Slate Money – "The Kaep Caper Edition"

Date: September 8, 2018
Host: Felix Salmon (Axios)
Guests: Emily Peck (Huffington Post), Anna Szymanski

Overview

This episode of Slate Money—dubbed "The Kaep Caper Edition"—focuses on three major business and finance stories of the week:

1. Nike’s provocative marketing campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick and the backlash and business strategy behind it
2. The ongoing Les Moonves saga at CBS, broader implications for media conglomerates, and industry governance
3. The results and consequences of India’s demonetization policy

The panel, featuring Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski, discusses these news stories with a blend of insight and dry wit, exploring their economic and cultural impacts.

1. Nike, Colin Kaepernick, and the Marketing Moment

[00:40–12:20]

Key Points & Insights

• Nike made Colin Kaepernick the face of its new ad campaign, stirring intense reactions from both sides of the political spectrum.
  • Some conservatives responded by burning Nike products, while even some on the left criticized Nike for perceived hypocrisy, given its checkered past with labor and gender discrimination.
• The hosts stress that Nike's move aligns with its core buyer demographics—millennials and global consumers—whose interests go beyond American football.
• The conversation situates Nike’s boldness in a trend of corporations adopting clear stances on social issues in the Trump era, often more progressive than elected officials.

Notable Quotes

• Emily Peck [03:19]: “I just want to be on record as saying, I think this ad is awesome. And this is a hill I'm going to die on in this segment.”
• Anna Szymanski [04:33]: “Nike knows who buys its products—mostly millennials and younger... The old guys cutting up their shoes, they aren't important.”
• Felix Salmon [05:12]: “If what you want is to create a global brand and you have this iconic figure in Colin Kaepernick, then it seems obvious it can play very well, not only domestically, but globally.”
• Emily Peck [06:46]: “This is Nike using their power to put pressure on an organization they have a relationship with [the NFL]... They're siding with what I think is on the right side of history.”
• Felix Salmon [08:10]: “All of these numbers are incredibly small... Most people who see this ad are just going to see it as an ad... They're not going to see it in the context of the news story and the controversy.”
• Emily Peck [10:27]: “Companies have always tried to align themselves to a certain extent with identities. But now you’re seeing more and more companies wanting to align themselves with certain values.”

Memorable Moment

• Reflecting on Nike’s unapologetic campaign, the hosts compare it to Pepsi’s infamously tone-deaf ad with Kendall Jenner:
  • Felix Salmon [11:34]: “The thing to do if you're going to embrace some kind of a social cause is to embrace it wholeheartedly... Don't get some random Kardashian kid to give a Pepsi to a policeman.”

2. Les Moonves and the CBS/Viacom Soap Opera

[12:20–21:48]

Key Points & Insights

• In the wake of Ronan Farrow's exposé, CBS CEO Les Moonves is negotiating an exit after mounting allegations of sexual misconduct.
• The discussion pivots to the future corporate structure of CBS and Viacom, emphasizing Shari Redstone’s push to re-merge the two companies to enhance their value for sale.
• The conversation uncovers the extraordinary influence wielded by Moonves, illustrated by his reported blacklisting of Janet Jackson after the Super Bowl incident.
• There's skepticism that removing Moonves will solve the deeper, outdated culture at CBS, whose executive ranks and board remain dominated by older men.

Notable Quotes

• Emily Peck [13:25]: “It's somewhat unconscionable that [Moonves] wasn't at least put on leave... The allegations are pretty gross and damning.”
• Felix Salmon [17:42]: “After the Super Bowl, Janet Jackson's career kind of falls off a cliff... it was in large part because she was blacklisted by Les Moonves to the point at which his tentacles reached so far.”
• Emily Peck [20:45]: “CBS, even if they get rid of Les Moonves, is a company of dinosaurs... If you go a level below the board, there's only men at the executive level.”

Memorable Moment

• The sheer reach of Moonves’s power, from TV to publishing, and the story about Janet Jackson’s career derailing due to his vendetta is both a shocking and illustrative anecdote.

3. Corporate Wokeness and Inclusion Riders: WarnerMedia vs. CBS

[19:12–21:48]

Key Points & Insights

• With WarnerMedia (formerly Warner Bros.) embracing "inclusion riders" and committing to diversity, the panel notes the increasing trend of large corporations not just projecting, but actively living, progressive values.
• This postures WarnerMedia favorably compared to the embattled, tradition-bound CBS.

Notable Quote

• Felix Salmon [20:31]: “It puts them [WarnerMedia] in a better position than the kind of back foot that the CBS board is on, trying to work out how on earth do we get rid of this dinosaur.”

4. The Death of Cash in India: Demonetization Revisited

[21:48–28:01]

Key Points & Insights

• The panel revisits India's 2016 demonetization: most of the high-denomination banknotes returned to the official system, so the primary goal of punishing tax evaders failed.
• However, broader goals like increasing financial inclusion showed marked improvement—bank account ownership leaped from 50% to 80% and digital payment adoption soared.
• There is debate over whether demonetization itself caused these shifts or merely coincided with existing trends.
• The conversation also highlights how advanced India’s banking and digital payments infrastructure is, especially compared to the United States.

Notable Quotes

• Anna Szymanski [22:46]: “This policy was a failure because 99% of the value of the currency before demonetization found its way into the financial system.”
• Emily Peck [25:18]: “It does seem like the outcome seems good—more people using bank accounts. Did it need to be such a crazy shock to the system?”
• Felix Salmon [26:32]: “America arguably has the worst payments infrastructure of any country in the world.”
• Anna Szymanski [27:21]: “One thing we are seeing is that cash in the economy as a percentage of the money supply is still significantly lower... So you are changing cultural norms.”

Memorable Moment

• The comparison between India’s and America’s banking systems, with Felix opining wryly:
  • Felix Salmon [29:14]: “America does not have a central bank. We have 12 central banks... The commercial banks, of course, make money from this inefficiency.”

5. Numbers Round

[29:20–35:25]

Featured Numbers

• $145,000 (Emily Peck, [29:42]):
  The settlement Goop (Gwyneth Paltrow's company) paid for false advertising claims about the "jade egg."
  • Emily Peck [29:48]: “That is the amount of money Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand company Goop, paid to settle a case in California over claims made about the infamous jade egg…”
• 50 (Felix Salmon, [33:04]):
  Number of people lining up to enter the exclusive Centurion Suite at the US Open, reserved for American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders.
• 15,000 rupiah (Anna Szymanski, [34:29]):
  Indonesian currency breached a level not seen since the 1998 financial crisis, highlighting emerging markets volatility.

6. Closing Remarks & Tone

The episode’s tone is lively, critical yet playful, with the hosts engaging in frank debates and poking fun (at themselves and the newsmakers). They cap off with the anticipation of their upcoming episode on the 10th anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, promising a feature with "literally the person who wrote the book about the financial crisis."

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

Expect a sharp, accessible breakdown of how marketing, corporate governance, and financial policy collide with social trends—from Nike’s bet on Kaepernick to CBS’s dinosaur boardroom and India’s futile war on cash. The hosts' banter and analyses offer a quick yet profound snapshot of where business, society, and culture meet.

End of Summary