November 7, 2023 • 30 mins
Ever wondered how seemingly benign habits could potentially influence our lives and society at large? This episode uncovers startling insights as we navigate the labyrinth of modern habits. We dissect the trend of pre-tipping and its potential impact on the food delivery industry, specifically DoorDash. We also tackle the controversial topic of substituting Ozempic with Metamucil and ponder over the health consequences and industry implications.
Does the thought of people smuggling alcohol into their water bottles raise your eyebrows? Hang on, as we delve deeper into the increasing trend of patrons carrying their own containers to restaurants and its environmental footprint. The conversation heats up as we scrutinize the lawsuit against social media giant Meta by 30 states and discuss the profound effects of the platforms Facebook and Instagram on the mental and physical health of our young generation.
As we round out the episode, we candidly address the influence of media on children's screen time and the importance of making mindful choices about media consumption. Finally, we share insights from our exciting challenge - #FoodNotPhones. Brace yourselves for a compelling conversation that combines curiosity, reflection, and some hard-hitting realities.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Phil (00:05):
Welcome to the Lempert Report Live.
On today's episode, the poorman's Ozempic - Does it really
work?
Pre-tipping is now a thing andthe danger that it could create.
A water trend on New York'sUpper West Side.
On Food Not Phones, 30 statesunite to fight the sweeping
damage of social media and, onthe Bulls eye, Eggo Waffles PR
(00:29):
stunt.
Is it a hit or a miss?
Let's get started.
So, Sally, you know, if you lookon the internet, in particular
on TikTok, what's going on is alot of people are saying 'forget
about Ozempic'.
What you can do is consumepsyllium husk.
Most people know it asmetamucil instead and it will
(00:53):
have the same effect.
But the reality is, accordingto the docs and everybody else,
it's not the same.
It's not going to give youweight loss.
They are both foods frompsyllium husk.
Metamucil, as well as themedications, will make you feel
(01:15):
fuller, but it doesn't have thesame effect as Ozempic or Wegovy
or any of the others.
And I'm concerned that whathappens, when we take a look,
especially with Ozempic, withall the buzz on it, all the
desire, the expense of it,people are struggling to figure
(01:37):
out.
Oh, what's that magic bulletthat doesn't cost me $10,000 a
year?
And people are going to run andconsume metamucil whether they
need it or not, and it's alwaysgreat to get fiber in our bodies
.
We know the importance of it.
But my concern is you're goingto have a lot of people overdose
(02:01):
on metamucil and just have toomuch fiber, as we started to see
at the rise of the oat branphenomenon, where people were
actually having to be rushed tothe hospital to have their
stomachs pumped and, in somecases, have operations to scoop
out all that extra oat bran thatwas in there.
What do you think?
Sally (02:23):
Well, Phil, the Ozempic effect is causing a lot of
predictions on how this drug,this miracle weight loss drug,
could disrupt the industry in anumber of different ways.
Now, whether or not that's truewe'll see.
I don't know.
Maybe metamucil is going to geta big boost from all of this,
(02:45):
but I think it's important forall of us to know that we
shouldn't take doctors advicefrom TikTok number one, and that
we have to be careful about theinformation that's read there.
But it isn't surprising to seethat people are looking for an
alternative, because Ozempic anddrugs like Wegovy are really
(03:06):
helping a lot of people tacklechronic obesity and lose weight
and feel better about themselves, feel like they are on a
healthier path, and we aretalking about the possibility of
these drugs actually decreasingthe amount of illnesses and
diseases and healthcare costsrelated to that.
That we are seeing as a resultof chronic obesity in America.
(03:27):
So there are a lot of differentsides to this.
But when we get back to fiber,when we get back to psyllium and
what that can do, it will beinteresting to see what the
effect is of that.
If people are trying thatbecause Ozempic is not available
to them or they don't have $900a month to spend on it, can't
(03:49):
get the medicine then tryingthis fiber thing could be
interesting for Americans,because we've heard recently,
just this year, that 95% ofAmericans are not getting the
amount of fiber that they shouldbe getting every day.
(04:10):
Only 5% are actually gettingthe recommended daily amount of
fiber.
Phil (04:15):
Absolutely.
And not to come down onmetamucil, because I think it's
a great product for constipation, for bowel regularity, it's
terrific to help control bloodsugar for people with type 2
diabetes.
There's a lot of real goodbenefits for it.
(04:35):
But if you're buying it to haveweight loss, forget about it.
It's just not going to happen.
And I'm just wondering, if Ilook up and down the supermarket
shelves, what other productswe're going to start to see,
whether it's on TikTok or socialmedia that again Ozempics for
poor people.
(04:55):
So we need to be smart about it.
And in the meantime, I thinkyou're right, we're going to see
a run on metamucil, no questionabout that.
And just to put it in the rightperspective, the sales of
Ozempic and Wegovy wereprojected this year to reach $21
billion and go up by 2028 to$53 billion.
(05:19):
So huge, increase, huge impact.
And also, when we look at theS&P food and beverage select
industry index, it's declinedover the past three months by
12%.
Shares of Kraft Heinz down 13%.
Hershey down 19%.
(05:39):
Coke down 9%.
Pepsi down 13%.
Medical device companies havedropped their value as well.
And also, to our point, whatscares me and we don't know,
Ozempic and Wegovy.
(05:59):
I'm not saying that these aremiracle drugs by any means, but
what we have to put in the rightperspective is America is
overweight and obese.
It creates a lot of problems,whether it's diabetes, heart
disease or cancers, and what wedo need is we need to get in
shape and perhaps you know, asOzempic, Wegovy and so on are
(06:21):
gonna help get us there.
It's not the end-all be-all,but at least in my opinion, what
we're seeing is we're seeing alight switch go off for a lot of
people and if they take it andthey can change their diets and
we can reduce health care andhealth problems.
I think that's, you know, awonderful idea.
(06:43):
Another concern that I have,matter of fact, today is all
about concerns.
It is this stupid, stupid,stupid, stupid deal that
DoorDash has now done, where,when you order from you know,
Doordash and if you don't tip, alittle pop-up comes up saying
(07:03):
that Dashers can pick and choosewhich orders they want to do.
Orders that take longer to beaccepted by Dashers tend to
result in slower delivery, soyou have a better tip, I think.
First of all, I think tippinghas gotten way out of hand in
this country.
You know, we talked some yearsago, when all the coffee bars
(07:25):
started, you know, putting uptip jars and so on we talked
about that at length where theseemployees were not getting, you
know, the proper wages, so theyhad to rely on tips.
So it's coming out of it, but Ijust think it's getting out of
hand and in fact, there was asurvey done by Bankrate that
(07:47):
found that Americans are tippingless frequently than they did a
year ago.
50% of respondents said theyalways tip their food delivery
drivers in 2023, which is downfrom 57% in 2022, 59% in 2021,
7% of respondents said theynever tip delivery drivers, 18%
(08:09):
said they do only sometimes.
I actually read a report thismorning about a very famous
celebrity who ordered a takeoutand didn't realize that she had
to tip for takeout.
You just didn't think about itand the person behind the
(08:31):
counter was calling her nastynames for not tipping.
When did we have to starttipping for takeout?
This survey also found that 2thirds of adults have negative
views of tipping.
30% think that tipping culturehas gotten out of control.
41% believe that businessesshould pay employees better
(08:52):
rather than relying so much ontips.
Have tips gotten out of handand what do you think I mean?
I tip, don't misunderstand.
Sally (09:01):
I know you do.
Phil (09:03):
Yeah, and I think I tip well because I don't want to
take it out of the serverspocket.
But it's how, come on, it'sjust gotten carried away.
Sally (09:15):
Yes, and there is a name for this.
Tip creeping is what it's beingcalled.
Phil (09:19):
Oh really, I didn't even know that.
Sally (09:21):
Yes, where people feel like they are being asked to tip
for services that are nottraditionally tipping services.
As we know, in our country itis traditional to tip your
server when you are dining in arestaurant, and there are some
other cases too but I thinkpeople are confused about if
(09:46):
that tip is.
What is the tip for takeout?
Is that different from the tipfor full service?
And so it does get a littlestrange there.
My concern with this DoorDashreminder that they're using to
pop up now they're testing itwith customers is that it pops
up and it says there's a chancethat your order is not going to
(10:08):
come in a timely fashion to youif you don't consider tipping
more.
The message that sends to acustomer is that we're not
taking care of our employees, sowe want you to take care of our
employees now.
Obviously we don't want to seepeople not getting tipped and
taking care of that are doingjobs for tips, but I think
(10:31):
there's a lot of consumers outthere that might be put off by
that, especially those thatstill like to give that cash tip
after the service has beenprovided, which can sometimes
mean an even bigger tip for thatdriver, because they're really
happy and satisfied over howtheir service has been conducted
(10:51):
, and so it doesn't give thatopportunity.
But another thing I think thatsome consumers are confused
about is that there was an issueof DoorDash not giving 100% of
the tips to the delivery driver,and some people did not want to
pay on their card and then thatmoney not go to the person that
(11:12):
actually brought them theirfood.
Now, just so anyone who'slistening knows, that has been
resolved and DoorDash is nowrequired to give that 100% of
those tips to their servers.
Now, whether or not they adjusttheir hourly wage based on that
, I'm not sure.
Phil (11:31):
And to that point especially, I'm not a DoorDash
consumer, so I don't really knowmuch about being a customer of
DoorDash.
But during the pandemic,especially using Instacart and
some of the other deliveryservices, I tipped in cash just
for that reason because of allthe controversy.
(11:52):
And again, probably five, six,seven years ago in my Forbes
column, I had interviewed acouple of people who worked for
Instacart who were talking aboutthe fact that with their tips
they weren't getting it all thatInstacart and Instacart has
changed also the same way thatDoorDash does to be fair.
(12:13):
But as a result of that,typically when I do have a
delivery person I'd rather do itin cash so I know that they're
getting it.
And every time that I did that,when I had an Instacart
delivery and I gave them cash,the driver was just so
appreciative and would saythanks so much.
(12:36):
This way I know I'm getting it,I don't have to worry about it.
So I think that the technologywith drivers really needs to be
much more transparent and peopleunderstand about this tipping,
about the service charge andeverything else, because I think
it's a little better now.
But again, during the pandemicwe wrote about the fact that a
(13:00):
lot of consumers were movingaway from delivery because it
wound up costing them 20, 30%more between the service charge,
between the higher prices thanwhat were in store, between the
tips and so on, which is one ofthe reasons I think that click
n' collect has really done sowell.
(13:21):
So another rant for me this weekis on the Upper West Side of
Manhattan, where I livepart-time, if you would.
Going back and forth.
I am livid about the fact thatthere's a new push it's called
(13:45):
It's Easy Being Green and whatthey're doing is a bunch of
Upper West Side restaurants areasking and encouraging customers
to bring their own reusablewater bottles when dining at the
restaurant.
The reason that they saythere's a council member, Sean
(14:06):
Abreu, I might be mispronouncingthat, is pushing this.
And the reason is thatpromoting reusable water bottles
, they say, and containers isgood for business and good for
our environment, that it endsplastic waste.
So, number one, most of theserestaurants and I'm familiar
(14:30):
with a bunch of them, you know,they're not serving beverages in
plastic.
You know they're serving it inglasses or heavy duty plastic,
reusable glasses.
And when I look at this wholeidea of bringing a container, a
(14:52):
water bottle, into a restaurant,this is stupid for restaurants.
Because what people are gonnado is they're either gonna bring
their own wine, their ownmargaritas, their own beer,
their own soda, whatever intothe restaurant in their water
bottle, versus buying thosebeverages you know from the
(15:14):
restaurant.
Or, in the case of some ofthese, which are just pizza
places or juice bars, especiallya juice bar, why would you
bring a water bottle to a juicebar, dunkin' Donuts and so on?
It's gonna avoid, you know,it's gonna hurt their sales.
It's gonna avoid people fromwanting you know to buy products
(15:37):
there and I just think thatthis is like a really stupid
idea.
What do you think?
Sally (15:46):
Well, there are intentions in this movement, I
believe, that are really good.
You know, we do need to work onour control of our waste.
Phil (15:57):
Absolutely.
Sally (15:58):
Particularly the use of plastic, and we see that
happening a lot with waterbottles in particular, you know.
My question is is that, youknow, the services that are a
part of this, the companies thatare, are they still offering
the option that you can use ourcups and glasses or you can
(16:20):
bring your own empty waterbottle to be filled?
I'm not sure.
If you know.
I hope that they are offeringboth options to them.
What I did like about what thecouncil member has worked to
organize is that stadiums nowthere will not be allowed to
(16:44):
refuse people to bring in theirown water bottle container, and
I thought that that was apositive part of this initiative
, particularly, you know, whenas a mom and when I take my kids
to like a theme park or to agame at a stadium or something
and they want to drink of water,oftentimes that bottle of water
(17:05):
can be $8, $9.
And so you think about buyingone for the whole family and
what you just spent you've alsojust bought something in plastic
which is not good for theenvironment and produces more
waste.
So in that situation that seems, oh, that would really be great
for me.
But I also hear you, Phil, on,you know, especially those
(17:27):
football games, those sportsgames.
You know what, is water goingto go in that container you're
bringing in, or something else?
Phil (17:35):
Yeah, and you know, we look at some of the fights a few
years ago here at DodgerStadium in Los Angeles.
I can only imagine if thosepeople had, you know, a water
bottle full of whiskey or vodkaor tequila, you know how those
fights would have gone evenworse.
So you know, we'll watch this.
(17:57):
I agree with you.
I think it's interesting, but Ithink that it opens up many,
many problems for theserestaurants, for the consumers,
for the greater environment.
That we're hearing people arejust bringing in their water
bottles.
It's not about, you know,plastic cups.
It should be one.
(18:18):
We just replace the plasticcups with cups that are
biodegradable, either going backto paper or plant-based
plastics that we know degrade,versus just assuming that every
disposable cup is bad for theenvironment.
It doesn't mean that it is.
Yes, plastic cups are, likewater bottles are.
(18:40):
We know that, but there arealternatives that we should be
looking at versus peoplebringing their own, you know,
alcohol to restaurants.
I don't think this is going tolast very long.
Also, you know, on the samenote, what we're seeing is
there's new soft drinks thatcontain prebiotics and
probiotics.
(19:01):
It's increased 210% over thepast year or so, and prebiotic
soda is increasing dramatically.
So again, if I'm going to oneof these restaurants and I
happen to like a probiotic soda,I'm not going to buy their Coke
or Pepsi.
I'm going to, you know, bringmy own probiotic soda and be
(19:25):
happier as a result.
On #Food Not Phones, Coloradohas joined more than 30 states
in a landmark lawsuit againstMeta, the parent company behind
Facebook and Instagram.
The lawsuit states and allegesthat social media juggernaut has
ignored the sweeping damagethat these platforms have caused
(19:47):
to the mental and physicalhealth of our nation's youth.
There's a teaching assistantprofessor at the Atlas Institute
, Annie Margaret unlike AnneMargaret, Annie Margaret, who's
done a bunch of research andreally cautioning the fact that,
you know, the social media arereally overcomplicating the
(20:13):
lives of 12, 13, 14-year-olds.
One stat that she talks aboutthat in her interviews with 12
to 16 -year-olds, some aresetting alarms to wake
themselves up in the middle ofthe night to check social media
because they're worried aboutgoing to school the next day
having not seen something, andthen someone might be mad at
(20:36):
them.
You've got two teenagers, youngteenagers who are, you know,
being inundated by social media.
As a mom as well as an analystof what you're seeing here.
You know, what do you thinkabout these 30 states banding
(20:59):
together to try to get this outof our lives?
Sally (21:05):
Phil, I, as a mom, I do appreciate the efforts being
made to keep some accountabilitywhen it comes to these social
media platforms, what types ofmarketing they are using, how
they are taking advantage ofalgorithms, and you know what is
getting in front of children.
(21:26):
And you know it's not just anissue for children.
We've been talking about it.
You know screen time, socialmedia consumption is an issue
for all of us, for no matterwhat age you are.
If you are engaging in socialmedia, then that could be having
some negative effects on howyou feel your mental wellness.
(21:48):
But with children in particular,looking at this, you know I've
really appreciated this researchthat Annie Margaret did, and
something I found so interesting, Phil, was she talked about in
this interview about how we needto treat this much like the
food industry, and you know thatwe need to think about what
(22:12):
media we are consuming andwhat's the nutritional value of
the media we are consuming.
So that brought up a reallygood point there, and you know,
in that sense, I think thatthese companies will have to,
you know, be more responsibleabout what they're putting out
there, just like food companiesare held responsible for what
(22:34):
they sell to people.
Phil (22:36):
And I'm going to have a major surprise for you next week
because our partners on #FoodNot Phones, the Ginger Network,
FMI and the Acosta Group havefielded a study, a survey with
the Acosta consumer panel ofover 60,000 consumers about the
usage of phones while people areeating, and there's a lot of
(23:01):
surprises there that I didn'tanticipate, especially as it
relates to who, at which age, isusing the most screen time
during meal time.
So that whole survey we'regoing to talk about next week on
#Food Not Phones.
(23:21):
But we have another challengecoming up, don't we?
Sally (23:26):
We do, Phil, and you know we've been talking about all of
this information coming out,about managing our screen time
and how that can be good for us,and so we started the Food Not
Phones initiative, #Food NotPhones.
We hope that people will startusing that hashtag and follow us
on our Facebook page andInstagram and join us for our
(23:48):
next event, which isThanksgiving Day.
What better day could it be forus to make the commitment that,
while we're sitting down andenjoying our Thanksgiving dinner
with our family and our friendsand expressing our gratitude
that we just put those?
We tucked those phones away,maybe put a basket on the
counter for everyone to puttheir phones in, but we just put
(24:11):
them on pause for a littlewhile so that we can enjoy each
other's face-to-face company andhuman interaction over a lovely
meal.
Phil (24:20):
Or if you live by a lake or an ocean, just throw the
phone away.
Sally (24:23):
Just chuck it.
Phil (24:25):
Just chuck it.
On today's Bullseye.
It's a story about how twoAmerican icons joined together
to create a unique PRpartnership.
I'll let you decide if it's asuccess, failure or just another
food boondoggle looking for areason to exist.
Eggo Waffles has become astaple in American breakfast
(24:46):
culture.
It's actually a tale ofinnovation, savvy marketing and
the evolving landscape ofAmerican eating habits.
Eggo began 70 years ago, in 1953, here in California, in San
Jose.
Frank Dorsa, alongside hisbrothers, Anthony and Sam,
invented a process to producewaffles that could be cooked,
(25:08):
frozen and then later reheatedby the consumer.
The brothers were already knownas culinary innovators, who
developed a mayonnaise with 100%fresh ranch eggs and triple
refined vegetable oil, a fryerthat wouldn't curl bacon, a
continuous potato peeler to makepotato chips and then a dry
(25:28):
waffle mix, which then led themto the Eggo Waffles.
Clearly, their destiny was torevolutionize breakfast
convenience.
Little-known fact is that theDorsa brothers initially sold
their waffles under the nameFroffles, a hybrid of frozen
waffle.
It didn't hit and consumersbegan referring to them as Eggos
(25:50):
due to their egg-rich flavor.
The Kellogg company saw thepotential and purchased the Eggo
brand and made it a hugesuccess with its marketing savvy
.
The memorable advertisingslogan L'eggo My Eggo and fast
forward to a few weeks ago, whena partnership with Bissell, the
140-year-old vacuum cleanercompany, was announced.
(26:14):
Vacuum cleaners and waffles thatmakes sense, right?
Well, it gets even better.
Hold on.
Bissell was one of the lastfloor companies to enter the
robotic vacuum cleaners, afterElectrolux and Roomba from
iRobot, but with a twist.
Unlike their predecessors,bissell's machine was designed
(26:34):
to provide a more deep cleaningand powerful suction experience,
rather than the other oneslight maintenance cleaning.
Now the partnership and itsreason for being the Bissell
Spinwave R5 robotic mop isloaded with home mapping 360
degree lidar technology thatlets you program and customize
(26:56):
just how and when it cleans.
The EggoVac robotic vacuum andmop is a limited edition that is
sold in limited quantities andjust online.
They are dropping limitedquantities, which quickly sell
out.
And why not?
Besides getting a vacuum thatlooks like an Eggo Waffle with
butter and syrup?
The normal price of theSpinwave is $549.99.
(27:20):
But this limited edition sellsfor just $150 and you get a gift
card for $50 worth of EggoWaffles.
Now I know what you're thinking.
Who wants a vacuum that lookslike a waffle, no matter what
the price?
To be fair, not many of thesewill actually be sold.
Each drop offers about 100machines at a time, and it's
(27:43):
certainly not something thatwill blend with everyone's decor
.
But the brilliance of thiscampaign is that its quirky
uniqueness is getting lots andlots of publicity, and it
certainly sends a message,especially to families with
young kids, who are more apt tomake a mess while they're eating
waffles, butter and syrup.
(28:05):
Hey, if this Bissell can cleanup sticky, buttery waffle crumbs
on the floor, it probably canclean up anything.
When I first saw thispartnership, I shrugged it off,
but the more I thought about it,the more its smarts came out.
It's not a stretch, it's justplain old smart.
Sally.
(28:26):
Do we have any comments today?
Sally (28:29):
Yes, Phil, we do.
I wanted to share with you oneof John Pandoll's comments today
, which is a really good point.
'Water fountains in publicspaces like stadiums must be
increased.
And then he also says I did gethit by flying full of water
bottles at LA Coliseum darnsoccer hooligans.
(28:50):
'
Phil (28:52):
Well, John, I hope it didn't hurt too much and I hope
you're not bringing your waterbottle with you.
But I agree, and I think if youlook in airports today, what
we're seeing is we're seeingwater fountains that have
filtered water.
I'm seeing that more than everbefore rather than just tap
water.
(29:12):
So I agree with you, I thinkthat, you know, let's go that
direction, versus this wholeother direction that sends us,
you know, down a very creepypath, in my opinion.
And not even to talk about thewhole food- safety aspect of
bringing water bottles.
And hopefully, when peoplebring a water bottle to a
restaurant or to a stadium andthey bring it home, they're
(29:35):
throwing it in the dishwasher,they're cleaning it thoroughly
before they fill it up again,because what I happen to see is
walking up and down the streetwhere people are drinking out of
their water bottles and thenstopping to refill them and
they're not being washedproperly.
It brings back the memory whenwe first started using canvas
tote bags in super markets andpeople would be putting fresh
(29:58):
produce and other products inthem and they never thought
about actually washing the totebag and that led to a bunch of
problems.
So hopefully we're not going tosee the same thing.
So, John, as always, thanks foryour insights and comments and
thank you all for joining ustoday on the Lempert Report LIVE
and we'll see you back herenext Monday.
(30:19):
We're back to our regularschedule.
Until then, have a great week.
Sally (30:25):
Be sure to visit SupermarketG uru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis, issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Monday at 2.30 pm
Eastern for more.
Welcome to the Lempert Report Live.
On today's episode, the poorman's Ozempic - Does it really
work?
Pre-tipping is now a thing andthe danger that it could create.
A water trend on New York'sUpper West Side.
On Food Not Phones, 30 statesunite to fight the sweeping
damage of social media and, onthe Bulls eye, Eggo Waffles PR
(00:29):
stunt.
Is it a hit or a miss?
Let's get started.
So, Sally, you know, if you lookon the internet, in particular
on TikTok, what's going on is alot of people are saying 'forget
about Ozempic'.
What you can do is consumepsyllium husk.
Most people know it asmetamucil instead and it will
(00:53):
have the same effect.
But the reality is, accordingto the docs and everybody else,
it's not the same.
It's not going to give youweight loss.
They are both foods frompsyllium husk.
Metamucil, as well as themedications, will make you feel
(01:15):
fuller, but it doesn't have thesame effect as Ozempic or Wegovy
or any of the others.
And I'm concerned that whathappens, when we take a look,
especially with Ozempic, withall the buzz on it, all the
desire, the expense of it,people are struggling to figure
(01:37):
out.
Oh, what's that magic bulletthat doesn't cost me $10,000 a
year?
And people are going to run andconsume metamucil whether they
need it or not, and it's alwaysgreat to get fiber in our bodies
.
We know the importance of it.
But my concern is you're goingto have a lot of people overdose
(02:01):
on metamucil and just have toomuch fiber, as we started to see
at the rise of the oat branphenomenon, where people were
actually having to be rushed tothe hospital to have their
stomachs pumped and, in somecases, have operations to scoop
out all that extra oat bran thatwas in there.
What do you think?
Sally (02:23):
Well, Phil, the Ozempic effect is causing a lot of
predictions on how this drug,this miracle weight loss drug,
could disrupt the industry in anumber of different ways.
Now, whether or not that's truewe'll see.
I don't know.
Maybe metamucil is going to geta big boost from all of this,
(02:45):
but I think it's important forall of us to know that we
shouldn't take doctors advicefrom TikTok number one, and that
we have to be careful about theinformation that's read there.
But it isn't surprising to seethat people are looking for an
alternative, because Ozempic anddrugs like Wegovy are really
(03:06):
helping a lot of people tacklechronic obesity and lose weight
and feel better about themselves, feel like they are on a
healthier path, and we aretalking about the possibility of
these drugs actually decreasingthe amount of illnesses and
diseases and healthcare costsrelated to that.
That we are seeing as a resultof chronic obesity in America.
(03:27):
So there are a lot of differentsides to this.
But when we get back to fiber,when we get back to psyllium and
what that can do, it will beinteresting to see what the
effect is of that.
If people are trying thatbecause Ozempic is not available
to them or they don't have $900a month to spend on it, can't
(03:49):
get the medicine then tryingthis fiber thing could be
interesting for Americans,because we've heard recently,
just this year, that 95% ofAmericans are not getting the
amount of fiber that they shouldbe getting every day.
(04:10):
Only 5% are actually gettingthe recommended daily amount of
fiber.
Phil (04:15):
Absolutely.
And not to come down onmetamucil, because I think it's
a great product for constipation, for bowel regularity, it's
terrific to help control bloodsugar for people with type 2
diabetes.
There's a lot of real goodbenefits for it.
(04:35):
But if you're buying it to haveweight loss, forget about it.
It's just not going to happen.
And I'm just wondering, if Ilook up and down the supermarket
shelves, what other productswe're going to start to see,
whether it's on TikTok or socialmedia that again Ozempics for
poor people.
(04:55):
So we need to be smart about it.
And in the meantime, I thinkyou're right, we're going to see
a run on metamucil, no questionabout that.
And just to put it in the rightperspective, the sales of
Ozempic and Wegovy wereprojected this year to reach $21
billion and go up by 2028 to$53 billion.
(05:19):
So huge, increase, huge impact.
And also, when we look at theS&P food and beverage select
industry index, it's declinedover the past three months by
12%.
Shares of Kraft Heinz down 13%.
Hershey down 19%.
(05:39):
Coke down 9%.
Pepsi down 13%.
Medical device companies havedropped their value as well.
And also, to our point, whatscares me and we don't know,
Ozempic and Wegovy.
(05:59):
I'm not saying that these aremiracle drugs by any means, but
what we have to put in the rightperspective is America is
overweight and obese.
It creates a lot of problems,whether it's diabetes, heart
disease or cancers, and what wedo need is we need to get in
shape and perhaps you know, asOzempic, Wegovy and so on are
(06:21):
gonna help get us there.
It's not the end-all be-all,but at least in my opinion, what
we're seeing is we're seeing alight switch go off for a lot of
people and if they take it andthey can change their diets and
we can reduce health care andhealth problems.
I think that's, you know, awonderful idea.
(06:43):
Another concern that I have,matter of fact, today is all
about concerns.
It is this stupid, stupid,stupid, stupid deal that
DoorDash has now done, where,when you order from you know,
Doordash and if you don't tip, alittle pop-up comes up saying
(07:03):
that Dashers can pick and choosewhich orders they want to do.
Orders that take longer to beaccepted by Dashers tend to
result in slower delivery, soyou have a better tip, I think.
First of all, I think tippinghas gotten way out of hand in
this country.
You know, we talked some yearsago, when all the coffee bars
(07:25):
started, you know, putting uptip jars and so on we talked
about that at length where theseemployees were not getting, you
know, the proper wages, so theyhad to rely on tips.
So it's coming out of it, but Ijust think it's getting out of
hand and in fact, there was asurvey done by Bankrate that
(07:47):
found that Americans are tippingless frequently than they did a
year ago.
50% of respondents said theyalways tip their food delivery
drivers in 2023, which is downfrom 57% in 2022, 59% in 2021,
7% of respondents said theynever tip delivery drivers, 18%
(08:09):
said they do only sometimes.
I actually read a report thismorning about a very famous
celebrity who ordered a takeoutand didn't realize that she had
to tip for takeout.
You just didn't think about itand the person behind the
(08:31):
counter was calling her nastynames for not tipping.
When did we have to starttipping for takeout?
This survey also found that 2thirds of adults have negative
views of tipping.
30% think that tipping culturehas gotten out of control.
41% believe that businessesshould pay employees better
(08:52):
rather than relying so much ontips.
Have tips gotten out of handand what do you think I mean?
I tip, don't misunderstand.
Sally (09:01):
I know you do.
Phil (09:03):
Yeah, and I think I tip well because I don't want to
take it out of the serverspocket.
But it's how, come on, it'sjust gotten carried away.
Sally (09:15):
Yes, and there is a name for this.
Tip creeping is what it's beingcalled.
Phil (09:19):
Oh really, I didn't even know that.
Sally (09:21):
Yes, where people feel like they are being asked to tip
for services that are nottraditionally tipping services.
As we know, in our country itis traditional to tip your
server when you are dining in arestaurant, and there are some
other cases too but I thinkpeople are confused about if
(09:46):
that tip is.
What is the tip for takeout?
Is that different from the tipfor full service?
And so it does get a littlestrange there.
My concern with this DoorDashreminder that they're using to
pop up now they're testing itwith customers is that it pops
up and it says there's a chancethat your order is not going to
(10:08):
come in a timely fashion to youif you don't consider tipping
more.
The message that sends to acustomer is that we're not
taking care of our employees, sowe want you to take care of our
employees now.
Obviously we don't want to seepeople not getting tipped and
taking care of that are doingjobs for tips, but I think
(10:31):
there's a lot of consumers outthere that might be put off by
that, especially those thatstill like to give that cash tip
after the service has beenprovided, which can sometimes
mean an even bigger tip for thatdriver, because they're really
happy and satisfied over howtheir service has been conducted
(10:51):
, and so it doesn't give thatopportunity.
But another thing I think thatsome consumers are confused
about is that there was an issueof DoorDash not giving 100% of
the tips to the delivery driver,and some people did not want to
pay on their card and then thatmoney not go to the person that
(11:12):
actually brought them theirfood.
Now, just so anyone who'slistening knows, that has been
resolved and DoorDash is nowrequired to give that 100% of
those tips to their servers.
Now, whether or not they adjusttheir hourly wage based on that
, I'm not sure.
Phil (11:31):
And to that point especially, I'm not a DoorDash
consumer, so I don't really knowmuch about being a customer of
DoorDash.
But during the pandemic,especially using Instacart and
some of the other deliveryservices, I tipped in cash just
for that reason because of allthe controversy.
(11:52):
And again, probably five, six,seven years ago in my Forbes
column, I had interviewed acouple of people who worked for
Instacart who were talking aboutthe fact that with their tips
they weren't getting it all thatInstacart and Instacart has
changed also the same way thatDoorDash does to be fair.
(12:13):
But as a result of that,typically when I do have a
delivery person I'd rather do itin cash so I know that they're
getting it.
And every time that I did that,when I had an Instacart
delivery and I gave them cash,the driver was just so
appreciative and would saythanks so much.
(12:36):
This way I know I'm getting it,I don't have to worry about it.
So I think that the technologywith drivers really needs to be
much more transparent and peopleunderstand about this tipping,
about the service charge andeverything else, because I think
it's a little better now.
But again, during the pandemicwe wrote about the fact that a
(13:00):
lot of consumers were movingaway from delivery because it
wound up costing them 20, 30%more between the service charge,
between the higher prices thanwhat were in store, between the
tips and so on, which is one ofthe reasons I think that click
n' collect has really done sowell.
(13:21):
So another rant for me this weekis on the Upper West Side of
Manhattan, where I livepart-time, if you would.
Going back and forth.
I am livid about the fact thatthere's a new push it's called
(13:45):
It's Easy Being Green and whatthey're doing is a bunch of
Upper West Side restaurants areasking and encouraging customers
to bring their own reusablewater bottles when dining at the
restaurant.
The reason that they saythere's a council member, Sean
(14:06):
Abreu, I might be mispronouncingthat, is pushing this.
And the reason is thatpromoting reusable water bottles
, they say, and containers isgood for business and good for
our environment, that it endsplastic waste.
So, number one, most of theserestaurants and I'm familiar
(14:30):
with a bunch of them, you know,they're not serving beverages in
plastic.
You know they're serving it inglasses or heavy duty plastic,
reusable glasses.
And when I look at this wholeidea of bringing a container, a
(14:52):
water bottle, into a restaurant,this is stupid for restaurants.
Because what people are gonnado is they're either gonna bring
their own wine, their ownmargaritas, their own beer,
their own soda, whatever intothe restaurant in their water
bottle, versus buying thosebeverages you know from the
(15:14):
restaurant.
Or, in the case of some ofthese, which are just pizza
places or juice bars, especiallya juice bar, why would you
bring a water bottle to a juicebar, dunkin' Donuts and so on?
It's gonna avoid, you know,it's gonna hurt their sales.
It's gonna avoid people fromwanting you know to buy products
(15:37):
there and I just think thatthis is like a really stupid
idea.
What do you think?
Sally (15:46):
Well, there are intentions in this movement, I
believe, that are really good.
You know, we do need to work onour control of our waste.
Phil (15:57):
Absolutely.
Sally (15:58):
Particularly the use of plastic, and we see that
happening a lot with waterbottles in particular, you know.
My question is is that, youknow, the services that are a
part of this, the companies thatare, are they still offering
the option that you can use ourcups and glasses or you can
(16:20):
bring your own empty waterbottle to be filled?
I'm not sure.
If you know.
I hope that they are offeringboth options to them.
What I did like about what thecouncil member has worked to
organize is that stadiums nowthere will not be allowed to
(16:44):
refuse people to bring in theirown water bottle container, and
I thought that that was apositive part of this initiative
, particularly, you know, whenas a mom and when I take my kids
to like a theme park or to agame at a stadium or something
and they want to drink of water,oftentimes that bottle of water
(17:05):
can be $8, $9.
And so you think about buyingone for the whole family and
what you just spent you've alsojust bought something in plastic
which is not good for theenvironment and produces more
waste.
So in that situation that seems, oh, that would really be great
for me.
But I also hear you, Phil, on,you know, especially those
(17:27):
football games, those sportsgames.
You know what, is water goingto go in that container you're
bringing in, or something else?
Phil (17:35):
Yeah, and you know, we look at some of the fights a few
years ago here at DodgerStadium in Los Angeles.
I can only imagine if thosepeople had, you know, a water
bottle full of whiskey or vodkaor tequila, you know how those
fights would have gone evenworse.
So you know, we'll watch this.
(17:57):
I agree with you.
I think it's interesting, but Ithink that it opens up many,
many problems for theserestaurants, for the consumers,
for the greater environment.
That we're hearing people arejust bringing in their water
bottles.
It's not about, you know,plastic cups.
It should be one.
(18:18):
We just replace the plasticcups with cups that are
biodegradable, either going backto paper or plant-based
plastics that we know degrade,versus just assuming that every
disposable cup is bad for theenvironment.
It doesn't mean that it is.
Yes, plastic cups are, likewater bottles are.
(18:40):
We know that, but there arealternatives that we should be
looking at versus peoplebringing their own, you know,
alcohol to restaurants.
I don't think this is going tolast very long.
Also, you know, on the samenote, what we're seeing is
there's new soft drinks thatcontain prebiotics and
probiotics.
(19:01):
It's increased 210% over thepast year or so, and prebiotic
soda is increasing dramatically.
So again, if I'm going to oneof these restaurants and I
happen to like a probiotic soda,I'm not going to buy their Coke
or Pepsi.
I'm going to, you know, bringmy own probiotic soda and be
(19:25):
happier as a result.
On #Food Not Phones, Coloradohas joined more than 30 states
in a landmark lawsuit againstMeta, the parent company behind
Facebook and Instagram.
The lawsuit states and allegesthat social media juggernaut has
ignored the sweeping damagethat these platforms have caused
(19:47):
to the mental and physicalhealth of our nation's youth.
There's a teaching assistantprofessor at the Atlas Institute
, Annie Margaret unlike AnneMargaret, Annie Margaret, who's
done a bunch of research andreally cautioning the fact that,
you know, the social media arereally overcomplicating the
(20:13):
lives of 12, 13, 14-year-olds.
One stat that she talks aboutthat in her interviews with 12
to 16 -year-olds, some aresetting alarms to wake
themselves up in the middle ofthe night to check social media
because they're worried aboutgoing to school the next day
having not seen something, andthen someone might be mad at
(20:36):
them.
You've got two teenagers, youngteenagers who are, you know,
being inundated by social media.
As a mom as well as an analystof what you're seeing here.
You know, what do you thinkabout these 30 states banding
(20:59):
together to try to get this outof our lives?
Sally (21:05):
Phil, I, as a mom, I do appreciate the efforts being
made to keep some accountabilitywhen it comes to these social
media platforms, what types ofmarketing they are using, how
they are taking advantage ofalgorithms, and you know what is
getting in front of children.
(21:26):
And you know it's not just anissue for children.
We've been talking about it.
You know screen time, socialmedia consumption is an issue
for all of us, for no matterwhat age you are.
If you are engaging in socialmedia, then that could be having
some negative effects on howyou feel your mental wellness.
(21:48):
But with children in particular,looking at this, you know I've
really appreciated this researchthat Annie Margaret did, and
something I found so interesting, Phil, was she talked about in
this interview about how we needto treat this much like the
food industry, and you know thatwe need to think about what
(22:12):
media we are consuming andwhat's the nutritional value of
the media we are consuming.
So that brought up a reallygood point there, and you know,
in that sense, I think thatthese companies will have to,
you know, be more responsibleabout what they're putting out
there, just like food companiesare held responsible for what
(22:34):
they sell to people.
Phil (22:36):
And I'm going to have a major surprise for you next week
because our partners on #FoodNot Phones, the Ginger Network,
FMI and the Acosta Group havefielded a study, a survey with
the Acosta consumer panel ofover 60,000 consumers about the
usage of phones while people areeating, and there's a lot of
(23:01):
surprises there that I didn'tanticipate, especially as it
relates to who, at which age, isusing the most screen time
during meal time.
So that whole survey we'regoing to talk about next week on
#Food Not Phones.
(23:21):
But we have another challengecoming up, don't we?
Sally (23:26):
We do, Phil, and you know we've been talking about all of
this information coming out,about managing our screen time
and how that can be good for us,and so we started the Food Not
Phones initiative, #Food NotPhones.
We hope that people will startusing that hashtag and follow us
on our Facebook page andInstagram and join us for our
(23:48):
next event, which isThanksgiving Day.
What better day could it be forus to make the commitment that,
while we're sitting down andenjoying our Thanksgiving dinner
with our family and our friendsand expressing our gratitude
that we just put those?
We tucked those phones away,maybe put a basket on the
counter for everyone to puttheir phones in, but we just put
(24:11):
them on pause for a littlewhile so that we can enjoy each
other's face-to-face company andhuman interaction over a lovely
meal.
Phil (24:20):
Or if you live by a lake or an ocean, just throw the
phone away.
Sally (24:23):
Just chuck it.
Phil (24:25):
Just chuck it.
On today's Bullseye.
It's a story about how twoAmerican icons joined together
to create a unique PRpartnership.
I'll let you decide if it's asuccess, failure or just another
food boondoggle looking for areason to exist.
Eggo Waffles has become astaple in American breakfast
(24:46):
culture.
It's actually a tale ofinnovation, savvy marketing and
the evolving landscape ofAmerican eating habits.
Eggo began 70 years ago, in 1953, here in California, in San
Jose.
Frank Dorsa, alongside hisbrothers, Anthony and Sam,
invented a process to producewaffles that could be cooked,
(25:08):
frozen and then later reheatedby the consumer.
The brothers were already knownas culinary innovators, who
developed a mayonnaise with 100%fresh ranch eggs and triple
refined vegetable oil, a fryerthat wouldn't curl bacon, a
continuous potato peeler to makepotato chips and then a dry
(25:28):
waffle mix, which then led themto the Eggo Waffles.
Clearly, their destiny was torevolutionize breakfast
convenience.
Little-known fact is that theDorsa brothers initially sold
their waffles under the nameFroffles, a hybrid of frozen
waffle.
It didn't hit and consumersbegan referring to them as Eggos
(25:50):
due to their egg-rich flavor.
The Kellogg company saw thepotential and purchased the Eggo
brand and made it a hugesuccess with its marketing savvy
.
The memorable advertisingslogan L'eggo My Eggo and fast
forward to a few weeks ago, whena partnership with Bissell, the
140-year-old vacuum cleanercompany, was announced.
(26:14):
Vacuum cleaners and waffles thatmakes sense, right?
Well, it gets even better.
Hold on.
Bissell was one of the lastfloor companies to enter the
robotic vacuum cleaners, afterElectrolux and Roomba from
iRobot, but with a twist.
Unlike their predecessors,bissell's machine was designed
(26:34):
to provide a more deep cleaningand powerful suction experience,
rather than the other oneslight maintenance cleaning.
Now the partnership and itsreason for being the Bissell
Spinwave R5 robotic mop isloaded with home mapping 360
degree lidar technology thatlets you program and customize
(26:56):
just how and when it cleans.
The EggoVac robotic vacuum andmop is a limited edition that is
sold in limited quantities andjust online.
They are dropping limitedquantities, which quickly sell
out.
And why not?
Besides getting a vacuum thatlooks like an Eggo Waffle with
butter and syrup?
The normal price of theSpinwave is $549.99.
(27:20):
But this limited edition sellsfor just $150 and you get a gift
card for $50 worth of EggoWaffles.
Now I know what you're thinking.
Who wants a vacuum that lookslike a waffle, no matter what
the price?
To be fair, not many of thesewill actually be sold.
Each drop offers about 100machines at a time, and it's
(27:43):
certainly not something thatwill blend with everyone's decor
.
But the brilliance of thiscampaign is that its quirky
uniqueness is getting lots andlots of publicity, and it
certainly sends a message,especially to families with
young kids, who are more apt tomake a mess while they're eating
waffles, butter and syrup.
(28:05):
Hey, if this Bissell can cleanup sticky, buttery waffle crumbs
on the floor, it probably canclean up anything.
When I first saw thispartnership, I shrugged it off,
but the more I thought about it,the more its smarts came out.
It's not a stretch, it's justplain old smart.
Sally.
(28:26):
Do we have any comments today?
Sally (28:29):
Yes, Phil, we do.
I wanted to share with you oneof John Pandoll's comments today
, which is a really good point.
'Water fountains in publicspaces like stadiums must be
increased.
And then he also says I did gethit by flying full of water
bottles at LA Coliseum darnsoccer hooligans.
(28:50):
'
Phil (28:52):
Well, John, I hope it didn't hurt too much and I hope
you're not bringing your waterbottle with you.
But I agree, and I think if youlook in airports today, what
we're seeing is we're seeingwater fountains that have
filtered water.
I'm seeing that more than everbefore rather than just tap
water.
(29:12):
So I agree with you, I thinkthat, you know, let's go that
direction, versus this wholeother direction that sends us,
you know, down a very creepypath, in my opinion.
And not even to talk about thewhole food- safety aspect of
bringing water bottles.
And hopefully, when peoplebring a water bottle to a
restaurant or to a stadium andthey bring it home, they're
(29:35):
throwing it in the dishwasher,they're cleaning it thoroughly
before they fill it up again,because what I happen to see is
walking up and down the streetwhere people are drinking out of
their water bottles and thenstopping to refill them and
they're not being washedproperly.
It brings back the memory whenwe first started using canvas
tote bags in super markets andpeople would be putting fresh
(29:58):
produce and other products inthem and they never thought
about actually washing the totebag and that led to a bunch of
problems.
So hopefully we're not going tosee the same thing.
So, John, as always, thanks foryour insights and comments and
thank you all for joining ustoday on the Lempert Report LIVE
and we'll see you back herenext Monday.
(30:19):
We're back to our regularschedule.
Until then, have a great week.
Sally (30:25):
Be sure to visit SupermarketG uru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis, issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Monday at 2.30 pm
Eastern for more.
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