Amazon Faces Pre-Holiday Strike & MrBeast Brings YouTube Magic to Hollywood

Summary

Morning Brew Daily - Episode Summary Title: Amazon Faces Pre-Holiday Strike & MrBeast Brings YouTube Magic to Hollywood
Release Date: December 20, 2024
Hosts: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell

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Introduction and Season Wrap-Up

Neal Freyman and Toby Howell kicked off the episode with bittersweet news about the show's transition for the holiday season. Neal announced, “This is our last regular news show of the year...” (00:48), explaining that special pre-taped episodes would air through New Year's to allow the hosts to spend time with their families. Toby expressed excitement for the upcoming holiday episodes covering topics like personal finance, market trends, and a fun "Who Said It?" segment where they guessed who made quirky statements throughout the year (01:15).

Amazon Faces Pre-Holiday Strike

The first major topic delved into labor unrest at Amazon. Thousands of workers, represented by the Teamsters Union, went on strike affecting seven facilities across multiple states (02:27). Despite constituting less than 1% of Amazon's US workforce, the strike's timing during the busy holiday season aimed to maximize pressure for better wages and hours.

Key Points:

• Union Recognition: Amazon does not recognize the Teamsters as representatives of their employees, despite the NLRB's stance (03:35). Amazon’s spokesperson declared that the Teamsters do not represent any Amazon employees, labeling the strike as a PR maneuver.
• Potential Impact: Labor experts suggest that while the strike could cause localized delays in major hubs like New York City, Atlanta, and California, widespread disruptions are unlikely due to the strike's limited scale (05:02).
• Comparative Analysis: Toby highlighted that modern strikes tend to be shorter and more strategic. Referencing the successful three-day strike by Kaiser Permanente in 2023, he posited that Amazon's strike might similarly be brief due to the Teamsters' limited leverage (05:02).

Notable Quote: Teamsters President Sean O'Brien stated, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed.” (03:35).

MrBeast Ventures into Hollywood

Transitioning to entertainment, the hosts discussed MrBeast’s (Jimmy Donaldson) ambitious move from YouTube to Hollywood with his new show, Beast Games, premiering on Amazon Prime Video. The show, inspired by Squid Game, features 1,000 players competing for a $5 million prize, marking the largest single prize in TV history (06:00).

Key Points:

• Investment and Scale: Amazon reportedly invested $100 million in the show, emphasizing its status as the "biggest live game show in history" (07:00).
• Production Challenges: Despite MrBeast’s massive YouTube following of 337 million subscribers, the transition faces hurdles. Previous influencer ventures into Hollywood, such as Ryan Kaji’s feature film and Charli D'Amelio’s reality show, have met with limited success (08:28).
• Controversies: Reports emerged of poor working conditions and participant dissatisfaction, leading to lawsuits against MrBeast and Amazon. MrBeast defended himself by claiming the accusations were exaggerated (09:38).

Notable Quote: Neal questioned the viability of MrBeast's transition, saying, “Does MrBeast even think this will draw the same viewers as his YouTube channel?” (09:38).

Stock of the Week: Darden Restaurants

Neal and Toby selected Darden Restaurants as their stock of the week, highlighting its impressive performance amid a struggling casual dining sector. Brands like Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse saw significant sales growth, with Longhorn’s same-store sales increasing by 7.5% (11:00).

Key Points:

• Market Performance: Darden’s success contrasts with its upscale counterparts, which experienced sales declines. This is attributed to Darden’s focus on value-driven dining options that resonate with budget-conscious consumers (12:23).
• Strategic Partnerships: Olive Garden’s partnership with Uber for delivery expanded its distribution network, enhancing accessibility and convenience for customers (12:23).

Dog of the Week: NBA Ratings Slump

The NBA experienced a substantial 19% drop in national TV ratings year-over-year as of the latest Saturday, raising concerns about the league’s popularity (14:16). Neal and Toby explored potential reasons behind the decline.

Key Points:

• Three-Point Overload: The NBA’s increasing reliance on three-point shots—averaging a historic 37.53 attempts per game—has altered the game’s dynamics, making it less engaging for some fans (17:07).
• International Expansion: While the NBA is exploring expansion into Europe to tap into the continent’s basketball enthusiasm, domestic viewership remains a challenge (18:55).
• Cord-Cutting and Streaming: The shift towards streaming and illegal streaming options has also impacted traditional TV viewership (19:41).

Notable Quotes: Neal shared, “Teams are averaging about 37.53-point attempts per game, which is the most ever...” (18:03).
Toby added, “Basketball has almost become a solved game with a three-ball heavy approach...” (17:10).

Additional Holiday Headlines

The hosts covered various holiday-related stories, including:

• Poland’s Butter Shortage: Poland sold 1,100 tons of its frozen butter reserves to stabilize prices amid a global milk shortage. This strategic move mirrors other nations’ practices of stockpiling essential goods (21:13).

• Hong Kong’s Claw Machine Regulation: Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog is reviewing claw machine regulations after complaints about unfair practices, such as machines failing to secure intended prizes despite significant financial input from players (22:11).

• Holiday Gift Trends: Capybaras emerged as the season’s "it" animal for plush toys, witnessing a 115% sales increase. The trend reflects a broader consumer preference for unique and comforting gifts over traditional options like cats or dogs (24:50).

• Jesus Lookalikes in Utah: A growing market for Jesus lookalikes in Utah sees individuals charging $100-$200 per hour for photo shoots and events. This niche trend arises from a shortage of models who fit the traditional depiction of Jesus in the region (25:38).

Conclusion

As the show wrapped up, Neal and Toby reflected on the year’s highlights and extended their gratitude to listeners. They wished everyone a wonderful holiday season and hinted at the upcoming special episodes designed to provide insightful content while they took a brief hiatus (27:41).

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Notable Quotes:

• Toby on Claw Machines: “It should be difficult, but it shouldn't be unfairly difficult.” (23:44)
• Neal on Capybaras: “Everyone should know about this animal.” (24:50)

This episode of Morning Brew Daily provided a comprehensive overview of significant current events, labor movements, media ventures, and holiday trends, offering listeners valuable insights to navigate the end-of-year landscape.

Transcript

[Gemini]

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 to use Gemini Live.

[Neal Freyman]

Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

[Toby Howell]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[Neal Freyman]

Today, the NBA' ratings have plummeted. Are too many three pointers to blame?

[Toby Howell]

Then order your holiday gifts now because thousands of workers are officially on strike against Amazon. It's Friday, December 20th. Let's ride.

[Neal Freyman]

Here's some bittersweet news. This is our last regular news show of the year. Starting on Monday, we're bringing you a string of special episodes on weekdays through New Year's so we can spend some time with our families. We've been hard at work pre taping these episodes and they are excellent, so you should definitely tune in. And I should mention we taped this episode yesterday afternoon for a little head start on vacation. Sorry, not sorry.

[Toby Howell]

Sorry, not sorry. The the slate of holiday episodes I'm very excited about though. We have shows with topics ranging from how to handle your personal finances going into the new year, some market trends you should keep an eye on. We also did a who said it episode where Neil and I tried to guess which one of us was responsible for some of the odder things that came out of our mouths this year. They are all great. So as you put your feet up and relax over the break, maybe toss on an episode or eight. Now a word from our sponsor, the Range Rover Sport. The new Range Rover Sport is a sophisticated take on sporting, luxury offering focused on road performance and world renowned off road capabilities.

[Neal Freyman]

What are you doing?

[Toby Howell]

What do you mean? I'm doing a Range Rover ad.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, but what's with the voice?

[Toby Howell]

Oh, I'm just trying to be like those car commercials on tv. Visceral, dramatic, uncompromising rise to every occasion in the Range Rover Sport.

[Neal Freyman]

You got to cut it out the words you're saying. Great. The Range Rover Sport is an awesome car, but the voice has got to go.

[Toby Howell]

All I'm saying is watch out Matthew McConaughey. I am coming for your voiceover jobs.

[Neal Freyman]

If you want a great car or support Toby's voice acting career, Visit Land Rover USA.com to configure your Range Rover Sport.

[Toby Howell]

If you waited till the Last minute to holiday shop. You might be out of luck. Teamsters union members officially went on strike at Amazon early on Thursday, affecting operations at seven facilities in multiple states. Okay, maybe some of that fear mongering about late holiday gifts was a little overblown. The team surge represent roughly 9,000Amazon workers nationwide, which is less than 1% of the company's total US workforce. Despite their small size though, the Teamsters, who are fighting for basic benefits including better wages and hours, are looking to apply maximum pressure during the busy holiday season. It's unclear how long the strike might last, and things are muddied by the fact that Amazon refuses to negotiate since it does not even recognize the union. To be clear, a spokesperson for Amazon said the Teamsters don't represent any Amazon employees, despite their claims to the contrary. This entire narrative is a PR play. Labor unrest is certainly a key theme to watch out for this holiday season as Starbucks workers Union representing over 10,000 baristas also recently authorized a potential strike. So this holiday period, Neal, it could be a bit of a rocky one.

[Neal Freyman]

It could. Let's talk about the narrative that Amazon is accusing the Teamsters of creating or manufacturing. So Teamsters president Sean O'Brien said in a statement, if your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon's insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our customers. They ignored it. So this is him trying to paint Amazon as the greedy major corporation. That deadline that he's talking about is a December 15 deadline that the union wanted Amazon to come to the table and begin negotiations for. They, as you mentioned, don't recognize the Teamsters as a union that represents their workers because these are drivers that are hired by third party delivery companies that Amazon works with. Amazon does not recognize them as their employees. The National Labor Relations Board does. And Amazon is currently in some legal wrangling with the NLRB to figure that out. But these are the two sides here. Amazon shares were are up as we're talking right now, so investors clearly don't think that this is going to be a big hit on business. But Washington Post talked to some labor experts who said that if you live in the cities where they're where these strikes are happening, this is their last mile to go from the fulfillment centers to your house. You could see, perhaps see some delays as Amazon has to make some interesting decisions about which packages it prioritizes and the major hotspots here in New York City, Atlanta and California.

[Toby Howell]

Right. So it could delay stuff, but it Won't be widespread delays. One important variable here is time. Shorter strikes have become a more popular tool for striking workforces in recent years. The one that comes to mind is the Kaiser Permanente strike where in 2023 it was very short, just three days, but that also involved 75,000 health care workers. The biggest health care strike of all time that was very successful. They did get a lot of the demands that they were asking for. These shorter strikes are different from the traditional strikes that you may think of, that the automakers underwent, that the Hollywood writers underwent, that Boeing workers underwent, which are open ended strikes that go on until a new labor deal is released. Amazon workers or these, the Teamsters union doesn't have the same amount of leverage that those autoworkers or Boeing workers did. And so you probably will see this become a much shorter strike because there is no open ended, you know, leverage that they can apply because it is.

[Neal Freyman]

Just the leverage that they can apply is the holiday shopping.

[Toby Howell]

That's right.

[Neal Freyman]

So that is what they're doing right now.

[Toby Howell]

Exactly. So I would, I would think it would be a shorter strike even though they are trying to inflict maximum pay chain at this current moment.

[Neal Freyman]

And then you also mentioned Starbucks. So Starburst Starbucks worker United, which represents 10,000 Starbucks barista. 98% of those workers voted to authorize a strike as they start to want to, you know, come, come to a contract with Starbucks. And again, this is all about leverage. They're saying, hey, we have 98% of our members ready to go on strike if you don't come to the table. Starbucks and this union have been going at it for three, three years now. Starbucks has a new CEO, Brian Nichols, trying to calm the waters. Previous CEOs Howard Schultz was a lot more antagonistic towards the union. Brian Nichols wants to play nice, it seems. He wrote a letter a week into his tenure, you know, saying I want to work with you. And then earlier this week Starbucks announced that it was tripling a, tripling its paid parental leave from 6 weeks to 18 weeks as perhaps a sign of good faith. But you know what? After it felt like there wasn't a lot of, you know, labor strife stewing after hot strike summer in 2022 with the UAW, autoworkers and UPS. And then we had Hollywood, Hollywood writers and then Boeing. But, but recently it's been a little calmer waters. Maybe it's a sign of, of a thawing labor market, but it is heating up right now ahead of the holidays. Jimmy Donaldson has conquered YouTube and now the 26 year old you all know as MrBeast is taking his talents to a slightly bigger screen. Thursday was the premiere of Beast Games, a squid game inspired game show hosted by Mr. Beast that will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. It's an expensive bet by Amazon that at least some of Mr. Beast's world leading 337 million followers on YouTube. He has a little more than us. Toby will follow him over to the streaming service. And by expensive, I mean this deal was reportedly worth $100 million. And everything else about the show is big too. Amazon claims the show is the biggest live game show in history with 1,000 players competing for a prize of $5 million, the biggest single prize in TV history. Mr. Beast claims he spent more than $100 million on the show and says he broke 40 world records along the way. I can't even fathom what kind of world records that would be. But Toby, the big question here, do you think Mr. Beast can successfully bring his YouTube magic to Hollywood?

[Toby Howell]

That is the big question. Because on the one hand, Hollywood, looking at this, you've seen some pretty epic failures in the past. I mean, this production was riddled with a lot of controversy. Workers were talking about bad working condition, contestants were saying the same thing. So maybe if you're a Hollywood Exec saying this YouTuber can't run a big production like this. One of the other biggest YouTubers in the world, Ryan Kaji, is this 12 year old who has this toy review empire. He tried to go the Hollywood route and release a full length feature film that absolutely bombed in theaters. Charli D'Amelio and the D'Amelio family launched this reality TV show that was soon after canceled. So there's a lot of Ls in the influencer to Hollywood pipeline. On the other hand, though, YouTube is absolutely a force. And most of America is spending their time in front of televisions watching YouTube. Two and a half billion people tune into YouTube monthly. So social media and television culture are definitely blending into one. And right now you have the biggest YouTuber launching one of the biggest game shows of all time. So we're going to really see where that line is drawn. And if you can, you know, go from the smaller screen to the slightly larger screen.

[Neal Freyman]

Right. Which raises the question, I think for me is why is Mr. Beast even doing this? And I guess it's that $100 million check. But he probably gets way more viewers on YouTube than anyone who's going to see this show on Amazon Prime Video. And then when it comes to the money that is made, I mean separate the. I guess you can't separate the $100 million he's being paid. But YouTube actually spends more on content and paying its creators than Netflix. YouTube has paid out an average of $23 billion a year to creators and media companies compared to Netflix which spends about $15 billion a year. So you are right that the lines are being blurred and the in YouTube is, is not necessarily just a user generated content content anymore. Mr. Beast has 250 employees. Like this is an actual company. But you're right, it didn't seem like you ran a tight ship. Said there were accusations of mistreatment of workers on set. Well, they actually filed five unnamed participants. Filed a lawsuit against Mr. Beast and Amazon. So he has to face that. He said the accusations are blown out of proportion. But that has been a scandal for this show for months.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, and you mentioned too that Will, why is he even doing this? Because he does get so many views on YouTube. His squid game video, which is his most popular video ever, where he recreated the viral Netflix TV show in real life without obviously the death component involved, that got 678 million views. You'd be hard pressed to think that Amazon will get even a tenth of that. But it is just another example of these worlds colliding. And we'll see if he is one of the first creators to really make a successful jump from YouTube to television. It is stock of the week dog of the week time where Neil and I pick one stock who had a better week than the kid who got to open one of their presents early and one who got a paper cut while trying to wrap their presence. Neil, I took you down in the pre show game of Red Rover so I am up first and my stock of the week is Darden Restaurants. The owner of brands like Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse popped nearly 10% following a better than expected fourth quarter earnings even as the casual dining restaurant segment as a whole is looking worse than weeks old shrimp scampi leftovers. Darden Stalwart's Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse are bucking the broader trend. Same store sales at Longhorn grew 7 and a half percent in the quarter as its middle of the road prices for solid steaks resonated with deal savvy customers. Contrast that to Darden's fine dining segment which includes upscale steakhouses like the Capital Grill and Ruth's Chris, which reported a 6% sales decline which was steeper than expected. So Neil Darden is a pretty perfect microcosm of the Restaurant industry as a whole right now, people are looking for good value.

[Neal Freyman]

People are looking for good value. When you go to the Capital Grill and Bruce Chris Steakhouse, at least from my experience, you know, the thought going in is like, I'm going to get some, maybe some mediocre food. I'm going to pay a lot. So it has to be an interesting occasion for it. But when you look at its other brands like Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, you are thinking, wow, I'm going to get pretty good value here. I'm going to pay not so much and at least I'll get like a lot of food. So maybe those, why that's, maybe that's why those two brands are doing so well in bucking the broader industry trends. Olive Garden has this never ending possible. What else is, what else, you know, showcases value than something that's, that's called never ending. And then it also partnered, remember with Uber on delivery. So now Olive Garden can be delivery. It's opening up its distribution network. So when you're looking at the winners and losers of restaurants this year, and this is going to be the last time we're talking about restaurants, you see the winners are those value chains like Chili's and Olive Garden, Long Long Longhorn Steakhouse that are providing value. The ones that are losers are the, are the luxury ones that don't provide luxury.

[Toby Howell]

You're absolutely right. It seems like they think demand is going to be returning as long as you are threading that needle between good value and good food. I do think it's funny too, some of the other restaurant chains that have struggled this year, like the Red Lobsters of the world, like the TGI Fridays of the world, just didn't resonate with consumers. You still need your food to resonate. And it is funny you mentioned the never ending possible promotion that was a big success. They extended it for a month longer than they normally do at Olive Garden. But then you go back to the endless shrimp debacle that didn't fully sink Red Lobster but ended up contributing to its demise. So it's a tale of two endless offers right there. Clearly, pasta is the way to go. A little bit more profitable for the company. Up next, dog of the week is coming your way.

[Neal Freyman]

Ready to book your next vacation. Leave the kids at home and hit the high seas with Virgin Voyages.

[Toby Howell]

Virgin Voyages is the adults only destination for anyone seeking a restorative, luxurious and award winning vacation at sea. All food, entertainment and activities are catered to adult tastes and their sailors love it.

[Neal Freyman]

And who doesn't love a little luxury. Over $1,000 in value is included in every sailing. Everything Virgin Voy offers, from menus created by Michelin star chefs to expertly design cabins, is award winning.

[Toby Howell]

There's never a dull moment. From well being a month to kick off the new year to end of the year holiday voyages, there's a new adventure around every corner all year long. There are theme sailings, onboard music, entertainment parties and more. To make sure you're sailing in style.

[Neal Freyman]

Book now@virgin voyages.com or contact your travel advisor. Pop Quiz Toby what do brands like Aloe, Allbirds and skims have in common?

[Toby Howell]

For one thing, they're all top notch brands that sell directly to consumers.

[Neal Freyman]

Bingo. But achieving big name success comes down to more than having a cool brand and brilliant marketing. Who's behind the scenes powering each and every one of their sales?

[Toby Howell]

Shopify of course, nobody does selling better than Shopify. They're home to the number one checkout on the planet.

[Neal Freyman]

And we've got to mention they're not so secret. Secret Shop pay shop pay boost conversions up to 50%. That means few fewer abandoned carts and higher rev numbers.

[Toby Howell]

Shopify should be every business's one stop.

[Neal Freyman]

Shop to growth, level up your biz and sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com morning brew all lowercase that's shopify.com/morning brew all lowercase My dog of the week is the NBA because a lot fewer people are watching it this season. Through last Saturday, ratings on national TV for the NBA have plunged 19% year over year. Ticket prices for the NBA cup, the in season tournament, which Milwaukee won earlier this week, were about half of what they were last year. The grim viewership numbers have sparked lots of navel gazing about why the NBA is in such a big slump this year. Is it cord cutting? Is it losing the attention battle to streaming? Is it a problem with the product? Are there too many three pointers? Are there not enough superstars in a league that relies on superstars? Is it the fact that these superstars are European? Is it the fact that these superstars are on bad teams? Lots of questions and Commissioner Adam Silver addressed some of them during a huddle with reporters this week. He acknowledged that ratings were down, but said that this wasn't an indication of waning interest in the NBA but larger structural factors. He pointed to stats that showed the last two years were the highest attendance in NBA history and that its social media audience is the highest of any league and continues to grow. Toby should the NBA be concerned.

[Toby Howell]

I mean, I think you mentioned a lot of the reasons why they are.

[Neal Freyman]

Concerned right there in the form of very hypothetical questions.

[Toby Howell]

They're not, they're hypothetical, but they are questions posed by the audience, by the fan base who watches the NBA. Let's start with the product on the court because that is one thing that you have to protect. All the other things, streaming market changes, like the entertainment market shifts, but you need the product to be good. And one of the big criticisms is that basketball has almost become a solved game at this point. It's pushed the game towards a very three ball heavy approach. If you look at a heat map of where players used to shoot from in the 80s and 90s, there was all these sprinkled mid range jumpers in there which people thought led to more interesting basketball. Now it is basically concentrated behind the three point arc or at the rim, which fans are saying not a great product right there. So that is I think the biggest issue that the NBA is grappling with that they don't have a really good answer to. Because you can't disincentivize teams for playing the most optimal basketball.

[Neal Freyman]

Let me just put some stats behind the three pointer numbers because they are kind of mind blowing. Teams are averaging about 37.53-point attempts per game, which is the most ever and about 15 more than the league average a decade ago. So remember the 2015, 2016 Golden State Warriors? We thought they put up a lot of threes. They would rank near the bottom in the NBA this season. Their average of 31.6 threes per game, about 20 fewer than the Celtics this year. The Celtics have kind of revolutionized this three point game this year. They chuck up 51 threes per game, which accounts for more than half their total shot attempt. So these are the kind of numbers where people are watching and they're saying, man, there's so many threes going on right now. I wonder if the game is a little bit broken because that's all the teams do. It's harming the product, it's harming viewer numbers.

[Toby Howell]

One thing, one thing that I think is a bright spot for the NBA is their ability to expand internationally though. Because you mentioned that a lot of their best players in the league right now are international players, or at least European players. They have floated this idea of expanding to a starting a league in Europe. They've been in talks with fiba, which is the international governing body for basketball, and they want to start up like a sister league over in Europe, which I think is a great idea. Europe loves basketball. The NBA doesn't have a huge presence there outside of most of the best players come over and play in their league. So I do think that the horizon is bright if you can kind of nail these international but that doesn't solve U.S. viewership. It doesn't. But if you can make it up in aggregate across the world then you are making the pie bigger as, as a whole.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah. Just to go down some of the other reasons the NBA might be slumping, it's just overall cord cutting. So people are watching more streaming. Maybe they're watching Mr. Beast on Amazon or YouTube and they're not watching the NBA and illegal streams.

[Toby Howell]

If you look through any NBA like Reddit thread everyone's like of course NBA viewership is down. We all watch illegally like they self admit to it. So that is another aspect that the league doesn't want to confront but is happening.

[Neal Freyman]

And then my I guess my final point here is that this all doesn't really matter because the NBA just signed a gargantuan $76 billion broadcast rights package for the next 11 years. With Disney, with Amazon, with NBC. So they are locked and loaded like they are. They have an 11 $76 billion 11 year $76 billion a year contract. This mid year slump that they're going through right now, they just probably don't care about because they are rolling it.

[Toby Howell]

They're flash with cash. Now let's sprint to the finish with some headlines you may have missed. Poland is running low on a critical resource ahead of its presidential elections. But it's not oil or grain, its butter. Poland is selling 1100 tons of its frozen strategic butter reserves in order to stabilize prices. It's blaming on a global milk shortage. Nations don't just keep emergency reserves of things like oil or gold. Some countries also keep a stockpile of products it deems essential to local diets. Which is why you'll find things like strategic maple syrup reserves in Canada or pork reserves in China or butter in Poland. Neal?

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, well now I'm going to call all of the stuff in the back of my refrigerator my strategic reserve that I haven't touched in a while. That's very moldy. Just my reserves and I'm just waiting for the right time to to unleash it. Yeah, this is the butter shortage. Higher butter prices has been plaguing a bunch of European countries recently. Russia. Some Russian supermarkets have actually put butter behind glass like CVS does with higher priced things in order to prevent thefts because butter has increased 26%. So there is a dairy shortage, and you're seeing inflation go up for butter, and it's becoming a big political issue.

[Toby Howell]

By the way, it is unsalted butter, too, which for my bakers out there, they know that you want to use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt you're adding to dishes. If you salted butter, it can be a little bit uneven with the amount of salt in a salted butter stick. So unsalted butter, that's usually the way to go if you're serious about Bobby fly.

[Neal Freyman]

Wait, so what do you use salted for?

[Toby Howell]

Salted. If you're just lazy and, like, you just want to have a little extra flavor. But if you want to control the salt content in the dish, you should use unsalted butter.

[Neal Freyman]

Okay. Finally, someone is doing something about the arcade claw machine. We've all been there. You position the claw perfectly above the toy you want. It descends, the anticipation builds. It catches the toy, but then despair. It closes just a millimeter above where it needs to, catching nothing but air and leaving the toy in the pile below. Well, Hong Kong has heard your frustrations. The city's consumer watchdog called for a review of regulations on claw machines, saying these machines capitalize on consumers enthusiasm for testing their luck. It cited one complaint from a man who spent $65 over 45 minutes to win a waffle maker, but only ended up grabbing more than a few trinkets. Toby, I'm all about this. It's about time we take down big Claw.

[Toby Howell]

See, I am not about this because I think the experience of playing a claw game is about the fact that it's difficult if you just. You're not paying to grab, like, a plush toy. Like, you're not expecting that your. Your dollar is translating directly into the prize you're getting. It's about trying to grab that plush toy. Where I do think that they have a point where I draw the line is where some of these machines have features where if you spend X amount of money, you will be guaranteed a grab. That feels a little scummy, because you would hope that you're guaranteed a chance at a grab every time you attempt one. So I am generally on the side of, like, it should be difficult, but it shouldn't be unfairly difficult.

[Neal Freyman]

Okay. My conception of you, Toby, is that you would be somebody who would spend like a half hour to an hour in front of a claw machine until you got one. Just keep feeding it. Is that true?

[Toby Howell]

Well, it would be true. The fact that I don't if I live in like a cashless society. So I only ever have like $2 on me. So I'm limited by the very fact that I just don't carry cash with me. But otherwise you are spot on, Neil. Now let's finish off the show with some more holiday themed headlines. Up first, if you have a kid who loves stuffed animals, maybe skip the unicorn and dragons this year. And not for the world's largest rodent instead. That's right, the it animal for this holiday season is the capybara. Powered by a wave of videos on social media, capybaras are the latest animal to become an unexpected star. It helps that interest in plush toys is peaking to plush toy animal sales are up 115% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2019 as people look for some velvety comfort. And let's face it, Neil, a copy bearer is a lot cooler of a gift to receive than something boring like a cat or a dog.

[Neal Freyman]

I'm so happy the capybara is having its due because I thought I was the only one who knew about this animal. Back where I grew up at the Forest Park Zoo, there were a bunch of capybaras that I would go and love to watch because they are incredible. They just look amazing. They're huge freaking rodent. But they're very cute. So I thought no one else knew about them. And then when I saw that sales were of capybara, they were the animal. I was like this. It's about time. Everyone should know about this animal. But apparently each holiday season, according to toy manufacturers, there's been a new it animal. So in 2021, I think I'm pronouncing this correctly. It's the Axolotl.

[Toby Howell]

You nailed it. Actually, I looked it up.

[Neal Freyman]

Have you heard of this?

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, it is like this little salamander looking creature.

[Neal Freyman]

Got it.

[Toby Howell]

That wrote a wave of attention because Minecraft added it to its game. So that propelled it. But you are dead right that that was the animal a few years ago.

[Neal Freyman]

What's going to be the animal next year?

[Toby Howell]

I mean, it's hard to say. What other animals have been in movies recently? I don dinosaurs, something like that.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah. No one ever thinks about dinosaurs or buys anything about dinosaurs. Toby really under the radar. Okay, finally, Timothy Chalamet lookalikes are out and Jesus lookalikes are in. At least in Utah where some long haired and bearded men are charging 100 to $200 per hour in the growing market for Jesus models. The Wall Street Journal reported. They're being hired for occasions like the family photo shoot for the Christmas card or wedding announcements. The hourly rate is so high because the labor pool is low. Many people who live in Utah are Mormons and the men who work or volunteer for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints tend to not look like Jesus because they frequently shave and have short hair. So there's a lucrative side hustle opportunity for good looking dudes with long hair and beards who haven't aged into the mall Santa market yet.

[Toby Howell]

I am out on the beard front right there. The problem is that this goes beyond just looks because when you show up looking like Jesus, dressed like Jesus, people kind of expect you to act like Jesus as well. So a lot of these Jesus lookalikes have said people come up to them, they want to hold their hand, they want to talk to them, and they feel this burden to act like Jesus even though they are just some random guy. So seems like the hardest lookalike gig you could possibly good you could possibly do. I would much rather opt for the mall Santa gig.

[Neal Freyman]

Okay, let's wrap it up there. Thanks so much for spending your mornings with us all year and have a wonderful holiday whatever or wherever you're celebrating. For any questions, comments or feedback, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Bukom. Though just a suspicion you might get hit with an out of office message. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our Executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Olivia Graham is our Associate producer. Eugenia Ohu is our Technical director. Billy Menino is on audio, hair and makeup, which is every everyone a happy holidays. Devin Emery is our Chief Content Officer and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show Danielle. I wish you all well.