date: 2023 is the year we blended ads with content into a new form of entertainment: Product Productions.

2) Grand Theft Auto… Tax Collector (?)

On Monday, Grand Theft Auto showed everyone the trailer for the franchise's 1st game in a decade (which won't be released until 2025): Grand Theft Auto VI. 

The gist: The protagonist wrecks havoc on Vice City with virtually no regard. The 1st-person player will be able to drive a Ferrari off a parking garage and collide with a helicopter in mid-air — and live. The trailer for the highly anticipated game has 100M views already. What’s more impressive? 

What this story really reveals? The power of video games… Get these wild numbers:

• ⚔️ The latest Zelda game is expected to bring in more $$ for Nintendo than the last 3 Star Wars movies brought in for Disney combined.

• 🚨 The entire Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold 410M units. At about $40 apiece, that’s more revenue than the entire Beatles discography.

The Takeaway →

Modern video games don’t make revenues, they collect taxes. We crunched the numbers on the $$ to play in GTA world:

• Citizenship: $40 (game cost).

• Taxes: $6/month (cost of GTA+ subscription to unlock features).

• Currency: You can only buy things in-game with GTA’s virtual currency, GTA bucks.

Even when you’re just watching, GTA makes $$. At any given moment, 141k people are watching someone else play the gave on Twitch. Video games are now online worlds that gamers live part of their lives in. And when you live, you pay taxes.

On the pod today…

🫰 According to a recent Harris survey, Millennials need $525K to be happy — 3x more than other generations. To find out why Millennials need more $$$, listen to today’s episode. 

💰 Gold prices just hit an all-time-high above $2,100/ounce. Snag those holiday gifts asap.

🍏 Apple’s stock closed at a record high. Its market cap is above $3T — That’s $235B ahead of Microsoft. 

❤️‍🔥 The Oxford Word of the Year for 2023 is… Rizz: which translates to having the charm to attract a romantic partner. Check us on that Gen Z. 

⚾ A Babe Ruth rookie card just sold at an auction for a record $7.2M — the 3rd-most expensive baseball card ever.

🎺 Spotify laid off 17% of staff this week for the company’s 3rd round of layoffs this year. The music streamer is in pursuit of consistent profits. 

♨ The best cities ranked for hot tub lovers.

Question →  

What are your enneagrams?

Answer →  

Jack’s a 1: “Reformer” — He hates misinformation, loves an accurate statistic, and is an idealist at heart.

Nick’s a 3: “Achiever” — He hates being worthless, loves a good resume bullet, and is always looking for a good performance stage for us.

Do you have The Almost Best Question Yet? Submit yours here.

And one more thing. What beanie baby did you have as a kid or as a kid-dult? (We miss ya, Bucky).

—Nick & Jack