They’re really going for it: A 9-acre waterfront compound in Naples, Florida, just went on the market for $295m, priming it for a potentially record-breaking US home sale. (The current record is $240m, for a 2019 NYC penthouse sale.) Watching the closing price will be fun, but considering rising sea levels and hurricane risk, the real sport here is guessing the insurance premiums.
In today’s email:
Fast food: Prices are up and nobody’s winning.
Yoga: Its popularity nearly doubled over a decade.
Custom cars: Why let Porsche pick the color of your midlife crisis?
Around the web: A book excerpt for music lovers, unlimited Wordle, a neat opportunity, and more.
👇 Listen: When did fast food get so expensive?
Et tu, fast food?
2024-02-08T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Rylah
You used to be able to rely on scrounging up enough change for a value meal at a fast-food joint, but not in this economy.
Even Taco Bell and McDonald’s are feeling the heat as customers wince at rising costs.
What’s going on?
Yum Brands — parent company for Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut — reported flagging sales growth in Q4.
Sales at Taco Bell restaurants open one year or more grew 3%, compared to 11% in Q4 2022.
Pizza Hut sales dropped 4% in Q4, while KFC sales didn’t move.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s US sales grew 4.3%, compared to 8.1% in Q3.
The hash browns are too dang high
In Q3, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said US customers were still lovin’ it despite 10% price hikes in 2023.
Now, he admits sales are slowing as eating at home becomes more affordable, especially among customers earning below $45k/year.
McDonald’s prices vary across the nation, but some customers have reported ~$3 hash browns and $18 Big Mac meals.
A single hash brown at my nearest McDonald’s, located in Pasadena, California, is $3.10 via DoorDash. Alternatively, a 5-pound bag of potatoes from Amazon Fresh is $3.59.
What now?
McDonald’s has promised price cuts and a return to its Dollar Menu.
Taco Bell is already offering new deals; The Washington Post noted they amount to about 4 pounds of food for ~$21, including a beefy burrito for $2.79.
But with everything increasing in price, from streaming services to housing, fast food may just be one of many things Americans ditch as they tighten their belts.
And now: Please enjoy Caleb Lennon, a Taco Bell employee with 473k+ TikTok followers, analyzing the best burritos for your buck.
Free Resource
The all-in-one Google Docs handbook
If the business world had to choose between Google Docs or coffee — at least we’d still be highly productive zombies.
Docs are one of the top ways to create, collab, and connect with anyone on work. Read our in-depth guide to Google Docs to leverage more timesaving shortcuts.
Stay organized with Google Docs:
Navigating Google Docs
Essential features and formatting fundamentals
25 hotkey commands (for PC and Mac)
Advanced tools like voice-typing and predictive text
To save a couple clicks, just type “docs.new” into any search engine.
Snoop Dogg and Master P are suing Walmart and cereal maker Post Consumer Brands, alleging the two companies conspired to sabotage the rappers’ attempt at building America’s first Black-owned cereal company. The suit claims boxes of Broadus Foods’ cereals were kept hidden in stockrooms, among other “diabolical actions.”
SNIPPETS
Good sports: Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney’s ESPN, and Fox are launching a sports streaming platform which will be owned by a newly formed, still unnamed company. Each network will own one-third of the new service and share board representation.
Aww, friendship: The US purchased more goods from Mexico than China in 2023, the first time that’s happened in 20 years. Reclaiming its role as America’s BFF in trade matters, but money matters more: Mexico’s US exports were worth $475.6B.
Was that… taunting? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, while hyping up his company’s AI offerings at a company event in India, dropped a stone-cold line: “We are waiting for the competition to arrive.”
Coca-Cola is making a rare new addition to its permanent product lineup with a “spiced” drink flavor in the US and Canada.
Speaking of new products… Pizza Hut launched a “Goodbye Pies” campaign that lets you send a free delivery to your ex between now and Valentine’s Day. What could go wrong?
Litquidity, an Instagram meme account parodying and breaking news on Wall Street, was anonymous until Business Insider revealed 32-year-old ex-investment banker Henry Medina as its creator.
Ooh: The Void — a startup that offered immersive Star Wars and Avengers VR experiences before shutting down amid the pandemic — has been posting new videos, indicating a possible return under Hyper Reality Partners, which acquired it in 2021.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is laying off 530 employees and ~40 contractors after Congress failed to pass a 2024 budget.
Netflix loves the Boston Red Sox, announcing the MLB’s first in-season docuseries, which will follow the BoSox over the 2024 season. The streamer is also producing a second doc on Boston’s storied franchise, about the 2004 World Series-winning team.
Don't miss this...
Can AI lie? Turns out the answer is yes. But can we fix bad bots? That’s a little trickier. Check out what research says about retraining rogue AI.
Data point
More than one-third of Americans (37%) are supplementing their medical care with alternative therapies like yoga, acupuncture, and meditation. That’s up from 19% in 2002, according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association. The use of yoga alone as a pain management treatment rose from 11% in 2002 to 29% in 2022.
But why are so many turning to downward dog to ease the pain? Alternative therapies have moved to the forefront as insurance companies increasingly reimburse them, evidence of their effectiveness mounts, and they become more socially accepted.
FIT THE BILL
There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
Clue 1: Its founder made the cover of Time magazine in both 1949 and 1963 — still, he arguably never achieved fame on the level of one of his great-grandchildren.
Clue 2: Started as a singular 40-room operation in 1919, it now has 1.2m rooms across 126 countries and territories under its control.
Clue 3: Many of its industry firsts — e.g., the first to install TVs in guest rooms, the first airport hotel — have had staying power, but perhaps none like this: one of its properties was the birthplace of the pina colada.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
Rich Rides
Demand for bespoke luxury cars is picking up speed
For the ultra-rich, a plain old expensive car isn’t enough.
2024-02-08T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
If you also watched every episode of “Pimp My Ride” in the early 2000s, then you know that the pinnacle of cool was wrapping your car in metallic flames and sticking a hot tub in the trunk.
While some of us never accomplished that dream (rolls eyes), it seems others are finally making it happen — kinda.
Around 400k people in the world have ~$30m in potential spending, a group that’s expected to grow to 528k by 2028, perCNN.
And carmakers have been busy manufacturing luxury rides to tempt those big spenders:
Ferrari’s revenue rose 17% to $6.46B in 2023, and the company’s stock hit a 52-week high on Feb. 1.
Lamborghini sold 10k+ vehicles last year, a first for the company.
Rolls-Royce had its best sales year ever in 2023, delivering 6k+ cars.
With cars so expensive, upscale automakers can turn a profit selling far fewer than the average car brand. And the sales might just keep coming — the global luxury car market is estimated to reach $1.2T by 2032.
Personalize my ride
While a regular old Bugatti will set you back $3m+, off-the-lot luxury cars aren’t enough for some customers.
Bugatti’s Sur Mesure program offers total customization. One collector ordered an artwork-adorned car that took two years to make, covered in hand-drawn sketches.
Other luxury car brands have also seen an uptick in demand for hyperpersonalized rides:
Three-quarters of Bentley’s customers requested custom options in 2023, up 43% YoY. Bespoke additions can add ~$75k to the price of a car.
Rolls-Royce Bespoke offers customizations on everything from embroidery to paint colors, while its invitation-only Coachbuild program builds about one car every two years from scratch, costing ~$25m each.
At Porsche, customers can choose from 160+ paint colors or, if that’s not good enough, have their own bespoke color mixed for an additional $25k+.
So, if you’re sitting on a couple million you don’t know what to do with, start here for inspiration.
AROUND THE WEB
👑 On this day: In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was executed for her role in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, became king of England in 1603 following the queen’s death.
🧠 Game:Unlimited Wordle for those of you who need it more than once per day.
🎸 That’s interesting: An excerpt from Lisa Whittington-Hill’s new book, The Go-Go’s: Beauty and the Beat.
🏆Opportunity: Quick! Enter The Webbys before the extended entry deadline on Friday, Feb. 9, to share your work as the internet’s best.
Today’s Fit The Bill answer is Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (market cap: $50.27B)
Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman. Editing by: Ben “Just added another bespoke dent to his 2006 sedan” Berkley.
