🌭 “Profit Puppy” — Nathan’s Hot Dog high. Lululemon’s Costco dupe-suit. Cloudflare’s AI shield.

Summary

The Best One Yet – July 3, 2025 Episode Summary

Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell
Episode Title: 🌭 “Profit Puppy” — Nathan’s Hot Dog High. Lululemon’s Costco Dupe-Suit. Cloudflare’s AI Shield.

---

1. Nathan’s Hot Dog Stock Soars Thanks to Ukraine

Nathan’s Hot Dogs’ stock has reached an all-time high, unexpectedly fueled by its expansion into the Ukrainian market.

• Unexpected Market Expansion:
  Nick highlights, “Nathan’s Stock is up 40% this year. It’s the Palantir of pork, basically” (07:01).

• Ukraine as a Key Market:
  Jack reveals, “Customers know because there’s a hot dog statue outside of each gas station” (07:40).
  The New York Times uncovered that a Ukrainian gas station entrepreneur partnered with Nathan’s, leading to the brand’s presence in 27 gas stations across Ukraine. This strategic move not only caters to the local appetite but also taps into the halal market due to Nathan’s all-beef, skinless hot dogs.

• Historical Ties:
  The founders’ legacy plays a role, as Nathan’s was established by a Polish immigrant during World War I. Jack adds, “Legend has it that four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. That was the original Nathan’s hot dog eating contest” (08:18).

• Licensing Strategy:
  The surge isn’t solely from hot dog sales. Nick explains, “Nathan’s real secret sauce isn’t ketchup. Mustard are chopped up pickles. The real secret is licensing” (08:53).
  Licensing accounts for 25% of Nathan’s sales but a staggering 75% of its profits, as they lease their brand and recipes rather than solely relying on their own restaurants.

Takeaway:
Nathan’s Hot Dogs’ remarkable growth is driven by strategic licensing and international expansion, particularly in Ukraine, redefining its revenue streams beyond direct sales.

---

2. Cloudflare’s AI Shield: Protecting Content in the Age of AI Crawling

Cloudflare introduces an innovative solution to safeguard online content from unauthorized AI scraping.

• The AI Crawling Problem:
  Jack notes, “Anthropic reads a New York Times article 73,000 times. For each one time, they refer someone to visit the New York Times” (10:45).
  This excessive crawling threatens content publishers by draining their resources without fair compensation.

• Cloudflare’s AI Fence:
  Nick describes, “Cloudflare just built a digital fence that blocks AI from visiting your website and eating up your content” (11:36).
  This tool allows website owners to monitor AI crawling activity and activate a barrier to prevent unauthorized access.

• Pay Per View Crawl:
  In a groundbreaking move, Jack explains, “It's called Pay Per View Crawl. This is the start of a new Internet marketplace, and it's a new way for content publishers to make money” (12:37).
  Publishers can now charge AI entities for accessing their content, creating a sustainable revenue model.

• Impact on Giants:
  The hosts highlight the irony, “Google and Meta are getting a dose of their own medicine” (13:25).
  As AI companies like Google and Facebook rely on vast amounts of content to train their models, Cloudflare’s solution disrupts their traditional access methods.

Takeaway:
Cloudflare’s AI Shield represents a significant advancement in protecting digital content, providing publishers with the tools to monetize their data while controlling AI access.

---

3. Lululemon vs. Costco: The Battle Against Dupes

Lululemon takes a legal stand against Costco for selling near-identical products at significantly lower prices, aiming to curb the dupe culture.

• The Lawsuit:
  Jack states, “Lululemon is suing Costco, the $400 billion behemoth” (16:23).
  This legal action targets Costco for selling products that closely mimic Lululemon’s designs.

• Details of the Copying:
  Nick and Jack discuss, “They had the same zipper, the same pocket shape, the same waistband, even the same specific crotch stitching” (18:26).
  Additionally, Costco allegedly uses Lululemon’s trademark color, Tidewater Teal, further blurring the lines between the two brands.

• Price Discrepancy:
  The hosts emphasize the stark price differences: “Lululemon’s ABC Khakis are $130, but the Kirkland version is just $20” (19:11).
  This 90% price gap underscores the aggressive pricing strategy Costco employs to attract budget-conscious consumers.

• Cultural Shift:
  Jack reflects, “The dupe has become a badge of honor in today's consumer culture” (19:23).
  Platforms like Reddit and TikTok have popularized the hunt for affordable knockoffs, turning dupes into sought-after items for savvy shoppers.

• Legal Implications:
  Nick elaborates, “What Lulu is saying is, this ain't no dupe. This is a clone” (18:22).
  Lululemon’s lawsuit could set a legal precedent, potentially reshaping the dupe industry by distinguishing between mere imitation and outright cloning.

Takeaway:
Lululemon’s lawsuit against Costco highlights the ongoing tension between brand integrity and the demand for affordable alternatives, potentially redefining legal boundaries in the fashion industry.

---

Additional Highlights

• Trade Deal with Vietnam:
  President Trump announced a trade deal eliminating tariffs on American imports to Vietnam but imposing a 20% tariff on Vietnamese goods, potentially increasing prices for items like sneakers manufactured in Vietnam.

• Tesla’s Declining Performance:
  Tesla reported a second consecutive quarter of declining car deliveries, with a 14% drop in Q2 and 13% in Q1, possibly due to changing consumer sentiments across political affiliations.

• Jurassic Park’s Seventh Installment:
  The latest Jurassic Park movie debuts, continuing the franchise’s legacy with an intriguing backstory involving a historic Hollywood bidding war between Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

• Fireworks Monopoly:
  A fun fact revealed that China produces 99% of consumer fireworks, all centralized in Luoyang, making it the fireworks capital of the world despite ongoing 30% tariffs affecting prices.

---

Conclusion:

In this episode of The Best One Yet, Jack and Nick delve into Nathan’s surprising stock surge linked to Ukraine, Cloudflare’s innovative AI protection measures, and Lululemon’s aggressive legal battle against Costco. These stories highlight significant shifts in business strategies, technological advancements, and legal landscapes shaping today’s market. Whether it's hot dogs crossing international borders, safeguarding digital content from AI, or battling against mass-produced knockoffs, listeners gain insightful perspectives on the evolving business world.

---

For more insights and detailed discussions, tune into The Best One Yet on the Wondery app or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[Nick]

This is Nick, this is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, July 3rd, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T boy, the top.

[Jack]

Three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[Nick]

Three, count them, three weeks until our live show in Chicago on July 23, 2025.

[Jack]

We just booked our special guest for that Chicago show, the CEO of the buzziest company in the buzziest industry.

[Nick]

But not Sam Altman. But it is the buzziest company in the buzziest industry.

[Jack]

Snag your tickets for T in Chicago. We got a link in the episode description.

[Nick]

We cannot wait to see you there. But in the meantime, we can't wait to see you here. Jack, what do we got on the show for today's T boy?

[Jack]

For our first story, Nathan's hot dog eating contest is tomorrow the 4th of July, but its stock is at an all time high.

[Nick]

So we'll tell you how Nathan's business is booming. Thanks, shockingly, to Ukraine.

[Jack]

For our second story, Cloudflare just invented the most important breakthrough in artificial intelligence.

[Nick]

Because Cloudflare's newest product is a bot proof vest.

[Jack]

And our third and final story is Lululemon. Lululemon just pulled off the biggest lawsuit.

[Nick]

Of its Lulu life.

[Jack]

It is suing Costco.

[Nick]

Ooh, besties. This ain't a lawsuit. This is a dupe suit.

[Jack]

Because Lulu wants to kill the knockoff forever.

[Nick]

Knock out the knockoff.

[Jack]

But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[Nick]

But what a mix of stories for a three day weekend.

[Jack]

Jack, if you're going to the movies this weekend, it's okay to be late.

[Nick]

In fact, it turns out 30 minutes late is right on time because the.

[Jack]

Average movie in America doesn't begin until a half hour after the scheduled showtime.

[Nick]

That's right. The average film now faces 30 minutes of previews.

[Jack]

30 minutes of previews. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the pre show content is also their profit puppy.

[Nick]

Because theaters are squeezing in eight to 10 trailers and four to five commercials in that puppy.

[Jack]

It's a promo parade, it's a teaser Tornado.

[Nick]

Jack, you can't see Jurassic park without a mattress, beer and pharmaceutical ad these days.

[Jack]

Yeah, if this film lasts longer than four hours, consult your doctor.

[Nick]

There's so many trailers, you forgo what film you're there to see in the first place.

[Jack]

I think it's a Marvel one.

[Nick]

It's always a Marvel one, Jack.

[Jack]

And that extra half hour of ads, it actually drives more concession sales because.

[Nick]

You ran out of Junior Mints before the seventh trailer began.

[Jack]

At least AMC is Being honest about it, though, they're gonna warn you right on your ticket.

[Nick]

Here's the news. New tickets are now alerting you that the start time isn't 7:00pm It's 7:30pm.

[Jack]

Well, like, it starts at 7, but it really starts at 7:30.

[Nick]

Yeah, yeah, no problem by us. So you could literally watch the whole TV show before the movie begins. So yet he's.

[Jack]

Don't worry about being fashionably late to the theater this weekend.

[Nick]

Jack and I call it cinematically late.

[Jack]

Because 30 minutes late is right on time.

[Nick]

If you know, you know. Jack, let's hit our three stories.

[Unknown]

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in a dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet. But the best is the norm. Jack. Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T Boy City on your @ Liz, if you low, you know. Cause we read to go. We can't wait no more.

[Nick]

So just start the.

[Unknown]

Start the show.

[Nick]

Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

Airbnb.

[Nick]

Yetis, there is nothing more powerful in life or in business than the double dip.

[Jack]

Dip that chip twice and don't end.

[Nick]

It with the ultimate money. Double dip hosting on Airbnb. Jack's talked so much about being a host, his friends are asking him about it. Getting asked about it all the time.

[Jack]

One buddy is about to get married. He has no kids yet. He wants to travel the country dink style with his new wife. How is he gonna pay for it? He's gonna list his house on Airbnb.

[Nick]

So, Basties, if you're going on vacation this summer, join the millions who host on Airbnb.

[Jack]

Host your whole space. Host your extra space. Host any space.

[Nick]

The income from putting your home on Airbnb could pay for your whole vacay.

[Jack]

I've been doing it for three different.

[Nick]

Properties now, and it's easy to set booking availability. And then when the booking comes in, Jack, you always say it just shows up in your Google calendar.

[Jack]

And if you' not sure what to price your place at, check Airbnb and look at similar listings. It's very easy.

[Nick]

You can double dip that chip.

[Jack]

Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host now. Quick break. Switching topics to one of our favorite sponsors, vital proteins.

[Nick]

All right, Yeti. So Jack has become an extreme collagen user. This guy's adding vital proteins collagen to each morning coffee. And Jack drinks a lot of morning coffee, I should point out.

[Jack]

Yeah, I have three cups a day. I have a tub of mocha and a tub of chocolate. Both make my coffee taste chocolatey. And there's a bunch of protein in each scoop, too, so.

[Nick]

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides is a supplement that has four benefits all in one helping support healthy hair, skin, nails, bones and joints.

[Jack]

That is how my face got dewier than a donut.

[Nick]

Mix it into your coffee, to your smoothie, or just go straight to your face.

[Jack]

By taking collagen peptides daily, you can support your hair, skin, nail, bone and joint health.

[Nick]

Get 20% off by going to vitalproteins.com and entering promo code T Boy at checkout.

[Jack]

That's vitalproteins.com promo code T Boy for 20% off.

[Nick]

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For our first story, on the eve of their Super Bowl, Nathan's hot dog stock just hit an all time high.

[Jack]

Because Nathan's Hot Dogs found a surprise customer in Ukraine.

[Nick]

Now, yetis full disclosure here. I'm not a relish guy. Are you, Jack? I realize I don't even know that. Are you?

[Jack]

No, but I like pickles, which is basically just the poor man's relish.

[Nick]

I don't know what we're gonna call it.

[Jack]

No, I think it's the rich man's relish, actually.

[Nick]

That's a primo move right there. Classy co host, my friend. But America, Yetis America. We've got three holidays devoted to food.

[Jack]

Thanksgiving is devoted to turkey. Halloween is devoted to candy. Fourth of July is devoted to hot dogs.

[Nick]

Yeah, cranberry sauce is cute in Thanksgiving, but nothing is more American than stuffing your face with 78 sausages.

[Jack]

Like our nation's biggest eater, Joey Chestnut.

[Nick]

Which leads to the nation's hot dog eating contest happening tomorrow.

[Jack]

It's a Coney Island, New York tradition. It goes back 109 years.

[Nick]

It's basically a marketing stunt with mustard.

[Jack]

And somehow Joey chestnut eats like 70 dogs and buns without throwing it off.

[Nick]

Well, on ESPN, this has been broadcast since 2001. At its height, it got 3 million viewers.

[Jack]

But last year, the 16 time champion Joey Chestnut ditched Nathan's for a Netflix streamed hot dog eating rival on Memorial Day.

[Nick]

Which leads to the news. First, Joey Chestnut is back in the Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

[Jack]

And second, Nathan's stock is at an all time high.

[Nick]

And that got us Fascinated. Get this. Yetis Nathan's Stock is up 40% this year. It's the palantir of pork, basically.

[Jack]

Actually it's an all beef hot dog.

[Nick]

It's the bitcoin of beef dogs.

[Jack]

And it's skinless beef. I didn't need to know about skinless. It's a little tmi.

[Nick]

But here's the surprise plot twist. Yetis Nathan's new market is Ukraine.

[Jack]

That's right, Ukraine. The biggest hot dog loving country outside of the usa.

[Nick]

Okay, wild story. The New York Times found right before the war In Ukraine, a 35 year old gas station entrepreneur contacted Nathan's. And what was what he requested Jack to expand. And now Nathan's has carried in 27 of his gas station stores across the country.

[Jack]

Customers know because there's a hot dog statue outside of each gas station.

[Nick]

Yeah, the size of a human. It's like a six foot tall hot dog, man.

[Jack]

And as Ukraine battles Russian aggression, a hot dog, a Nathan's hot dog is an affordable and efficient protein option.

[Nick]

And interestingly, since it's an all beef dog, they can sell it to the Muslim communities nearby. It's basically a halal hot dog.

[Jack]

Plus there's something poetic here because Nathan's was founded over 100 years ago by a Polish immigrant during World War I, in fact.

[Nick]

What was the story we discovered on this, Jack?

[Jack]

Oh, this is great. To settle an argument over who was the most patriotic. Legend has it that four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. That was the original Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

[Nick]

But back to today besties, it turns out it's not war torn hot dog love in Ukraine that's driving this huge Nathan sales surge. Is it Jack?

[Jack]

It's what all that reflects.

[Nick]

Because Nathan's stock we discovered, is at an all time high. Because its real business isn't hot dog.

[Jack]

Shops, it's the name Nathan's.

[Nick]

So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nathan's Nathan's Hot Dogs?

[Jack]

The secret sauce to scalability is licensing.

[Nick]

Yetis Nathan's doesn't make most of their money from hot dogs. They make it from letting other people make their hot dogs.

[Jack]

That's right. They sell the rights to use the name Nathan's and Nathan's Hot dog recipes. It's not franchising, it's licensing.

[Nick]

We jumped into Nathan's annual report, T boy style and they put licensing as their number one top product. It's their highest margin product. They mentioned it 42 times.

[Jack]

Licensing is 25% of Nathan's sales, but a whopping 75% of Nathan's profits.

[Nick]

That's insane. In fact, only 7% of their revenue comes from running their own hot dog restaurants. Those things are basically big symbolic billboards.

[Jack]

Running their own restaurants also sets a quality bar that all the licensees must match.

[Nick]

But Nathan's stock, it's at an all time high, besties. Not because of the dogs, but because it rents out its name.

[Jack]

Nathan's real secret sauce isn't ketchup. Mustard are chopped up pickles. The Jack special it's licensing.

[Nick]

For our second story, the biggest new AI product. It's an anti AI product. Get this, Cloudflare just built an AI fence.

[Jack]

Here's their pitch. If AI companies want to train on your content, they gotta pay.

[Nick]

Oh, they gotta pay to get in that garden. Now, Yetis, this story really begins with something Jack and I do every day. We use AI every day in our research, right, Jack?

[Jack]

If you use Google's AI mode, they will actually tell you how many websites they visit to come up with their AI generated answer.

[Nick]

And what did you notice the other day when you were researching a story?

[Jack]

Man, Google did nine searches and viewed 229 websites to find my answer. And they did it in like two seconds.

[Nick]

And that is why AI is so smart. Because AI can read the entire Internet millions of times and instantly to get you one answer.

[Jack]

According to Cloudflare, Anthropic, one AI company, they read an article 73,000 times. For each one time, they refer someone to visit that website.

[Nick]

Now, when you hear those kind of numbers, and if you're an online publisher like the New York Times, cnn, or an independent blogger, you hate this.

[Jack]

We repeat, Anthropic reads a New York Times article 73,000 times. For each one time, an Anthropic user ends up on the New York Times.

[Nick]

Now, in the past, a Google search would generate website visits directly to your site.

[Jack]

But now that doesn't happen anymore. AI upstreams you and gives you the answer, so you don't even need to visit the website.

[Nick]

And this is why AI is such a huge threat to the content publishers of the world.

[Jack]

They steal and then share your words.

[Nick]

So that's why Jack and I got fascinated about this story. Cloudflare, a $60 billion cybersecurity company, just built a fence to block unwanted AI.

[Jack]

Basically, they built a digital fence that blocks AI from visiting your website and eating up your content.

[Nick]

And now, you have seen Cloudflare before, by the way, right? Like Jack, it's Subtle.

[Jack]

It's when you go to a website and they're like, verifying you're a human. This may take a few seconds.

[Nick]

That's what Cloudflare typically does. And they already do that for like 20% of the world Wide web right now.

[Jack]

But now they're going to show their clients when AI is crawling their website and how often it's happening.

[Nick]

And then here's the key. They're going to give those clients a button they can press to raise a fence all the way up and stop AI from crawling in.

[Jack]

Good fences make good neighbors. Yes, they do. Cloudflare made a digital version of a fence. Basically the great wall against AI.

[Nick]

Like, here's how you can picture this in real life. So, like Vogue magazine, they use Cloudflare. They're actually a client right now, and.

[Jack]

They block AI crawling because they don't want ChatGPT to read the latest article they wrote about Jeff Bezos wedding and then give it to everyone using ChatGPT.

[Nick]

Now, that fence, that anti AI fence we just described, that was the news. But here is the plot twist.

[Jack]

Cloudflare also added a cash register to that fence.

[Nick]

Okay, so let's extend our example further, Jack. If ChatGPT wants to peep in on that Vogue article about the wedding dress Lauren Sanchez wore, Vogue could let them in and charge for it.

[Jack]

It's called Pay Per View Crawl. This is the start of a new Internet marketplace, and it's a new way for content publishers to make money.

[Nick]

It's a micropayment for every single AI that crawls onto your website.

[Jack]

Sure, Anthropic. You can check out my website 73,000 times, but you have to pay me 73,000 times.

[Nick]

Yeah, I mean, Jack, to go Harry Potter here, it's like the invisibility cloak of the wizarding world.

[Jack]

Go on.

[Nick]

If you're gonna fact check me Hermione style, then I'm just gonna end the analogy right there. So, Jack, what the takeaway for our buddies with the AI fence over at Cloudflare?

[Jack]

Facebook and Google are getting a dose of their own medicine.

[Nick]

Yeti's, publishers, newspapers, magazines, they thrived for 100 years by selling ads.

[Jack]

But with the rise of the Internet, Google and Facebook took over the digital ad market.

[Nick]

That changed the media business forever. Instead of selling their own media ads, Google and Facebook took over the ad market.

[Jack]

But now Google and Meta are on the other side of the table. They need content to train their artificial intelligence.

[Nick]

That's what's so ironic about this, right, Jack?

[Jack]

And this time, Cloudflare's pay per crawl is going to come in and make Google and Facebook pay for it.

[Nick]

Sebastie's the Internet flipped content publishing upside down. And now AI is doing the same thing all over again.

[Jack]

But this time Meta and Google are getting a dose of their own medicine.

[Nick]

If Zuck wants the content fruit of that garden, he's gonna have to pay to get through that fence. Now, a quick word from our sponsor.

[Jack]

ZipRecruiter.

[Nick]

Ah, speed and quality, not typically a combo you get together.

[Jack]

I mean, Nick, you can get a fast food hamburger, but we hope you like it well done.

[Nick]

Or Jack, you can get a 10 second haircut, but we hope you like bangs.

[Jack]

Well, there is an exception to this unwritten rule. If you're hiring, you can find candidates fast who are also extremely qualified for your job. Just use ZipRecruiter.

[Nick]

And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com tboy They've got.

[Jack]

An advanced resume database so you can proactively go in and find Someone.

[Nick]

They get 320,000 new resumes added every month. That's the population of Cleveland.

[Jack]

Experience hiring, speed and quality. With ZipRecruiter.

[Nick]

4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day.

[Jack]

And if you go to ZipRecruiter.com, right now, you can try it out for free.

[Nick]

Again, that ziprecruiter.com tboy ziprecruiter the smartest way to hire. Yes, it is Audible. T boy trivia. Here we go. Yetis, what is the biggest thing you can pack for vacation but not have to check your luggage?

[Jack]

I think it's a leading question based on my Audible I just said a second ago.

[Nick]

Yeah, yeah. The answer's the Audible app. It's the Audible app.

[Jack]

Audible has the deepest selection of audiobooks, podcasts and Audible originals all in one app.

[Nick]

You gotta stick all your clothes in a suitcase, but you get that thousands of audio titles in your pocket.

[Jack]

Right now I'm on a World War II kick. I'm listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin on FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt and how we.

[Nick]

Created the arsenal of democracy. It is Jack's Roman Empire right now.

[Jack]

Now when we're packing for our summer vacation, we don't forget our toothbrush and we don't forget our Audible.

[Nick]

There's more to imagine when you listen.

[Jack]

Sign up for a free 30 day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free.

[Nick]

Visit audible.comt Boy, that's audible.comtboy for our third and final story, the biggest showdown in business right now. It's Lululemon versus Costco.

[Jack]

Lululemon is hoping to set a legal precedent. They're trying to cancel dupe culture.

[Nick]

They're trying to down the dupes. Yet two years ago, Jack and I did a wild story on this show. It was the Lulu dupe exchange. What was this, Jack?

[Jack]

They were encouraging people to come to Lululemon and drop off a ch dupe and then trade it in for the real thing.

[Nick]

Yeah, like you could bring in Amazon knockoff Lululemon align leggings, and then they would give you actual Lululemon align leggings.

[Jack]

It was a pretty boss move by Lulu.

[Nick]

Exactly. We thought it was pretty cool.

[Jack]

Instead of getting mad at dupes, they kind of owned it.

[Nick]

Well, two years later, Lulu's not playing Mr. Nice Gal anymore, are they, Jack? Yeah, Lulu's bad.

[Jack]

They hired the lawyers.

[Nick]

Round up the lawyers, guys.

[Jack]

But they're not going after Shein Zara or the dude on Canal street selling knockoffs. They're going for the biggest knockoff seller of them all. Costco.

[Nick]

They're suing Costco, the $400 billion behemoth that is 10 times bigger than Lulu.

[Jack]

So Lululemon is going for the jugular. They're trying to knock out the knockoff.

[Nick]

I like what you did there. Now, if a court decides that Costco's knockoffs are illegal, that would set a legal precedent affecting the entire dupe industry.

[Jack]

But we should sprinkle on some legal context.

[Nick]

Jack, sew it on for us over there.

[Jack]

Counterfeiting is when a product lies, like claiming it's made by Lululemon even though it's actually not.

[Nick]

That is illegal. Should not happen. But dupes, that is an honest, lower priced knockoff, and it generally is legal.

[Jack]

So when companies sue a knockoff, it's historically been unsuccessful. Unless it's like a blatant counterfeit.

[Nick]

Yeah, Like Adidas has sued dozens of companies, including H and M, for making shoes with three stripes on them. But Adidas has lost most of those cases.

[Jack]

But Lululemon is alleging that Costco copied everything about their clothing. Everything but the price.

[Nick]

And that is key. What Lulu is saying is, this ain't no dupe. This is a clone.

[Jack]

In the 49 page lawsuit, Lululemon alleges that Costco copied five specific products.

[Nick]

And the New York Times analyzed these two products side by side.

[Jack]

The Costco version and the Lululemon version.

[Nick]

They had the same zipper, the same Pocket shape, the same waistband, even the same specific crotch stitching.

[Jack]

According to the lawsuit, Costco even uses Lululemon's trademark color known as Tidewater teal, a color shade that only Lululemon uses.

[Nick]

Costco. You couldn't have grabbed a thesaurus on that one. Yeah, true. The only product difference was the material. Lulu was primo fabric. Costco was Costco fabric.

[Jack]

So add all up and the real difference is the most strategic difference, the price. Costco's versions were 90% cheaper than Lululemon's.

[Nick]

I mean, Jack, I'm scanning these things right now. Lulu's ABC Khak are 130 bucks, but the Kirkland version is just 20.

[Jack]

Lululemon's half zip pullover is $118. Costco's is $7.97.

[Nick]

Costco's just like giving these things away at this point.

[Jack]

This is why people love Costco, but Lululemon does not love Costco right now.

[Nick]

Costco wouldn't do this, we should point out, if consumers didn't demand it.

[Jack]

The dupe has become a badge of honor in today's consumer culture. There's Reddit pages and TikTok hashtags dedicated to spotting and finding and sharing dupes.

[Nick]

You're not just buying Kirkland leggings because they're cheap. You're buying them because they're status symbol that you found a deal.

[Jack]

Just like Lululemon is a status symbol that you can afford it, Costco's version is a status symbol that you found a deal.

[Nick]

Or those pickles you put on your hot dogs. Jack. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Lulu?

[Jack]

The Free Rider era is officially finished.

[Nick]

Yeties. The first thing Jack and I thought about when we saw this Lululemon dupe crackdown was actually Netflix.

[Jack]

Remember the Netflix password crackdown?

[Nick]

Totally.

[Jack]

Two years ago, Netflix ended password sharing.

[Nick]

And the result? Well, the. The following week, Netflix had four of its biggest signup days in the history of the company.

[Jack]

And like Netflix, for years Lululemon turned a blind eye and didn't mind consumers having some fun.

[Nick]

But we're now in a different era from the 2010s, and there is more competition for every dollar.

[Jack]

It's not just Netflix and Lulu cracking down. Amazon cracked down on their generous return policies.

[Nick]

So across industries, we're now seeing a crackdown on customer friendly habits.

[Jack]

The Free Rider era is finished.

[Nick]

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday, which is kind of the real Friday?

[Jack]

America's Nathan's Hot Dogs was founded by a Polish man, and it's growing now thanks to a Ukrainian man.

[Nick]

But Nathan's real secret ingredient to scaling, it's licensing the name.

[Jack]

For our second story, Cloudflare is helping companies stop AI from crawling and stealing their content.

[Nick]

It's with an AI fence, and it's given Google and Facebook a little dose of their own medicine.

[Jack]

And our third and final story, Lululemon is suing Costco for selling five products that are 90% the same, but 90% lower price.

[Nick]

Lulu's trying to cancel the dupe because the free rider era is sadly over.

[Jack]

But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[Nick]

First, President Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam. Vietnam will not tariff anything that they import from America, but we will tariff.

[Jack]

Everything made in Vietnam at 20%.

[Nick]

This deal provides some clarity. It's less than the 46% tariffs that Trump announced on April 2, but it's still high.

[Jack]

It's up from 0%. So it could increase the price of the sneakers that are made in Vietnam.

[Nick]

And second, Tesla reported its second straight quarter of shrinkage. A 14% drop in Q2, a 13% drop in Q1.

[Jack]

Now, the last quarter, Tesla blamed the falling car deliveries on a factory changeover.

[Nick]

But this time seemed pretty clear. Consumers from both political parties are kind of tired of Tesla.

[Jack]

By the way, show me the Chinese EV brand. They sold 200,000 EVs in three minutes.

[Nick]

And finally, Jurassic Park's seventh movie debuts tonight. Apparently those dinosaurs keep having babies, man.

[Jack]

But the first movie was actually the source of a big Hollywood bidding war back in the early 90s between the two most famous directors.

[Nick]

Steven Spielberg outbid James Cameron to get the film rights to the original Jurassic park book.

[Jack]

Spielberg paid $2 million and created Jurassic park, the movie. James Cameron made Titanic and Avatars 1, 2, and 3. So he did. Fine.

[Nick]

Life finds a way to keep making these Jurassic park movies. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one, sent in by Aunt Sammy from lovely Washington, D.C. the biggest Fourth.

[Jack]

Of July tradition, even bigger than hot dogs, is fireworks.

[Nick]

The rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air.

[Jack]

But Independence Day is actually dependent on China.

[Nick]

Get this. China makes 99% of our consumer fireworks. Actually, all consumer fireworks.

[Jack]

It's the biggest monopoly since the invention of fire by the caveman.

[Nick]

Oh, and wildest part, 99% of those 99% of all fireworks are made in one Chinese city, Luoyang.

[Jack]

It's the fireworks capital of the world.

[Nick]

And honestly, it makes sense China controls the market because China invented the firework. A thousand years ago, gunpowder walked that.

[Jack]

That firecrackers could run.

[Nick]

Now, unfortunately, we still have 30% tariffs on all those Chinese fireworks, but it.

[Jack]

Doesn'T make them 30% less loud.

[Nick]

Yetis, you look fantastic today. Oh, and by the way, even though tomorrow is a national holiday, Jack and I ain't leaving you hanging, are we, man?

[Jack]

We're not throwing away our shot.

[Nick]

No, we're not. And why is that?

[Jack]

We're dropping a full episode of the Best idea yet on this feed on Hamilton the Musical.

[Nick]

That's right, Hamilton the Musical. The entire untold origin story of the billion dollar Broadway show.

[Jack]

So if you're driving to the beach today, jump over to the best idea yet right now for some road trip listening.

[Nick]

But if you're stuck in traffic tomorrow, just stay right here. And Jack and I are serving up Hamilton the Musical.

[Jack]

And we promise we won't do any singing yet, although Lin Manuel Miranda will.

[Nick]

And before we go, a happy third birthday to Yeti Aarav Mehta over in the Bay area. Congratulations, little Aurav Arav.

[Jack]

Make this a big one. Make it the best one.

[Nick]

And Rebecca H, turning 25 years old down in Texas, is doing a solo trip to New York City. Rebecca, you're gonna have a blast on this one.

[Jack]

And a big shout out to Kelsey Black from Pflugerville, Texas, who for the second year in a row her bookstore was nominated for the best retail shop in Pflugerville, Texas.

[Nick]

You know where our vote's going. And Gianna Cini and Chris Winkler just got engaged down in Cabo. Guys, congratulations. Let's see some of those beautiful ring picks.

[Jack]

Happy anniversary to Colleen and Jin Chang in New York City.

[Nick]

And as Stefani Demaio in Creskill, New Jersey is a brand new mom. Momecita Mama. And a mom.

[Jack]

And a big shout out to audio Dave Sonnefeld in Austin, Texas, who failed his New Year's resolution to start smoking, drink more alcohol and work out less.

[Nick]

Congratulations, Dave and Kelvin Liu down in Ontario. He's got the anniversary of his first date. Kelvin, congratulations.

[Jack]

Congratulations.

[Nick]

Congratulations to you guys. Sure, it was beautiful.

[Jack]

And a big shout out to Natalia and Liam Lupa from Muskegon, Michigan, two siblings who love T boy so much, especially our episode on Donald Duck diplomas.

[Nick]

Oh, the Triple D. That one was fantastic.

[Jack]

Quack, quack. To Natalia and Leah, this is Jack. I own stock of Netflix, Reddit and Amazon. Nick owns stock of Lululemon.

[Nick]

And we both own some Bitcoin bitcoin named Ben.

[Jack]

If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Nick]

Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us a.

[Jack]

Little bit about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey we want to get to know you.

[D]

Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and Illmedia, I'm Misha Brown and this is the Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails and blunders of all time. Like Quibi.

[Nick]

It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to like get other people to do it.

[D]

And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

[Jack]

Like if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie.

[D]

Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy the Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to the Big Flop early and ad free on Wondery Plus. Get started with your free trial at wondery.com Plus.