Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #26 "7 Brew Doh"

Transcript

Episode #26 "7 Brew Doh" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm Kevin Stone. This is the Kevin Stone Podcast. And
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: let me tell you, I'm not really sure how to
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: explain how much fun I'm having doing this podcast. I mean,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: it's crazy. I really should have started doing this a
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: lot sooner. I just, I didn't know how much fun
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: it was going to be. Most of these episodes that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: you hear on here, I have no earthly idea about
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: what we're talking about until we start doing the research.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: So I'm learning just like everybody else is learning. Maybe
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't say that because there's probably other people out
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: there that already know more about these subjects than I do.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Of course there's more people out there that know more
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: about these subjects than I do. But I'm having a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: whole lot of fun figuring all this stuff out. And
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: I hope as a listener you're having fun listening to it.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Now today I want to talk about something I saw
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: on Facebook and then had to go check out. Monday
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  Speaker 1: morning I saw a post on Facebook about traffic being
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  Speaker 1: backed up around the Seven Brew Coffee Company in Russellville.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Now Russellville is my hometown. I usually do keep an
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: eye on it. I don't live too far away from
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: there now. But when you see people wrapped around a
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: coffee stand early in the morning, you know, I naturally
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: assume that people are trying to get some caffeine. It's Monday.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: People are tired. Some of them have kids. Others have co-workers.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: And a few unfortunate souls have both. Coffee is understandable.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But apparently, these folks weren't just waiting for coffee. They
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  Speaker 1: were after a cube of goo. A little squishy cube
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: called the 7 Brew Dope. Once again, I have been
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: reminded that I am no longer young enough to understand
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: what the kids are doing these days. Here's what was happening.
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  Speaker 1: On Monday, September the 7th, 7 Brew held one of
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: its promotions called Jackpot Day. From 7 o'clock in the
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: morning until 7 o'clock at night, customers who purchased two
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: medium or large drinks received a limited edition 7 Brew Dope.
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  Speaker 1: A cube for every two qualifying drinks while supplies lasted.
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  Speaker 1: So you had 7 brew on September 7th from 7
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  Speaker 1: to 7. 7-7-7. Wow, that's some clever marketing there. It's
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: also a good way to turn a Monday morning coffee
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: run into the starting grid at Talladega. And because the
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  Speaker 1: little cubes were only available while supplies lasted, people weren't
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  Speaker 1: going to wait until the afternoon. They were getting there early.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody wanted to be the parent who comes home and says,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: sorry kids, I ran out of the squishy cube, but
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: I did bring back two large pumpkin spice lattes. The
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: kid doesn't care about your seasonal beverage, Tracy. The kid
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: wanted the cube. The promotion happened nationwide, including the Seven
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  Speaker 1: Brew stand on Weir Road in Russellville. So the traffic
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: people saw on Monday wasn't imaginary, and it probably wasn't
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: an unexpected rush for coffee. It was the Great Russellville
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Cube Migration of 2026. The Seven Brew Dough is a small, clear,
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  Speaker 1: sensory toy shaped like a cube. It has little Seven
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  Speaker 1: Brew logos suspended on the inside of it, and you
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: can squeeze it, stretch it, mash it around in your hand.
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  Speaker 1: After you let it go, it slowly returns to its
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: original cube shape. It's essentially a promotional version of the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: very popular Needo Nice Cube. That's spelled N-E-E-D-O-H. Needo. Not Play-Doh.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Not Scooby-Doo. Not Mountain Dew. Nido. The name comes from
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the idea that everybody needs dough, which is a pretty
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: accurate description of most adults' financial situation. The original Nido
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  Speaker 1: was introduced by the toy company Schilling in 2017. It
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: started as a round stress ball called the Groovy Glob.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Since then, the company has created an entire collection of them.
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  Speaker 1: They have cubes, gumdrops, balls, animals, and all kinds of
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  Speaker 1: different colors, textures, and shapes. Some people use them as
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: stress relievers. Some use them as fidget toys. Kids collect them,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and adults keep them on their desk. And apparently, some
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  Speaker 1: people treat finding one in a store like Indiana Jones
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  Speaker 1: finding the Ark of the Covenant. Neato Toys has already
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  Speaker 1: been around for years, but they suddenly exploded in popularity
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  Speaker 1: on TikTok and Instagram during late 2025 and early 2026.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I could have said that a little bit better. Neato
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Toys has been around for... Okay, maybe I couldn't have.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Neato Toys has already been around for years, but they
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  Speaker 1: suddenly exploded in popularity on TikTok and Instagram during late
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  Speaker 1: 2025 and early 2026. People began posting videos of themselves
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  Speaker 1: squeezing them, comparing the different varieties, hunting for rare versions,
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  Speaker 1: and showing off entire collections. Those videos are oddly satisfying.
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  Speaker 1: I'll admit that. You squeeze the cube, it slowly pushes
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: out between your fingers, and then it gradually returns to
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  Speaker 1: its original shape. I can understand why somebody might enjoy
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: having one. What I don't entirely understand is needing 47
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of them arranged according to color in a display case.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm an 80s kid. We collected cardboard pictures of
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: baseball players and paid money for garbage pail kids. So
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: perhaps I should keep my mouth shut. According to Schilling's
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  Speaker 1: chief executive, the company sold through what they expected to
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: be an entire year's inventory during the first nine weeks
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: of 2026. Think about that. They had enough squishy toys
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: to last through December, and people had practically wiped them
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  Speaker 1: out before spring. Sales reportedly increased roughly six-fold over the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: previous year. Stores began selling out. Parents started searching from
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: town to town. Resellers appeared online charging several times the
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: normal retail price. And scarcity, of course, made people want
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  Speaker 1: them even more. Because nothing makes the human brain desire
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  Speaker 1: a completely unnecessary object quite like a sign saying, only
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: two remaining. I didn't know I needed it. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know what it does. I'm not entirely sure what it is.
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  Speaker 1: But there's only two left. Get out of my way.
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  Speaker 1: My first reaction was that we didn't have crazes like
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  Speaker 1: this when I was growing up in the 80s. We
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  Speaker 1: certainly didn't have social media documenting them. Nobody was filming
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: an unboxing video with a giant ring light. Nobody's mother
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: was announcing on Facebook that Walmart had received another shipment.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody had a TikTok account dedicated to squeezing a Rubik's Cube.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Although squeezing a Rubik's Cube may have been the only
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: way I was ever going to solve one. But after
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: thinking about it, we absolutely had toy crazes. We had
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the Rubik's Cube itself. We had Garbage Pail Kids. We
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: had He-Man, Transformers, My Little Pony, and Teddy Rubskin. We
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: had Nintendo. People went completely insane over the Cabbage Patch
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  Speaker 1: Kids in 1983. Parents camped outside of stores. Crowds fought
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: over the dolls. Stores couldn't keep them on the shelves.
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  Speaker 1: These dolls came with names, birth certificates, and adoption papers.
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  Speaker 1: Parents weren't just purchasing a toy. They were apparently completing
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: a domestic adoption at Kmart. So no, our generation was
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: not immune from this kind of foolishness. The difference was speed.
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  Speaker 1: In the 1980s, a craze spread through television commercials, newspaper advertisements,
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  Speaker 1: school playgrounds, and word of mouth. Your friend brought a
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: new toy to school. You saw it. You went home
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  Speaker 1: and informed your parents that your continued survival depended upon
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: owning one. Today, a kid can post a 15-second video
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  Speaker 1: showing a new toy, and within hours, millions of other
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  Speaker 1: children have seen it. By the next morning, every parent
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: in America is driving to Target. A craze that might
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: have taken several months to spread in 1986 can now
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: spread around the planet during one lunch period. So explain
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: to me why watching another person squeeze a cube makes
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: everybody else want one. Social media doesn't simply show people
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: a product. It repeatedly shows them another person enjoying, collecting,
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  Speaker 1: and searching for that product. Algorithms amplify videos that hold
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  Speaker 1: people's attention, while limited supplies create urgency and fear of
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: missing out. In other words, the internet has learned how
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: to turn that looks kinda neat into we have to
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  Speaker 1: have one of those right now. And there's another major
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  Speaker 1: difference between the 80s and today. Our childhood crazes mostly
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  Speaker 1: appeared when we came home from school. The internet never
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  Speaker 1: goes home. A child can see the same toy repeatedly
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  Speaker 1: on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and whatever other app I've not
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  Speaker 1: yet learned to use. They see people squeezing it, collecting it.
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  Speaker 1: The video's titled, I Found the Rarest Neato in America.
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  Speaker 1: Then they see a video of someone standing in front
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  Speaker 1: of an empty store shelf looking emotionally devastated. Suddenly, this
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  Speaker 1: little cube is no longer a $ 6 fidget toy. It
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  Speaker 1: has become buried treasure. From a marketing standpoint, Seven Brewery
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  Speaker 1: knew exactly what it was doing. They took a toy
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  Speaker 1: that was already difficult to find, created a limited edition
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  Speaker 1: branded version, and offered it for one day only. But
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  Speaker 1: you couldn't simply buy the cube. You had to purchase
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: two medium or large drinks. That means parents brought the kids,
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  Speaker 1: people brought friends, and some customers probably ordered drinks they
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: hadn't intended to buy. The children received their squishy cube,
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  Speaker 1: their parents received their coffee, Seven Brewery received a line
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: of cars stretching toward the interstate. Everybody wins. except the
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  Speaker 1: person merely trying to get down Weir Road. And since
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: these were limited edition promotional items, you know what happens next.
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  Speaker 1: People began listing them for sale online. Some asking prices
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  Speaker 1: reportedly reached around $ 80. Now asking $ 80 doesn't mean somebody
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  Speaker 1: actually paid $ 80. I could list one of my old
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: socks on Facebook Marketplace for $ 300. That does not establish
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: a thriving market for Kevin Stone footwear. But it does
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: demonstrate how quickly people try to profit from a shortage.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: They purchased two drinks. received a toy, and immediately tried
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: to flip it for considerably more than the drinks cost.
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  Speaker 1: That's either entrepreneurship or foolishness. The difference depends entirely upon
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  Speaker 1: whether somebody pays them. There's a legitimate reason people enjoy
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: these things beyond the social media hype. Sensory and fidget
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  Speaker 1: toys can help some people occupy their hands, redirect nervous energy,
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  Speaker 1: or simply relax. Think about how many adults click pens,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: tap their feet, twist paper clips, or constantly check their phones.
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  Speaker 1: A squishy toy gives your hands something harmless to do.
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  Speaker 1: Children enjoy the tactile sensation, bright colors, and slow way
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  Speaker 1: the cube reforms after being squeezed. And unlike a phone
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: or a tablet, it doesn't require a charger, subscription, or
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: software update. There's something surprisingly refreshing about a popular toy
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  Speaker 1: that does absolutely nothing electronically. It doesn't connect to Wi-Fi.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't collect personal information. It doesn't ask for your
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: email address. It doesn't suddenly announce that certain premium squeezing
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  Speaker 1: features are available for a $ 4. 99 a month fee. You
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: squeeze it, that's it. Perhaps the kids are onto something.
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  Speaker 1: There is one part of this craze that isn't funny.
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  Speaker 1: Neato Packaging warns users not to heat, freeze, or microwave
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  Speaker 1: the toys. A dangerous social media trend encourages children to
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: freeze the cubes and then microwave them to make them softer.
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  Speaker 1: That's an extremely bad idea. Several children have reportedly suffered
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  Speaker 1: serious burns when overheated squishy toys ruptured and released hot
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: fillings consumer reports asked the consumer product safety commission to
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  Speaker 1: investigate gel-filled sensory squeezing toys after receiving reports of injuries
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  Speaker 1: That doesn't mean a child is going to be injured
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  Speaker 1: by normally squeezing a properly maintained toy. But parents should
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: follow these instructions. Don't microwave it, don't freeze it, and
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  Speaker 1: don't leave it somewhere extremely hot, like the backseat of
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: a car. If it becomes damaged or begins leaking, throw
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: it away. And the 7Brew website warns that its promotional
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  Speaker 1: cube contains small parts and is not intended for children
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  Speaker 1: under 3. I know this should be obvious, but apparently
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: we live in a world now where do not microwave
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: the squishy toy needs to be said aloud. And honestly,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: maybe it always did. We were 80s kids. We did
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: plenty of dumb things. There just wasn't any video evidence.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Thank God for that. The more I think about it,
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  Speaker 1: the more I realize that human nature hasn't changed very much.
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  Speaker 1: Kids still want whatever the other kids have. Parents still
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: want to make their children happy. Companies still understand that
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: limited supply increases demand. Collectors still enjoy hunting for rare items.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: And somebody will always see an inexpensive object and attempt
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: to resell it for ten times what it costs. The
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: big difference is that social media pours gasoline on everything.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: It takes an ordinary little toy and turns it into
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  Speaker 1: a national scavenger hunt. It takes a store promotion and
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: turns it into a traffic problem. And it allows us
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: to watch the entire craze unfold in real time. When
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: we were children, there may have been a Cabbage Patch
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Kid riot somewhere, but we probably didn't hear about it
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: until the evening news. Today, 5 people would livestream to 5,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: 12 people would offer commentary, and somebody would create a
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: podcast about it. Which, now that I think about it,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: is exactly what I'm doing. I'm not making fun of
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the kids for enjoying the Neato cubes. Well, maybe I'm
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: making fun a little bit. But I'm also making fun
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  Speaker 1: of us. Every generation has a thing. The 80s had
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Rubik's Cubes, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Garbage Pail Kids. Later
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: generations had Beanie Babies, Pokemon Cards, and Fidget Spinners. And today,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: it's a squishy cube full of goop. The toys change.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: The human behavior doesn't. And somewhere in Russellville, Monday morning,
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  Speaker 1: there was probably a parent sitting in traffic holding two
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: drinks they didn't really want, listening to an excited child
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: squeeze the little plastic cube in the back seat. That
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: parent may not understand it. I certainly don't completely understand it.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: But one day, that child will be an adult. They'll
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: see kids lined up for some ridiculous new toy and say,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: when I was young, we didn't have crazes like this.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: We just had neato cubes. And the cycle will begin again.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: If you managed to get one of the 7 Brew
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Dough Cubes Monday morning, let me know. I want to
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: know how long you waited, how bad the traffic really was,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: and whether the cube was worth buying two drinks for.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: And if you're currently trying to sell one online for $ 80,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I also want to hear from you. Not because I'm
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: going to buy it, I just want to take a
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: look at your business plan. You've been listening to the
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Kevin Stone Podcast. You can follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker, iHeartRadio,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: and Amazon Music. Until next time, enjoy the coffee, squeeze
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: the cube responsibly, and whatever you do, do not put
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: the thing in the microwave.