• #178: Spin Master – Yep, The Toy Company
    2024/11/06
    Going from public domain toys to Spin Master Originals was a must. How did Harari, Rabi and Verity do it? It wasn't with the devil sticks. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Simple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. Here's one of those. [Seaside Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to the Empire Builders podcast recording live this morning from the North Patio at the Wizard Academy classroom tower. Stephen Semple: I always get turned around. So this is north, is it? Dave Young: That's north. Stephen Semple: Okay. All right. I always get turned around here. Dave Young: The causeway, the ditch thing that runs- Stephen Semple: Oh, right. Of course. That's east-west, of course. Dave Young: No, that's north-south. Stephen Semple: Oh, right. Dave Young: North-South. Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: If you stand in the middle of it and look up, you can see the North Star over the, and so we're on the other side. Stephen Semple: Right. Of course we are. Okay. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: I always get turned around. Dave Young: Yeah, that's okay. Stephen Semple: Okay. Dave Young: It has taken me a while. Anyway, we're recording a podcast. Stephen Semple: Yes. We talk. Dave Young: And we're sitting outdoors. And just as I was hitting the record button, you said Spin Master. Stephen Semple: Spin Master. Dave Young: This is an exercise bike. Stephen Semple: Toy company. Dave Young: Toy company. What am I thinking, spin cycle? First of all, I don't play with toys and I don't ride exercise bikes, so I'm at a loss. Stephen Semple: They're best known for Paw Patrol. And you wouldn't know about that either 'cause you don't have any little kids in your life. Dave Young: No, my little- Stephen Semple: Anybody who's got little kids in their life know Paw Patrol. Dave Young: All right. Well, I am all ears. Stephen Semple: Give you an idea how big the Paw Patrol franchise is, 14 billion. Dave Young: Wait. 14 billion? Stephen Semple: Billion in sales when you add all their stuff up. Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: And these are toys? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: They are toys and they are a Canadian company, and my niece used to work for them. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: This was actually a little extra fun to do. Dave Young: Some insider info. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, not really, but yeah, they're a Canadian company in quite a little success store. Dave Young: Little, yeah. Stephen Semple: Then we'll talk about later, they also went on to have bought some other brands such as Rubik's Cube. They now own Rubik's Cube. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It was founded by Ronan Harari, Antoine Rabi and Ben Verity. They started the business in the late 1990s. And around that time, patterns of play does not change. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Toys may change, way kids play with things, the way even adults play with things don't change. And so the key is to find things that fit into those play patterns. That idea has basically led this company to be one of the greatest success stories in the toy space in the last 20 years. Yeah. And this whole idea, the key to find things that fit in those play patterns basically led to the creation of Paw Patrol,
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    19 分
  • #177: Lip Bar – All Natural Happy Place
    2024/10/30
    This is how you go from not wanting to be unhappy to working your passion to Shark Tank to Lipstick Empire. Way to go, Melissa Butler. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is ... well, it's us. But we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [No Bull RV Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here along with Stephen Semple. And today you may say, gosh, they sound a little different. And maybe I hear birds or- Stephen Semple: We have no idea what these mics are picking up. Dave Young: We don't know what you're going to hear, but we're sitting outdoors. We're sitting on the north patio of the dining hall in the tower at Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas. And for the first time in, I don't know if we've done this before or we've recorded a podcast face-to-face in the same room. Stephen Semple: I don't think we have. Dave Young: We're always on some either Zoom or Riverside FM or some magical internet based thing. Stephen Semple: Yeah, no, I don't think we've done in person. I don't think so. Dave Young: Well, welcome to my world here. We're at Wizard Academy. I'm the vice chancellor, by the way, and also one of Stephen's business partners with Wizard of Ads. And you're here to teach a class this week. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Which is exciting. Stephen Semple: Very exciting. Dave Young: I don't know if people are going to hear this long after the fact. Stephen Semple: Yes. But we're going to do it again. Dave Young: We're glad that you're here and excited about the class. Stephen Semple: Yes, yes. It's going to be very exciting. How to market professional services, so it's going to be awesome. Dave Young: It's going to be fun. I didn't even ask you as I started the countdown, what the topic is. Stephen Semple: I know. Because we're used to the countdown thing being on the screen. Dave Young: My countdown was, I'm just going to hit the go button and see if this is sticking to the tape. I think it is. Stephen Semple: We're going to lean into a category you know really well. Lipstick. Dave Young: Lipstick? Is there a particular brand? Stephen Semple: Yes. Lip Bar. Dave Young: Lip Bar? I'm a total blank. Stephen Semple: Well, they've done pretty well. Lipstick's a huge market. Lipstick itself is a $9 billion business. Dave Young: Trust me, we wash a lot of it off of wine glasses here. Stephen Semple: But Lip Bar was founded by Melissa Butler, and today they're in like 500 stores, Target and things along that line. They're a private company, so I had a really hard time finding actual sales figures for them. But when you're in 500 stores and growing, you're making things happen. Dave Young: Mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: 500 stores. Stephen Semple: But what was really cool about learning this story is Melissa Butler started making her own lipstick in her apartment. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: That's how this all started. Dave Young: I'm trying to think of how, if I set out ... First of all, I'm not going to, but if I set out to make lipstick, what would I even .... like what's on my shopping list? Stephen Semple: Oh, you're melting waxes and you're getting color agents and you're pouring it into tins and you're having to cure the tins and then you're having to get it out of the tins and into the packaging. It's quite a process. Dave Young: Do I have to go kill a whale? Stephen Semple:
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    23 分
  • #176: Mars – Part 2 – The Best Chocolate Union
    2024/10/23
    When you need the chocolate you find creative ways to make the deal work. See the best of both worlds. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from Mom and Pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Stephen Semple: Welcome to part two of the Mars episode. If you haven't listened to the first part, I suggest you go back and give it a listen because those are really the early days of Mars. But the Mars story was so interesting we had to break it into two parts, and there's some really fun and surprising things that are going to happen in Phase 2 of this story. The Mars Bar was this big success. He's now had a couple failures. He needs a success. It's 1934. His father, Franklyn, passes away. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: At the age of 50, and the future of the company in the U.S. is now in doubt, and there's a small number of shares go to Forrest. But most of the shares go to his stepmother who does not like Forrest. Dave Young: Ouch. Okay. Stephen Semple: Forrest is pissed. And basically he decides that what he needs to do is just go on a vacation and cool off. So he takes a vacation to Spain, and he saw these chocolate candies made by Rowntree that are called Smarties. Dave Young: Um, okay. Stephen Semple: That don't melt, and he had never saw a candy coating on chocolate. So he decides to take Smarties to America. He returns to the U.S., leaves the UK company in the hands of the number two, but he needs a supply of milk chocolate. And where does he need to get that is Hershey's. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: But he's brand new. Hershey's is not super interested in doing it. So what he does is he knows the president of Hershey's. His son Murray, is never going to make it in the Hershey's business. So he offers Murray. He says, "Hey, you guys, sell me this chocolate. I'll make Murray, I'll give him an executive position plus 20% of the company." Dave Young: Wow. Okay. Stephen Semple: So they go, done. Murray's now set up. Dave Young: Murray's out of our hair. Stephen Semple: Murray's out of our hair. Dave Young: Not our problem anymore. Stephen Semple: What they do is they create this candy based upon Smarties. Dave Young: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Murray? Stephen Semple: Murray. Dave Young: Mars. Stephen Semple: Mars. Dave Young: MM. And the candy-coated chocolate? Stephen Semple: Is M&M's. Dave Young: M&M's, yeah. Oh, wow. So it was the son of Mars and the son of Hershey's. Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: Who knew? Stephen Semple: Right. Dave Young: That's amazing. Stephen Semple: So they need to build a factory and they want to make it stand out. So how they first package M&M's is instead of in a little bag, remember where they used to always come in a tube? Dave Young: Oh, I remember them coming in a tube, but not in my childhood. That was sort of a theater thing later on. Stephen Semple: But that's how they first came was in a cardboard tube. That was how they first came. Dave Young: Oh. You know, I kind of do remember that with like a folded wadded piece of paper at the end to hold it shut, yeah. Okay. Stephen Semple: Yeah, it was first in this... In Canada I remember them with a little plastic thing on the end, but yeah, they're originally in the tube. So it's 1941. War breaks out in the United States. Factories all across, all industries are dedicated to the war effort.
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    16 分
  • #175: Mars – Part1 – Like Father Unlike Son
    2024/10/16
    Franklyn Mars bails his son Forrest out of jail. Then Forrest decides to build a bigger company. Mars is an absolute empire. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is ... Well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Travis Crawford HVAC Ad] Dave Young: Welcome back to The Empire Builders Podcast. Dave Young here talking to Stephen Semple, and we're going to talk about business empires that went from nothing and turned into, as we say, empires. Stephen Semple: Yes, sir. Dave Young: Right? That's the premise. Now people know the underlying premise of the podcast. Let's get on with it. You whispered in my ear, as you hit the countdown button, that today we're going to talk about the Mars Corporation. The Mars Corporation. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: But we're not talking about Percival Lowell and his telescope thinking that there were canals on Mars. Stephen Semple: No, no we're not. Dave Young: We're talking about candy bars. Is that right? Stephen Semple: Yeah, we're talking about a lot of candy bars. Dave Young: So I at least got that going for me. I figured out that this is not the Bugs Bunny villain. This is ... Stephen Semple: Dave, you're not feeling well, but you still bring it. I like it. Dave Young: Yeah. Just in this day and age, full transparency, I'm doing this with COVID. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: But fortunately, we record over the internet. Stephen Semple: That's it. Got our virus protection on. Dave Young: I've got a mask sitting right next to my microphone. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Mars is massive. One half of the top candy bar names on the planet are part of Mars: Mars, Snickers, Skittles, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, and M&M's. Dave Young: All right, so how far back does this go? Stephen Semple: Well, we're actually going to do two sections of this. We're going to go right back to the beginning, and also we're going to do something around the time that they added some of these extra names that was really kind of interesting. Dave Young: So how many years back? Is there a Mr. Mars or a Mrs. Mars? Stephen Semple: Oh, yes. It was Franklin Mars. Dave Young: All right, all right. Stephen Semple: 1911, Franklin Mars. Dave Young: 1911. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: Because what I picture the Mars Corporation full of now is a bunch of suits that are like Slugsworth in Willy Wonka. Stephen Semple: Well, they are $45 billion in revenues. Dave Young: Yeah. Yeah. Stephen Semple: They are 130,000 employees. Dave Young: Dang. Stephen Semple: And they're still owned by the Mars family. Dave Young: Oh. Well, that makes me feel good. Stephen Semple: There you go. Dave Young: That actually does because I just picture that big of a company, nobody in the boardroom actually cares about chocolate, but I'm glad to ... So let's dive in. I'm all ears now. Stephen Semple: And they're literally one of the top five privately-owned companies in the world. But yes ... Dave Young: Amazing. Stephen Semple: It's really remarkable that they're still family-owned. So as we were talking about earlier, founded in 1911 by Franklin Mars in Tacoma, Washington. And the reason why we're sort of taking two looks at this company, there's kind of what Franklin Mars did to start the company, but it was really his son, Forrest Mars, who made it huge. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple:
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    14 分
  • #174: Daniel Whittington – The Chancellor, The Myth, The Legend
    2024/10/09
    Daniel Whittington spent 7 months crafting the perfect message and a mere 10 minutes on the the plan of attack. How did it turn out? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [Seaside Plumbing Ad] Stephen Semple: Hey, everyone. So we have a special surprise today. We've given Dave Young the day off because Dave works really hard. Actually, Dave works for this guy, so we know why Dave works so hard. So I'm here with Daniel Whittington, and Daniel is the Chancellor of the Wizard Academy and basically created the Whiskey Marketing School at the academy. Last time I was down in Austin, Daniel and I were sitting in the vault. We are doing a tasting, and Daniel shared a thought that just like rocked me back on my heels, which doesn't happen that often. What I loved about it is he compared the marketing of whiskey to the promotion of a band. And the more he talked about it, I said we need to share this idea on the podcast because I'm constantly going down this idea of looking elsewhere. So Daniel, tell us more about this revelation and the journey you've been on. And at the end, let's make sure we talk about why everyone should actually take a course at the academy and learn about whiskey. Daniel Whittington: My explanation of it now sounds just as good as it felt like it did when we were drinking whiskey in the vault together because those two don't always line up. So thanks for having me on, Steve. The origin of this whole idea was I've got a background in music industry. I spent 20 years as a full-time studio and touring musician and, during that time, did a lot of booking, did a lot of traveling, did a lot of promotion of bands, actually worked with bands, promoting and touring and growing their fan base. Then I got out of that and stumbled backwards into Wizard Academy where I've spent the last years, 11 years, actually. Stephen Semple: Wow. Has it been 11 years? Daniel Whittington: Been 11 years. Stephen Semple: Holy smokes. Daniel Whittington: Basically getting a graduate-level super masters in actual marketing and communications and, during that time, started the Whiskey Marketing School and have now started working with my own clients that are whiskey-related right now. One of them, they are poised for explosion and growth. They're well set up. They've been winning awards. They've already got a huge fan base that's kind of localized to where they tend to travel to most, not just their town, but in their region. But we're ready to grow them. They've got some investment, they've got some money, they've hiring, they're ready to explode. So we spent seven months building the marketing strategy, the ethos, the brand voice, the architecture of the personality of the brand and who they are and what they're trying to accomplish. During that time I was thinking, I don't know how to grow these guys because... In other words- Stephen Semple: I'm glad this is taking so long because I need more time. Daniel Whittington: Yeah. Yeah. Because so much of the way that I've helped grow people has been very particular to my skill set, or it has been brands that could use traditional media. And this distillery, there's no need for... like I'm looking at it, I'm thinking the worst thing we could do is use traditional media because you've already owned your localized areas. And a whiskey bottle isn't just a local business, isn't HVAC where they can only service customers in a certain mileage, right?
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    22 分
  • #173: Scrabble – Strategic Crossword Empire
    2024/10/02
    Alfred Butts worked on this game from 1938 until 1949 and then gave up the rights to James Brunot for royalties. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. So here's one of those. [JS Pest Control Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to Empire Builders podcast. I'm Dave Young. I'm sitting here with Stephen Semple. Well, I'm not sitting here. We're recording this. He's in wherever he is, and I'm wherever I am. You know this world, you know how it all works, the Zoomee River. Anyway, boy, I've led us right off into the weeds right from the start. Stephen Semple: Well done. Dave Young: Stephen told me the topic for today. It's another game. Stephen Semple: Yes, another game. Dave Young: A lot of empires in the game world. Stephen Semple: Completely. Dave Young: This one, I'm interested in the story. I'm not a very good player of it because I don't have very much experience with it. This is another one of those that we just didn't play that much, but I was aware of, and there are people that are just fanatics for Scrabble. They play all kinds of word games, and I probably got into word games a little late in life. I don't know if my family was ... I don't know what it is, Stephen. Maybe we were just Chinese Checkers people. Stephen Semple: And I'm with you. Now it's interesting how you started this podcast because as soon as I said Scrabble, your brain got a little bit scrabbled. Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: But I didn't play Scrabble much. It's not a game that I enjoyed and I found actually almost frustrating. Dave Young: Kind of stressful, right? Yeah. Stephen Semple: Yes. But it's surprising how big a game it is. As of 2008, which was the most recent information I could find on this, it was sold in 121 countries, 30 languages. Although how do you do 30 languages? It's like, yeah, but 150 million sets have been sold worldwide. But here's the one that surprised me. It's roughly one third of American homes and half of British homes have a Scrabble set. Dave Young: Really? Stephen Semple: Yes. And there's 4,000 Scrabble clubs around the world. It is everywhere. It is literally everywhere. Dave Young: It really is a game of skill, at least when it comes to having a vocabulary and keeping an eye out for possibilities and the different points on letters and things like that. And just I'm looking for reasons that maybe I didn't play it very much. Stephen Semple: And I'm with you. I didn't play it much either. Dave Young: I've enjoyed it when I've played it. It's always been somebody else's Scrabble set. I've never owned a set. So tell us how it started. Stephen Semple: It's quite an old game, actually. I was surprised when I came across it. It was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938. Dave Young: 1938. Stephen Semple: So it's actually a very old game. I was quite surprised by that. And he was an architect, and he lost his job because think about 1938, late '20s, early '30s, Great Depression, how many architects, how many buildings are being built? Dave Young: By '38, we started thinking about how we're going to have to be building tanks soon. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, it would have been a very, very tough time. And so he's struggling to make ends meet, and he starts to notice the increased popularity in board games. But he doesn't have money to go out and do things or money to buy games, so he's trying to find ways to pass time, but he also then starts thinking about,
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    17 分
  • #172: Marriott – Creating the Future of Hotels
    2024/09/25
    J.W. Marriott had a gift for seeing what the public needed and made sure to give it to them. Marriott is the epitome of Entrepreneur to Empire. Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so-secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients. Here's one of those. [ASAP Commercial Doors Ad] Dave Young: Welcome to The Empire Builders Podcast. I'm Dave Young, sitting here with Stephen Semple, and we're talking about people that built empires. Empires, sir. Not just a little business, an empire. As usual, Stephen whispered the topic into my ear just as we were counting down to start recording. And the word is Marriott. I guess that's a name, the Marriott, I don't know if it was one guy or a family. I know that it ended up being a bunch of Marriott's involved, but the Marriott hotel chain. Stephen Semple: The Marriott Hotel chain. Marriott Corporation. Dave Young: I'll tell you what I know about them. And this is weird. A Mormon family? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: And most of the brothers that were involved, maybe in the beginning, but anyway, they were all members of the same college fraternity that I was in. Stephen Semple: Is that right? Dave Young: I didn't know them, but that was the talk about them, "They're these BYU Sigma Chi's from Utah." Stephen Semple: And John Willard Marriott and his wife Alice, very devout Mormons and part of the origin of the Marriott chain actually starts with them doing a mission in New England. Dave Young: Cool. Anxious to hear the story. Stephen Semple: It started in March 5th, 1927 by John Willard Marriott, which is part of the reason why one of the Marriott's is the JW. Dave Young: Sure. This goes back way farther than I knew. I think by the time I was aware of them, this was the eighties. Wow. Big history. Stephen Semple: And today they have over 9,000 properties. There's a whole pile of different badges under it. Dave Young: Brands. Stephen Semple: And million and a half rooms, 400,000 employees. They do like 23 billion in revenue. And look, everyone knows the name Marriott. Dave Young: I think it qualifies as an empire. Stephen Semple: I think it does. And it starts with JW traveling to D.C, Washington, D.C after doing a mission in New England. And he experiences this really hot, humid summer, and he thinks to himself, "This city needs more places to buy cool drinks." He returns home to Utah. He finishes his degree at the University of Utah and returns to Washington where he buys an A&W franchise in Columbia Heights. Dave Young: Good idea. He should have invented air conditioning. I think we've talked about. Stephen Semple: That would've been a better idea. Dave Young: I always have to slide in some little weird bit of trivia that I know, but back in the days before air conditioning, the British Foreign Service actually paid people tropical pay when they were stationed in Washington, D.C. Stephen Semple: Wow, because it is so ugly in the summertime. Dave Young: It was dank and humid. Basically it's a city built on a swamp. Stephen Semple: It pretty much is. Dave Young: He buys an A&W franchise in? Stephen Semple: Columbia Heights. It's a suburb of D.C. It's great in the summer. Business is great in summer. Really slow in the winter. Because at the time, A&W did not sell food. They started off, first of all, it's just root beer. Now he gets permission to sell food, but does it under a different name called Hot Shop. Dave Young: Hot Shop. Shop or Shot? Stephen Semple:
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    17 分
  • #171: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Cowabunga, Dude
    2024/09/18
    A one point more TMNT action figures where sold than Snickers chocolate bars. Instantly qualifies as an Empire. Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders podcast, teaching business owners the not so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom and pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I'm Stephen's sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today's episode, word from our sponsor, which is, well, it's us, but we're highlighting ads we've written and produced for our clients, so here's one of those. [Tapper's Jewelry Ad] Stephen Semple: Dave, if I say to you the names Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, what do you think of? Dave Young: I'm guessing that we're not talking about Renaissance artists. Stephen Semple: Not really. Dave Young: We're heading off into Turtleland. Stephen Semple: We're heading off into Turtleland, exactly. But isn't it interesting? That speaks to how big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are. Where you can say to pretty much anybody those names and yeah, you don't go to Renaissance artists. You go, oh, we're talking about the turtles, right? Dave Young: Yeah, for sure. Especially people a little bit younger than us, but absolutely. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Well, and they went through a revival just recently. There was another one of the movies out, and it's really interesting. That movie was an illustrated movie, and I went and saw that with my oldest daughter, Crystal, who's an illustrator. Man, the illustration style in it was amazing. When you talk about emotions, they really captured that teenage boy chaotic energy. You could really feel it, but that's what it's supposed to be. It was actually really, really well done. Really well done. Dave Young: Well, cool. Now, I have to confess, I don't know, other than I recognize the names and there's the cowabunga thing, the big catchphrase, but honestly, I raised four daughters that weren't into it, and it's after my childhood, so I didn't get into it either so I'm excited to hear the story. I've watched these turtles from afar. Stephen Semple: That's even interesting. When you think about that, and yet you still instantaneously knew what I was referring to, which tells you how strong a presence it had in culture given the fact that you've never seen the comics, you've never seen the movie. It didn't hit you at the right time, didn't hit your kids, and yet you were like zero hesitation. Dave Young: You couldn't hide from it. Stephen Semple: Correct, yes. Dave Young: It was so big. You couldn't hide from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Stephen Semple: But that just in itself captures how big it was. Dave Young: I'm trying to think of what else. Oh, they ate pizza. They eat a lot of pizza. Stephen Semple: That's it. The first comic was published by Mirage Studios, and Mirage Studios was started by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The first comic was published in 1984. Today, Mirage Studios is like a $17 billion multimedia franchise. In 1990, just give you an idea, at the peak, Target sold more Turtle action figures than Snickers bars. Yeah, isn't that crazy? Dave Young: More than Snickers bars. Stephen Semple: More than Snickers bars. Dave Young: These weren't even chocolate turtles. Stephen Semple: No, these were the action figures. No, not the chocolate turtles. Very good. Dave Young: See what I did there? Stephen Semple: Yeah, yeah, I did. In 2009, it was sold to Viacom for $60 million bucks. Dave Young: Man. All right. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, they did well. They were artists, and they wanted to create this comic and it sort of started as a joke. In the eighties, if you think in the eighties, there was these tacky martial arts movies that ran overnight.
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    19 分