Treat Your Brand Like An Athlete (E22)

This week Mitzi is leaving everyone behind. Plus, White Lotus feels like a build that will never drop, Set Active embraces realness, and YouTube creators are doing something that could revolutionize the industry. 

More from us:

• Mitzi Payne @mmmitzi 
• Mike Payne @mmmiiike

Timestamps: 

• 02:00 – Mitzi is leaving everyone behind.
• 05:00 – Is White Lotus building to a drop that will never come?
• 13:30 – Set Active is embracing realness with their “bloopers” campaign. 
• 20:00 – YouTube creators are hosting the first ever YouTube upfronts. The importance of upsetting the social ads spectrum.
• 27:10 – PepsiCo is acquiring Poppi for nearly $2 billion (despite their recent scandal). 
• 37:00 – We’re ready for more brand rivalry. 

Show notes:

1. The SCAN 👀 CLUB 2025 Trend Report: https://scanclub.substack.com/p/what-digital-audiences-want-in-2025

2. Shoutout to @brettburns6009!

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/

Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

Transcript

Show Introduction and March Madness

Speaker 1 0:01

Let's start that countdown. You ready? Yep, you sore too. No, I'm not sore.

Speaker 2 0:09

Oh wait, my calves. Oh no, yep. All right, welcome to Big Things. I'm Mitzi, this is Mike.

Speaker 1 0:16

And this is our show where we talk about the big things we're watching in marketing, social media, pop culture and sports and we talk about the signals that we're seeing that could influence the future of digital marketing.

Speaker 2 0:25

That's right. Today, we're going to be talking about three big things. First one is Set Active launched their blooper collection. Youtube creators are starting their own upfronts. The first one and PepsiCo is acquiring Poppy for $1.95 billion.

Speaker 1 0:41

Yeah, I feel like it's kind of like big, meatier stories today.

Speaker 2 0:44

Yeah it's not of like big meteor stories today, but yeah, it's a. It's not a show about nothing today, so you're in for a treat.

Speaker 1 0:49

Yeah, we've been in our Seinfeld era the last couple episodes.

Speaker 2 0:53

Yeah, but what else is going on?

Speaker 1 0:56

Yeah. So before we get into the big things, I got a shout out to March Madness.

Speaker 2 1:01

Right, it it's coming up.

Speaker 1 1:02

Everybody loves it.

Speaker 2 1:03

Everybody loves it.

Speaker 1 1:07

Shaking his head over on the couch. But yeah, march Madness is fun. I think as a household we enjoyed it a little more than usual last year because our kids started getting into it, especially our daughter. I think it was like kind of part of the moment with the women's side of the tournament getting more visibility, and I'm excited to see how that looks this year. One interesting thing that I noticed on x was that x just launched a bracket challenge, which is like how people participate in march madness, kind of like fantasy football and stuff like that. Um, but the grand prize if you win the bracket challenge with the perfect bracket this year is a a trip to Mars on SpaceX.

Speaker 2 1:47

Stop, I wouldn't even want to win that.

Speaker 1 1:49

You wouldn't want to.

Speaker 2 1:50

No, there's no way, I'm not.

Speaker 1 1:52

If someone looked you in the eye. If Elon Musk came, walked into this office and was like hey, you've been selected to go on SpaceX to Mars, I would not go. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 2:00

I have no interest in going to space. Like I'm sorry, I have no interest in going to space. Like I can barely get on a roller coaster. The last thing I want to do is go to space with no gravity.

Speaker 1 2:07

Those are not the same thing.

Speaker 2 2:08

They are though.

Speaker 1 2:10

Regardless of the trip and any turbulence or like what you'd feel in the process, like you have the opportunity to go to another planet.

Speaker 2 2:18

I have no interest. I'm sorry. Is that supposed to be something that's really appealing? Because that is just not for me.

Speaker 1 2:26

I don't get it think of the amount of people in the world since the existence of mankind that have gone to another planet. That's such a short list.

Speaker 2 2:38

I'd way rather go to an island, but why would I want to go to another planet? I have no cool space seems cool, but like there's no way we might live on mars. Eventually we're not you know if, if, if we need to live on mars, I'll stay here like I'm good, I'll just like that's classic you.

Speaker 1 2:56

That's mitzi coded.

Speaker 2 2:57

That's like, if the world is ending, I give up no, like I would way rather just like die in my air conditioning room on an island, you know. Yeah, that sounds way better than going to my conditions aren't perfectly ideal.

Speaker 1 3:12

I'd rather die and neutral temperature.

Space Travel Debate and TV Show Discussions

Speaker 2 3:15

Your body's not shaking or weird, like I just know. Space doesn't interest me at all. That's what. That's what me and billionaires don't have in common. It's just like they're all so obsessed with going to space well, that's because, like, the climate is changing and global conflict is escalating. Yes, I understand, but I just don't think like leaving the planet is like for everyone.

Speaker 1 3:40

You know I'm cool with it if you need to go to mars you feel free to take our kids.

Speaker 2 3:45

I'm good here all right, you would send your kids on spacex, but you wouldn't go I mean, if it's like that, or like if their survival is based on getting on a ship to mars, then sure go for it.

Speaker 1 3:59

But I just I don't know, go. You would stay, everyone but, but you Leave me behind.

Speaker 2 4:05

No, not everyone but me. I know there's like a group of people who are not interested in going to space, like me, and yeah, I'm just, I'm not like built to be on a rocket, but you're built to be on an expiring planet. It's okay, you're just taking it so extreme. I'm not interested in going to space, that's it.

Speaker 1 4:22

All right, fair enough. So you're not going to fill out a March Madness bracket.

Speaker 2 4:25

I'm also not interested in March Madness brackets, so this show is all about me so far and my interests. Yeah, I mean I'm excited for the women's basketball players and that's about it.

Speaker 1 4:39

All right, you want to take us into the first big thing.

Speaker 2 4:41

Well, no, before I do, I wanted to give people an update on White Lotus and how horrible it was watching that episode, and I know I've been clowning on actors and acting as like a craft.

Speaker 1 4:54

And.

Speaker 2 4:55

I wanted to say that last night's episode did make me appreciate good acting.

Speaker 1 5:01

Yeah.

Speaker 2 5:01

Because the most craziest stuff happened on that episode. I don't want to spoil it for people, but it's like the craziest stuff happened without anything happening totally.

Speaker 2 5:12

But I think Sam Rockwell, who is like a very, I think he's a good actor like I do feel like no one else could deliver those lines with like conviction the way he did, and he was talking about some crazy stuff. So I do want to acknowledge like when I do see it done well like he's. He did a good job last night and the craziest episode that I it might. I might not be watching the rest of the season because I feel like that was my limit for like stuff that I had to watch. It was such a crazy episode. So, anyways, I want I think I'm gonna wait till this season's done and I want to see spoilers because I'm nervous about some plot lines yeah, and then once I like take the edge off settle with the spoilers, then I'll watch the rest of the episode just to see what happens makes sense.

Speaker 1 6:01

Yeah, I could go either way. I think it's kind of to me this whole season, even more than other seasons, but I feel like this is true for the first two seasons as well. It feels like a techno song. It just like it's the this constant build towards a crescendo that you think is about to hit, but it just the drop never happens, and and so it just feels like if, like, if you were to actually take away the interesting, like camera work and the music and just put like normal music and normal camera angles on this show, there would be very little plot and it would be very boring, that's yeah, well, I think.

Speaker 2 6:40

I think it's meant to be boring because it's all about character development until the last few episodes.

Speaker 1 6:48

And then it all just unravels.

Speaker 2 6:50

It's like a show you have to commit to the whole season for.

Speaker 1 6:55

I'm comparing it to our experience watching Severance right now or even Running Point Two starkly different shows, but I just feel like a lot happens in each episode. Yeah, you're like chewing on it. You're trying to find, like the hints and the I wouldn't say a lot happens in severance.

Speaker 2 7:13

I think, like I feel like for season one. So we just got back into severance, season one. I felt like nothing happened into the last episode and then in the last episode it made you reevaluate everything else that happened all season.

Speaker 1 7:26

So it felt like nothing, but really makes you realize how much has happened yeah, but it's like nothing it's like, but it's kind of like a magic trick, like there's like when, what meets the eye, it feels like not a lot is happening, but while you're being distracted with, like, the focal point, other things are happening there's details and there's hints, and there's easter eggs and yeah, severance.

Speaker 2 7:47

I'm not smart enough for severance, like I need like a side commentary, like channel. So we've discovered that a lot of people in our team are really into severance and they're like into severance, like they are figuring out all the like little easter eggs and like theories and I I'm not watching this show the same way people. Other people are watching it Like it's, it's intense, it is. I'm just like looking at it at face value. You know, that's the way I like to watch television. So I feel like I'm trying to keep up with severance, but I'm not catching everything. Yeah, fair enough, someone else can explain it to me.

Speaker 1 8:24

feel like I'm trying to keep up with severance, but I'm not catching everything. Yeah, fair enough, someone else can explain it to me yeah, or just like maybe you just need to, because I feel like one thing about you with watching tv is you've always been good at kind of like predicting the outcome so maybe you just need to channel that energy of yours a little bit more to be like I can't catch everything here, but I'm like trying to figure out the curveball or like the ironic twist at the end, or whatever you know.

Speaker 1 8:49

Make some predictions, just like.

Speaker 2 8:50

Work that muscle yeah, maybe I don't know, I'm just like it's so. It's so outside of, like the thing that severance treats you like. You're a severed employee, you don't know the full story. You're in the show and that's like your severance, like you're innie or whatever. Or you're a severed employee. You don't know the full story. You're in the show and that's like your severance, like you're innie or whatever. Or you're in an outie world and you don't see how. You don't see everything that needs to be seen. You know, so there's no way you can predict it.

Speaker 1 9:16

Do you have any hot takes about it?

Speaker 2 9:21

I don't know, Like not really. I just think it's like making a meal out of something and I appreciate the depth of thought, but I don't know. Yeah, I'm just kind of like okay.

Speaker 1 9:34

Yeah, fair enough.

Speaker 2 9:35

The thing that I appreciate most about Severance, though, is there's no hint to where it is in time. It's not like futuristic, like what's the word? Word when it's like could be in the future if things go bad, what's that word?

Speaker 2 9:50

apocalyptic dystopian it's not a dystopian like pov, it's like the present day it's, but you don't even know if it's present day, because some things make it feel like the technology is like a bit more advanced in present day, and then some things feel like it's dated, like all the cars, for example. So, like I do appreciate the attention to detail how it's like that's, there's no hints as to when in time it is yeah, it almost seems like it could be real cities, but it probably isn't. Yeah, yeah, well, my hot.

Speaker 1 10:24

Well, my hot take is, I think, Ricken. There's more to him than Mitziah the author. I feel like he's like somehow an evil mastermind in all of this Right and he looks strangely like that drumming guy that works at Lumen. He's like higher up. I wonder if there's a connection there. Yeah, he seems like this, like harmless, kind of like goofy character that just is in his own world. But I feel like it's a facade.

Speaker 2 10:48

Yeah, there's something to do with the goats. People are saying that like they're adding like goat brains into humans Because that one chick, rebecca, who was at that like reading yeah, and she was like she smells weird and then she was also saying like chewing really loudly, and she was like she smells weird and then she was also saying like chewing really loudly. So she was saying how she has like these, like like sores the back of her neck because the birds were poking at them. That's like. That's what she said, that was her line, crazy.

Speaker 1 11:17

And so they think like you know how, like, see what I mean. Like I miss that.

Set Active's Bloopers Collection Launch

Speaker 2 11:22

No, obviously, who would have caught that? Like people are watching it like I'm watching it for the plot, but some people are like, did you see that they're taking screenshots of small texts?

Speaker 1 11:32

It's just so I feel like I need to start the whole show over and look for all these secrets.

Speaker 2 11:38

I don't know, just get into the Slack channel.

Speaker 1 11:41

Yeah, well, I am in the Slack channel.

Speaker 2 11:43

Well, I am in the slack, oh yeah, you are, but there's just, it's just so much. There's these tiktoks that like break down every single detail. I started watching some and then I'm like oh, this is too much this is too much. What is the time?

Speaker 1 11:54

yeah, then on the other complete other side of the spectrum, we watched running point, we watched the whole season loved it more of that what's the actress's name?

Speaker 2 12:01

uh, kate hudson, yeah, and mindy kaling she's not in it no, but she's like the writer and like producer yeah, I love jackie the, the half brother same I love the script of it.

Speaker 1 12:15

It's so funny we would watch severance or white lotus, and then we'd watch running point to like as a palate cleanser before I went to bed.

Speaker 2 12:24

Well, anyways, I just like watching stuff that makes me happy right now and I feel like severance is so deep. But I'm into it Like I'm here for the ride. Buckle up Like sure. I'll watch the TikToks and get all the theories I might be over White Lotus.

Speaker 1 12:40

Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:41

We'll see.

Speaker 1 12:42

I don't need it.

Speaker 2 12:43

Yeah.

Speaker 1 12:47

Should we get into the other stuff we wanted to?

Speaker 2 12:48

talk about.

Speaker 2 12:48

Yeah, set us up. Okay. First thing thing, one said active launches a bloopers collection. So the activewear company launched a new collection but, oops, all the sizing is off. Rather than then discard the entire collection, they're selling it at a steep discount. They launched a campaign with a collection that shows imperfect photography and some great resources for which items to size up or down in.

Speaker 2 13:10

I love this. I saw this. I thought it really connected well to kind of one of the trends we've been watching all year, which is people want realness. So when everything, like all these launches that these brands are posting, they all are so polished and so perfect, and when everything is perfect, like, it's so hard to stand out. And what I really loved about this campaign is that there's like a real, like humanness and like messiness and imperfection. And it was a very polished campaign, still Like they had like beautiful photography and things like that, but they really leaned into like the oopsie side of it. So I thought it was really cool and it's a really great example of this trend and I love that it was called bloopers, which reminds me, like you know, we're all human, we all make mistakes Like I really wish they'd bring back bloopers. Do you remember? Like when a movie was done and at the end they'd have like bloopers.

Speaker 1 14:10

Like those are so fun to watch. The last time I really remember that from a movie was hangover they had like crazy bloopers at the end.

Speaker 2 14:13

Yeah, like I wish we could see some of that and I will say, like marketing campaigns, so many of them do a lot of BTS like behind the scenes and it still feels like there's like a storytelling aspect to it, which isn't bad. But I just feel like I wonder if we redirected that energy and did more like blooper style content, how that would perform.

Speaker 1 14:34

With the intention of showing more of like the mess and the mistakes and like the chaos, and not necessarily just like showing how cool it was Right exactly.

Speaker 2 14:42

Yeah, I just feel like the energy of that would be really interesting and like one of the these trends. This trend is so exciting to me because I know that ai is just a big part of our life as marketers and content, and this trend really feels like it gives you permission to like be human and to be messy and to make mistakes, and that people actually want to see that and that's why sports is having a moment, because it's so real. There's like you see these players and these athletes perform and try and fail and lose and win, like all of that is like what makes us human. So if we can like translate some of that into brand marketing, I think that would be awesome and I feel like set. This is like the first way I've seen a brand take that trend and like actually make a campaign out of it.

Speaker 1 15:31

Yeah, I think it's pretty cool. I feel like you know, a lot of brands do sample sales, for example, where they've got a whole bunch of imperfect inventory that they want to move through to get it out of the way, and it's an opportunity for people to buy at a lower cost, but you never see a campaign around a sample sale, and so I totally agree.

Speaker 1 15:50

I think this was really cool and it was still like a high effort, high production campaign in the sense of like a concept to delivery. But seeing it just taps into that feeling that consumers get, I think, when they recognize that like this is for them, even if they're not perfect too, you know, yeah, and I think that consumers have more grace about that, like, oh, the sizing's off, but it's at a discount.

Speaker 2 16:13

Yeah, no worries.

Speaker 1 16:15

Right.

Speaker 2 16:15

I don't mind that.

Speaker 1 16:16

It also reminds me like of I think we talked about it on this show the idea I had about doing like a digital museum of typos yeah I think we need to do that yeah, maybe I think, I think the only reason I didn't like it, like the idea of it was because we were talking about, like, non-billable projects but, in terms of like the creative concept or the idea the idea is good, but yeah, maybe one day, yeah one day maybe someone can sponsor, maybe we need to just start collecting them as we see them.

Speaker 1 16:45

So, that if we get to a point where we feel like we want to actually do this, as whether it's like it could even be a campaign- Right, or maybe someone needs to sponsor the idea of typos like the Museum of Typos. Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:59

What would be a brand?

Speaker 1 17:00

that would benefit, like the International Copywriters Association.

Speaker 2 17:04

No, Grammarly no grammarly grammarly, grammarly needs to sponsor it nice but then, but then that might not work because they're trying to eliminate typos and their grammarly is ai, so it feels weird to have like an ai tool sponsoring this like human imperfection campaign I love creatives sure I don't know if they have the cash. No Well, I don't know. Maybe Probably.

Speaker 1 17:29

It seems like they have a lot of cash. But, yes, I want to see more of this from brands. I want to do more of this for the brands that we work with. You know, just like lean into things that don't go to plan and find a way to kind of spin out of it.

Speaker 2 17:41

no-transcript huh cool you know like it sometimes you lose sometimes you lose and you just turn it into a win one of my favorite things to say to you that really drives you crazy is sometimes you need to lose and when have you said that to me? I've said that to you when you've seen like a team, like the Super Bowl and I'm like, you know what. Sometimes you need to lose, you need to like, feel the loss in order to like.

Speaker 1 18:06

I don't remember this exact, but I will say that it does drive me nuts. Whenever I'm bummed out about something, or something doesn't go my way, like competitively, you always love to come in with like a freaking, inspirational quote, like, just make this a teachable moment for my husband.

Speaker 2 18:26

I do like to do that.

Speaker 1 18:27

I'm'm like I don't need this energy for me right now. Well, like.

Speaker 2 18:30

Sometimes you need to lose in order to like okay. I know that I lose more often than I'd like to admit the other thing I like to say to you, when you lose in fantasy football is at least you're winning in life and that, honestly, I feel like that's that is so condescending. What I think that's so inspirational.

Speaker 1 18:53

No it's true that doesn't, but the accuracy of the statement doesn't take away from how condescending it is, like I know fantasy football is a big joke, you don't have to rub it in my face.

Speaker 2 19:06

I know sometimes you'll like be so bummed and grumpy because you lost a fantasy football match. But you're losing against like guys who are like single, like wishing they were married, they're like not coming home to two beautiful children that's what you think of all the people that play fantasy. No, not all of them, but sometimes. So I feel like it must help to be like you know what at least you're winning in life, like look what you have, it's true. It's true what you have I have a lot yeah to be thankful for.

Speaker 1 19:32

Yeah, I just don't want you to tell me that when I've lost a game, good to know it won't.

Speaker 2 19:41

I'll keep saying it, I think you will, I know you will.

YouTube Creators Host First-Ever Upfronts

Speaker 1 19:43

You can't. Thing two YouTube creators are hosting the first ever YouTube upfronts, which at first I was like what is an upfront? Then I really quickly realized the morning show.

Speaker 1 19:56

I almost asked you, but then you would have had some like inspirational quote to let me know how lucky I am to have a wife that knows all these things. But they're hosting their first ever YouTube Upfronts. It involves a number of major YouTube creators, who will host this event on March 27th with a firm called Spotter. It's a bid to lure marketing dollars away from traditional TV to more focus on creator-driven content, so creators like MrBeast, dude, perfect, ryan, trahan, jordan Matter and Colin and Samir are confirmed to participate.

Speaker 2 20:30

And it seems like.

Speaker 1 20:30

Colin and Samir are going to play a bigger kind of like host role in the process. They'll lead conversations with creators and also produce the event alongside Spotter. More than 150 CMOs of major brands are expected to attend, which is that's a flex.

Speaker 2 20:44

I know.

Speaker 1 20:45

They're able to just come out with this like first inaugural event and have that kind of attendance from, like key decision makers, that shows the movement. Movement is already happening. Um, but the cool thing to me is that at this event it's not just kind of like a party to celebrate or to like tell these cmos that creators are the way, but they're actually just they're going to be using that opportunity to really pull back the curtain on analytics and like audience insights, but also like future show concepts that a lot of these big creators have already in the cooker, to kind of give these brands early opportunity to participate or even to like take it to the next level, help scale it, buy like long-term rights for it that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 21:26

No, I love, love, love, love this. I I know that we've talked about this on the show that more people are watching youtube now than traditional network television like peacock and nbc and all that stuff. So, up front, if you don't know, up front is like sheesh. Okay, if you're unfamiliar, up front is like an annual event that all like the networks host. So like nbc, abc, all the like traditional television channels or networks will host this and it'll be for their advertisers and they'll basically do like a big like apple like style event where they're having like all the actors of their shows and they're going to announce, like what their programming plans are, and so that way, the advertisers have a chance to like start bidding and planning on like how they're going to funnel the ad dollars based on the programming.

Speaker 2 22:19

So this, this is like a YouTube version with creators, which I think is so brilliant because we know that creators, and specifically YouTube, is really owning the digital viewership space, like they're getting more views than traditional network television is now, and so the fact they're hosting an event and borrowing this like network style, like event for advertisers is so smart because they're clearly like showing up, be like hey, like there's stuff you can buy here too, like you can buy against this programming and I think what's more unique about it too I'm sure YouTube hates this because YouTube is making money off of these creators and just inserting their own ads, but also they're allowing these advertisers and all these CMOs to be more strategic partners with these creators rather than just throwing in an ad.

Speaker 2 23:08

You know, and I know Colin and Samir like I've been a huge fan of their show and like follow their podcasts and watch their stuff. They're really about like more integrated, innovative brand deals Like they're not really into here's a script, talk about this product, kind of thing. They're all about like integrating it into their like programming in a really unique way. So, with like them being part of it Mr Beast, which is obviously like the king of YouTube I feel like they're going to cook up some really interesting ways to integrate brands. That's like more compelling than ads on television.

Speaker 1 23:43

So I'm super excited about this yeah, that's an interesting point about youtube not liking it. I feel like that makes sense, but I I kind of like the idea of upsetting the social ad spectrum.

Speaker 1 23:57

You know, I think that needs to happen on meta too yeah these platforms just have such like, such influence and power when it comes to what ads get served and where they get served and how they show up and and all the revenue from it, and they really gatekeep a lot of that from creators. I think youtube is better for creators and other platforms, but I like the idea of brands and creators getting better aligned and like doing more integrated programming yeah specifically.

Speaker 1 24:29

It's good for creators, of course, but even also for brands. I think it's really interesting as a way to have more of a meaningful impact, just from a messaging standpoint.

Speaker 2 24:40

Yeah, and, to be clear, I I don't think this event means that marketers are going to spend less on Google ads or YouTube ads.

Speaker 2 24:48

I think they're going to spend less on television ads, like their ads that they play on NBC or whatever, because they're going to invest it into creators and like, if I were the head of I don't know whatever big business that buys ads on NBC, I think I would really and and Mr Beast is coming and he's like here's my programming for the next year, here are my stats, here are the people that like watch me and love me and here's what I have planned. Do you want to be part of that? Like that's such a more strategic place to put your ad dollars, and like an ad that shows up in between the Bachelor that, like no one's watching anymore, you know? So I feel like they're YouTube probably. Like maybe, maybe YouTube supports us, but I think if you're advertising on YouTube, you probably are also buying like ads with creators on YouTube. You know there's like two ad types. You you've seen like this, this video sponsored by so-and-so, so you're like sponsoring videos, things like that. So it's just more like strategic and not necessarily taking away from youtube.

Speaker 1 25:54

We're more so taking away from network television yeah, and it's also just kind of like maybe adding to the funnel a bit like if there's like a co-produced show right between a brand and creator that partnership is can kind of be treated more as like top of funnel.

Speaker 2 26:08

But then the actual ads running on the platform before and after the content can be more like bottom funnel yeah, which I don't know if you necessarily have control over specific shows as an advertiser to be in like the beginning of the show, at the end of the show, without being those like partners that are integrated into the programming right, like the. The show that does a really good job with this is Hot Ones, like they've done a good job of like the same programming. You're not sacrificing the show, hot Ones, but you are integrating brands and brands have the opportunity to sponsor moments on the show and also the entire show.

Speaker 1 26:40

And even products within the show, for sure.

Speaker 2 26:42

Yeah, so I think like stuff like that is really interesting.

Speaker 1 26:45

Me too.

Speaker 2 26:46

Yeah, I'm excited for it.

Speaker 1 26:47

Yeah, I just want to like be a fly on the wall, I know.

Speaker 2 26:53

I was like I'm sure they're not going to televise this, I'm sure this, like data, is private, but I want to see it.

Speaker 1 26:57

I'm sure there'll be media there that'll kind of digest.

Speaker 2 27:00

Yeah, someone leak it.

Speaker 1 27:01

Talking points Leak it.

PepsiCo Acquires Poppy for $1.95 Billion

Speaker 2 27:09

Okay, leak it. Okay. Should we talk about the third thing? Yeah, okay, I'll tee it up. So pepsico is acquiring the prebiotic soda brand poppy for 1.95 billion with a b dollars billy crazy. Pepsico is buying the prebiotic soda brand poppy and expanding into the healthier soda category at a time when the company is battling failing demand demand for its traditional beverages and snacks.

Speaker 1 27:30

Duh like pepsi's loki sucks well, I mean you feel like pepsi sucks, but like I think this type of product in general is struggling like pepsi's products, just like coca-cola's products, even though you personally like diet well, no, I think, objectively speaking, diet coke is thriving well, I think it's, it's not.

Speaker 1 27:57

I think the all of these products are progressively seeing decreased demand because prices are going up. And that's the interesting thing here to me in this story, before we get into all the details, is that I think for a long time people have continued to buy products like Coca-Cola or Pepsi because they're cheap. So you kind of justify the health implications because it's cheap and enjoyable. But the fact that now, with the state of the economy and inflation and other factors, that now the costs are going up for these products as well, then now it's if it's like expensive and also bad for you, suddenly that makes your decision to cut it out of your life a lot easier. So I think.

Speaker 1 28:41

Coke has already, and some others, like I think Dr Pepper and some other kind of peers or competitors, are already making plays into healthier options and like prebiotic sodas and that kind of thing. So I think Pepsi is just kind of jumping on board with pop.

Speaker 2 28:55

Yeah, it makes sense. I feel like if I were them, they could either create their own version of like a prebiotic soda or just buy one and it's like this the marketing infrastructure exists, the like distribution exists. Like that's way better of a play. Yeah, I feel like what's really hot this year, or like has been hot, is like these prebiotic sodas that are healthier for you. They still like taste like you're having a soda and then canned cocktails.

Speaker 1 29:20

That's like the move yeah, it's interesting, though, because it seems like the trajectory that a lot of these sodas are following that kind of start as a health drink um, that have gut health benefits seem to go through this like repositioning process to become more of like a flavor, first soda, and then it actually, truthfully, isn't that healthy for you anymore either, even though their original positioning was that and they kind of rely on people still perceiving them that way, even though they're actually, truthfully, more like pepsi totally, you know, yeah um, but I'm even poppy in the last, I think last year faced some lawsuits from people saying that, like it's not, it doesn't have the gut health benefits that you claim it does.

Speaker 2 30:07

Yeah. So, yeah, well, what are your thoughts on this?

Speaker 1 30:12

What are my thoughts? Well, I was reading a post on LinkedIn this morning actually, and this guy was kind of talking about the whole brand evolution of Poppy, because it originally started by this husband and wife. It's kind of your classic founder story. The, the, I think her name was allison yeah allison ellsworth.

Speaker 1 30:34

She just didn't like how like normal soda, like pepsi, made her feel, so she started experimenting in her kitchen and like making her own with apple cider vinegar and stuff like that and it tasted good and then eventually they started this brand called mother, because it was based on kind of the properties of apple cider vinegar and like mother nature yeah, but I'm blank kombucha right, I was blanking on what on the word and they did pretty well.

Speaker 1 31:01

But then they really took off after they went on shark tank and they got an investor love that from shark tank. But after that, with this new investor, that's when they kind of went through this whole really took off after they went on Shark Tank and they got an investor from Shark Tank, but after that, with this new investor, that's when they kind of went through this whole repositioning process and they became more colorful. They rebranded to Poppy, it became more about flavor than about health benefits and that's really when they took off. But they still have this perception around them that they're a health drink, you know?

Speaker 1 31:25

Um, so this guy posted on LinkedIn about the story saying how amazing this like brand evolution was and how genius it was. But it's interesting to see the comments in some of those types of posts because most people, like the perception in the market seems to be like oh, this is just a copy of Olipop, you shouldn't be giving them all this credit, which is fair. But I think that the point that I see in all of that is not just that okay, brand Y copied brand X. It's more that there is a gap in the beverage market.

Speaker 2 31:56

Yeah.

Speaker 1 31:57

And that gap can't just be filled by one.

Speaker 2 31:59

Absolutely. It's just like if you have more than one brand in this space. It just means that there's like a new category For sure, and I think too it shows their story specifically.

Speaker 1 32:13

I think shows the power in execution and not just brand.

Speaker 2 32:18

Cause.

Speaker 1 32:18

I think so many people for so long have put so much weight on brand and kind of scoffed at execution, like scoffed at the need to put a lot of resources into a channel like TikTok, or into their own original content, or into influencers and creators because they, their brand is so amazing. Um, but I think we live in the age now where brand isn't everything and it can't get you to the point you wanted to get without execution. So, um, whether it looks like something else or not, or whether it tastes like something else or not, execution is the thing that's going to make the difference.

Speaker 2 32:55

Yeah, totally yeah, I love that. That's a good take. I think I've been. I mean, obviously I think Poppy had a moment, the Super Bowl. They actually had a lot of controversy so, which we didn't talk about on this show because I don't know. I just thought it like came and went.

Speaker 1 33:12

We also didn't get to record the week after the Super Bowl. Right, right, right right.

Speaker 2 33:15

So it's OK if you didn't see on.

Speaker 2 33:18

On TikTok Poppy, which has always been like a creator, like accepting, and like a brand that has sponsored creators, influencers, like they've been in the mix for a long time, they sent a bunch of creators these vending machines, these poppy vending machines for hosting super bowl parties and, of course, like the influencers like posted about it. It was like during super bowl week and like the types of videos like varied from like disbelief I can't believe I have a poppy vending machine. Some people were like hosting parties and showing like everyone at the party having them. And then there's some people on the Hickdark that were really upset about it because they felt like it was like like so expensive and irresponsible to spend all this money when they could have been putting these poppy vending machines in other places that were more deserving, like a hospital or like a school or whatever, which is like a valid complaint. But the thing that was like so annoying to me was that all these influencers many of them shared that they just had this temporarily, it was like just for Super Bowl week, and it was like a stunt, like there's lots of people, that's brands, that spend money on stunts, even like this like and so, anyways, on TikTok people were like getting so upset about them and canceling Poppy and like how could you spend money on like on these vending machines? And then Olipop got in the comments of one of these videos and said that these vending machines cost $25,000 or they like, liked or replied to one of the comments about the cost of these vending machines, which was not true. They cost way like less than half of that cost.

Speaker 2 34:56

Anyways, the founder went on TikTok. She shared like an explanation video because she had to. It was like such a huge controversy and she basically was like like listen, like. These were sent as a stunt for Super Bowl week, which is the biggest soda and snack week of the year. Like all these like. There's soda and snack brands that spend millions and millions and millions of dollars on Super Bowl week. Like Super Bowl commercials alone cost $8 million.

Speaker 2 35:24

And this is a small female founded brands that has always supported and like, used influencers and spent money on influencers to market its brand, and I just felt like it was so undeserving for this brand specifically to get this kind of like spotlight for doing a stunt that so many other brands do all the time, especially during, like Super Bowl week. So she explained that, like these vending machines were sent there temporarily and then afterwards they were going to be put in other places, in other distribution places, like schools, like hospitals and all of that. But this was just like for Super Bowl week, which, like I don't know. I was just so frustrated seeing all these people like being so righteous about like the money that was spent on all like on like poppy when, like all the other brands are doing the exact same thing.

Poppy's Super Bowl Controversy and Brand Rivalries

Speaker 2 36:14

They're just using influencers, which everyone says like this is like an important way to drive the influencer and creator economy too. And like the female funded brand, like where, where is this energy? Like why is this energy there? You know?

Speaker 1 36:27

Yeah, and like think about all the money that it costs to just have a Superbowl.

Speaker 2 36:30

like that's way more waste uber eats spent like they had like three super bowl commercials and then paid like so many celebrities to be in the super bowl commercials, so that's okay for them to do, like it's just this, like this, this line or like boundary of like wastefulness was just directed towards pop, which I felt was so unfair yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 36:56

I thought we were living in more of like a post-cancel culture era, but I guess there's folks like that still out there well, I mean, she's still.

Speaker 2 37:03

She still sold her company for 1.95 billion dollars.

Speaker 1 37:06

So she came out on top yeah love to see it yeah, well, I think that's all I had for that one sweet.

Speaker 2 37:15

Well, I'm excited about it I'm down for more of this and I will be supporting poppy over ollie pop you know what? I am, yeah, absolutely. I love that we're in this space. Do you remember when, like it was, pepsi versus coke?

Speaker 1 37:29

yeah, and there I can't remember it still is.

Speaker 2 37:31

Yeah, but I can't remember what brand started those like. Was it a coke or pepsi challenge, where they'd literally go into the streets and they'd have those like um, like um, glasses or cups of pepsi and coke and you're supposed to like not see which? One is which, and like choose which one's better. And then they'd like do commercials around it, like and then there was also like mac versus pc, or like mac versus yeah, mac versus pc, I'm a mac, I'm a pc, like.

Speaker 2 38:00

There's nothing wrong with a little rivalry in these categories we love a good rivalry 100, so I'm not mad about like this kind of like head to head which is better. You can prefer a brand not just because of how it tastes or looks or acts or functions or whatever. You can also choose it based on how it interacts as a brand in like these spaces, and because of that, I love Poppy, I love what Poppy's doing, I love it. It's a female founded brand.

Speaker 1 38:25

But why did you choose Poppy over Olipop?

Speaker 2 38:28

Because Olipop was getting in the comments and spreading misinformation. So that is a bad actor. And yeah, I'm into Poppy.

Speaker 1 38:36

Okay, cool, speaking of rivalries and soda and vending machines.

Speaker 1 38:41

Oh, wow it reminds me of my fate, one of my favorite commercials in this whole Pepsi Coca-Cola feud. I think it's kind of old, but basically the commercial I'm pretty sure it was a Pepsi commercial and this kid walks up to a vending machine. It's like super hot outside, a feud. I think it's kind of old, but basically the commercial, I'm pretty sure it was a pepsi commercial. And this kid walks up to a vending machine. It's like super hot outside and he just needs a drink and um, there's.

Speaker 1 39:01

You know, there's like the buttons in a column and you like have to press one and to get it to vend so coke was on the bottom half of the buttons and pepsi products were on the top half. And so he goes and he buys a coke and it. So it feels like it's a coke ad. But instead of cracking it, he puts it on the ground and uses it out as a step and he steps up to and puts another dollar in and presses the pepsi button, cracks the pepsi and takes a sip and it's just like the moment you know.

Speaker 2 39:31

Love that.

Speaker 1 39:31

And I'm I choose, I'm like team Coke over team Pepsi, but that to me, even though it was a Pepsi ad, it was like such a goaded ad.

Speaker 2 39:38

No, that is such a goaded ad. I love that ad. You know what I think people need to like, like chill out a little bit and accept the rivalry, like I think some of these videos that I watched about poppy and like being so irresponsible and like this economy like it's just like soda and poppy is not going to solve all the world's problems. And like having a poppy vending machine in you know like a certain community is amazing and wonderful and they had plans to do that. So like chill. And also the thing that's so interesting did you know in different countries you can have a like, a deal with a country for a soda, like in chile you can't have, I think.

Speaker 2 40:23

I feel like it's coke, it's only coke products in the whole country wow, yeah, so you're indoctrinated into diet coke okay, but I don't know for sure if it's coke or pepsi, because I can't remember, but I know that, like you, can only have one, I feel like you would remember if it was pepsi, because when we went to chile you would have been like this sucks and they did have coca light, so it's got to be coke yeah yeah. So I think that like I love the rivalry, like go after the places, be like a poppy, only state, like, imagine.

Speaker 1 40:59

Yeah, good, healthy competition. We're here for it.

Speaker 2 41:01

What would the self-righteous Gen Zers think about that? Wow?

Speaker 1 41:07

Are all Gen Zers self-righteous? No, no, no, no, don't you're putting a certain genre of Gen Zers self-righteous?

Speaker 2 41:10

No, no, no, no, don't you put a certain genre of Gen Zers.

Speaker 1 41:13

What would actors think about this? Their job is so easy. They must have opinions.

Speaker 2 41:20

They must have opinions.

Speaker 1 41:23

I'm not going to speculate.

Speaker 2 41:25

I shouldn't either.

Speaker 1 41:28

Well, thank you for watching episode 22 of Big things. You can catch it on youtube or anywhere you get your podcasts. Check us out on instagram or tiktok for a few clips or some. Send us a dm yeah and wait.

Speaker 2 41:41

Shout out to that one person who went to youtube and said, hey, I'm watching it on youtube rather than listening to it I missed that. That happened yeah, it happened I don't know your username. I'm sorry, but I appreciate you all.

Speaker 1 41:53

We'll add the username to the show notes.

Speaker 2 41:56

Shout out to the person.

Speaker 1 41:58

You're the goat. All right, should I ring the gong? If you must Smack the gong, I've been trying to go gentle, just for your ears.

Speaker 2 42:09

I appreciate it. You're welcome.