27 | AGT and Business Ethics

Introduction

I was going to start the notes for this episode off with a joke about Jeremy not being on the show, but let’s face it, that’s the normal at this point. The real joke would be if Jeremy actually showed up to record one week. James has done us all a massive favour and kept the original intro, rather than switching to Rob and Kevin’s acapella version. James also has been torturing his son by putting ointment in his eyes for the past week or so.

The Show

The hosts open the show discussing the recent Bonlife experiment with going cashless. Lots of people that have never been to the coffee shop have lots of negative opinions. Rob wants to know how Bonlife plans to handle negative feedback, and James reiterates the experimental nature of business. Do you like America’s Got Talent? Because James does. His love of the show is actually a bit concerning. In order to introduce today’s main topic about business in ethics, James gets into some AGT conspiracy theories. (AGT is how real fans refer to the show) Is it unethical for businesses to run “sales” that aren’t really “sales?” Should retailers drive conversions with calls to action like “sale ending in 1 hour” if that sale never actually ends? If you want to hear what these dufuses have to say, you should listen!

Our Recommendations

James doesn’t have a recommendation. His life is full of the dull and mundane. Maybe if you have a really cool tip or trick, you could throw it James’s way. I think he’d appreciate it. Kevin recommends that you don’t buy stock in Helios & Matheson Analytics, Inc. (HMNY). The parent company of Movie Pass has sunk into penny stock territory after several quarters of losses. As of this writing, it’s less than two cents per share. Mostly I think that this recommendation was a jab at James for buying in when the stock was at a little over four cents. Rob’s tip and trick is the YouTube Kids app. Are endless summer days of kids crying “I’m bored” getting you down? Do you just need a little more “me” time to drink a beer or go fly fishing? If any of those sound like you, Rob suggests that you fire up the YouTube Kids app and let them go to town. Unlike the regular YouTube app, YouTube Kids has filters to ensure that children aren’t exposed to violent or suggestive content. I’d caution parents that the app is also full of videos of children opening surprise eggs. Like. Hundreds and thousands of videos. Why do children like watching other children open surprise eggs??!?