💉 Would you drop $10k+ to drop weight?

One chip, several problems

Paqui’s One Chip Challenge involves what is supposedly the world’s hottest chip, spiced with:

• Carolina Reaper peppers (~1.6m Scoville units)
• Naga Viper peppers (~1.4m Scoville units)

For reference, a jalapeno comes in at 5k Scoville units, and the hot sauce that made Jennifer Lawrence cry on an episode of “Hot Ones” rated 135.6k.

The single chip retailed for ~$10, and those who dared to eat it were encouraged to post their reaction to social media. It was already a bad idea — a chip that hot would absolutely cause pain — and then it got worse.

Paqui…

… a subsidiary of The Hershey Co., labeled the product “for adults only,” but teens had no issues getting their hands on it:

• Some were sent to the school nurse or hospital.
• Worse, Harris Wolobah, 14, died shortly after eating the chip, though his death has not been directly connected to the chip.

Rapper T.I.’s son, King Harris, also faced backlash after posting himself bribing an unhoused man to eat the chip.

Paqui is now working to remove the chips from shelves.

Marketing stunts gone bad

Parents and schools have attempted to hold social media platforms accountable for dangerous or destructive challenges, but brands can also face consequences:

• LifeLock CEO Todd Davis was so confident in his company’s identity protection service, he shared his social security number. His identity was successfully stolen 13x — and so were the identities of several LifeLock customers. The FTC fined LifeLock $12m for deceptive advertising.
• In 2007, a radio station held a competition that promised a free Wii to whoever could hold their “wee” the longest after drinking a ton of water, despite warnings of the dangers. A 28-year-old participant later died of water intoxication; a jury awarded her family $16.5m.

By rushing to offer refunds and pulling the product from shelves, Paqui’s doing the right thing — but the One Chip Challenge was a bad idea from the jump.

Arm, a chipmaker with tech in 90%+ of smartphones, debuted on the Nasdaq yesterday at a ~$54.5B valuation, the biggest US IPO since Rivian’s in October 2021.

Extreme weather could cost the global fashion industry $65B in missed earnings by 2030, according to a new study, with Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Cambodia at risk of losing 22% in export earnings and ~1m jobs.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates for a 10th consecutive time: by a quarter of a percentage point to 4%, the highest rate in the euro’s history.

Airless bike tires made from nitinol, a nickel and titanium alloy developed by NASA, are the first consumer product to use the metal — now available on Kickstarter. The Smart Tire Co. claims its Metl tires will never go flat and will last a lifetime.

Oof: Perhaps the least of the couple’s publicity worries, the SEC has declared Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s NFT project, Stoner Cats, unregistered securities. It must now pay a $1m fine and destroy all its NFTs.

Disney+ and ESPN+ will air an NFL game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 1 — animated in real-time and set in Andy’s room from Toy Story, with characters on the sidelines.

American Eagle filed a lawsuit against shopping mall owner Westfield, alleging its neglect of a San Francisco mall endangered employees. In June, Westfield said it’d default on its $558m loan for the mall and cede control.

Kiwi Camara, who made $110m in 2022 running CS Disco, resigned as the company’s CEO without public explanation. Camara may lose the stock options that made his compensation package more lucrative than Apple CEO Tim Cook’s.

Weight loss drugs and the pre-existing condition of being American

The US health care system, ladies and gentlemen:

• Interest in drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, used as a weight loss shortcut, soars.
• The rich and famous hail the drugs’ efficacy, fueling demand and leading to shortages for patients most in need.
• Prices stay high, causing insurers to balk at covering the drugs.
• Left to pay out-of-pocket, average Americans start accumulating debt to access the medications.

If you think there aren’t already dozens of sad stories on GoFundMe of people seeking help to pay for these drugs, you must be new here.

Why the economics are so wonky

Today, some Americans are paying $10k+/year to access popular weight loss drugs, per The Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ found multiple patients picking up second jobs, cutting back on groceries, and accruing credit card debt to afford the meds after their insurance denied coverage.

A June report showed only 43% of US plans covering the drugs. Why?

• Many health plans, including Medicare, currently view the drugs as lifestyle enhancements rather than medical necessities.
• Employers fear the costs of covering them — one study found companies’ insurance spending could increase by 50%+ if half of their Wegovy-eligible employees decided to take it.

No matter the reasoning, a dearth of insurance coverage leaves patients to pay full, steep retail prices. The cheapest option we could find for a month’s supply of Ozempic was $870.70; Wegovy bottomed out at $1.3k+.

The only answer for now: guilt

Those who can afford out-of-pocket prices will continue to fuel the craze — “The Millionaire Matchmaker” star Patti Stanger told WSJ: “[Ozempic] is the Hollywood drug… Everybody I know is on it.”

When they feel bad about it, perhaps they’ll head to GoFundMe to help those with limited financial means — and oftentimes more pressing need for the medications — eke by.

How Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson dominated advertising

The Rock is a marvel of a man. You could peek at the box-office billions, 390m+ Instagram followers, or muscles on his muscles and immediately understand why grandma says he totally saved the latter half of the Fast & Furious franchise.

That kind of fame makes Babyface Dwayne an endorsement deal darling for brands like Apple, Ford, and Under Armour. We broke down exactly how The Rock rose to the top in this video.

Here are three strategies your brand can steal to increase engagement.

Welcome to Weekend Reads

In case you missed ‘em, here’s this week’s best…

• Tweet: Wow, talk about unrealistic expectations.
• Blog: Does the C-suite have you lost in a sea of acronyms? Let’s start with unpacking CEO vs. COO roles.
• Chart: New apartment construction is booming — but not the right kind.
• Story: The world’s best athletes make us happier, but do they make us richer?
• Video: Unpacking the “latte factor,” or the idea that you’d be able to buy a home if you’d skip coffee.

🏦 On this day: In 2008, investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, the largest such filing in US history.

🍄 That’s interesting: Why people harvest ~220k pounds of caterpillar fungus along the Himalayas every year.

✏️ Blog: How wealth managers and financial advisors can use fintech to improve performance.

🎧 Podcast: If you read A Wrinkle in Time as a kid, you may remember its cover. It turns out the illustrator was woefully unknown… until an author and The Endless Thread tracked them down.

🐼 Aww: And now, organizing the babies.