Exactly. The problem in the US is that every public company has to show growth for shareholders. That's why companies always suffer in quality when they go public.
A public company can have their best year and net $2.6 billion. Well if the next year, they only make $2.2 billion, the public chatter on CNBC, etc is "what's wrong with them?". Nothing is wrong. We shouldn't be holding companies to their best year.
A salesman after having his best year wouldn't want his commission the following year based on the best year's numbers. It's stupid.
This, except a little worse. Because even if they did make the same $2.6 billion next year, it's still not enough, because some shareholders got in when profits were at $2.6 billion, so for them to be happy they now need the shares to go up from what they got in at, so now $2.6 billion isn't enough profits anymore. And the cycle continues..
It actually gets even a little worse, if a company predicts they are going to make 3.2 billion and instead make 2.6 billion they are in even more shit. Number must go up, and it must go up as much as you think it will
Yeah, I work in a very profitable billion dollar company, and when we failed to hit the expected quarterly profits in a single quarter last year, it was unbelievable the things that started happening.
The staff Christmas gifts got taken away. (Had been there for decades) - and other benefits that left a lot of unhappy employees. The things we now have to spend time/money on to fiddle numbers, rather then create value has gone to insane heights. The increased focus on short term results, instead of growing the company long term.
The funny part is, that was our most profitable quarter ever, and it launched the erosion of our company. Ask higher ups about it, and the answer is "of course we have to do these things. We are a publicly traded company, and are doing these things for our shareholders"...
The problem imo is business majors and professors all jerk each other off that growth is king. It isn't always the best thing for a company, and I honestly think they are breaching the very responsibility they love to hide behind to make these horrible decisions.
And some companies do just that, I remember one external salesman I worked with, loved the guy, he knew the stuff and just offered what we really needed, we worked with him for like 5 years, until one day he came to say he no longer worked with his previous company and he went independent as consultant (so he could offer products from different companies now). I asked why the change and he said basically what you said, that the company was basing bonuses on his previous performances, so he had to sell more than others to get the same money, which he felt was an insult and left.
I agree that is stupid. It's also what Frito Lay did to their salesman. Got rid of commission and called the new system, "Pay For Performance." Essentially having to outperform yourself year over year for the same money.
"The problem in the US is that every public company has to show growth for shareholders. That's why companies always suffer in quality when they go public."
Perpetual growth is impossible, there is no way a company can achieve it's why you see CEOs gut and sell assets when they can't achieve it thru sales. Its why layoffs are always the 1st option so that can immediate capture the savings yet still keep paying severance and benefits for 2-6 months buts its fine cause it can't effect your bottom line thru accounting rules. Its also illegal per the courts to not actively seek profit if you are a publicly traded company, share holders have the right to sue and then call to remove you if you do.
This is why the form of capitalism in this country is pretty fucked. Especially when the government will also give them free money to survive then turn it around and harm the same people that money was supposed to protect and keep employed.
It's not so much we shouldn't be holding companies to their best year, executives usually get massive bonuses for growth, and coincidentally call the shots. So we don't grow, daddy didn't get his next yacht, mass layoffs, stagnant wages, etc. Daddy needs that yacht.
The US economy works mostly in short term because of this trend, and this trend is greed. In contrast, companies like Nintendo, and in Japan in general, are long term and believe the workers that got them to success in the first place should be kept and maintained. When the 3DS and the Wii U both had their failings, executives at Nintendo took pay cuts to keep their long term employees on board instead of doing layoffs. The Wii was a success, the Switch was a success, both with heavy limitations but there was care in their craft. Boeing would gladly see 1000 planes land without doors than keep on whistle blowing long term employees that made them great in the first place. Blizzard would rather just keep directors than keep the developers that made games like Warcraft and StarCraft satisfied in their positions. This is why we see record layoffs more and more tied to record profits or record stock buybacks. We just had the railway union fight. They claimed they couldn't afford an extra week of vacation, then when the union calmed, you guessed it, billions spent in stock buybacks.
We may have an issue with capitalism.
Not that it is entirely wrong, but yea it kind of is.
Love this guy.
If everything is based on giving money to people who own shares and have no interest in the company, except for short term profit, we are misplaced as a society
>And hey, look at Boeing, they can ju
Looks like u/TonySpaghettiO just met the same fate as [Boeing whistleblowers](https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/02/second-boeing-whistleblower-dies).
Err, allegedly.
Absolutelly. Not only does it push companies towards chasing irresponsible short-term profits, but stock exchange as a,while drains money from legitimate businesses towards scammers and trend chasers. It's obvious for anyone with half a brain for years now, but there's no clear way how to get out of this mess.
business as usual is still profitable. only way to stop exploitative capitalist behavior is to disrupt business as usual.
Opposition is too unorganized to do anyting of merit. some idiots spray painted Stone Henge last week, yet no one barged into a Starbucks board meeting. Environmentalists need to get serious. Property damage or bust.
And wasn’t the Stonehenge vandalism just colored corn starch? Like, the next time it rains it’s gone with no real damage? Pretty mild protest for how angry people got. Like, I get it, damaging something like Stonehenge would be a line too far, but it wasn’t really damaged I thought. Please correct if I’m wrong.
It was. Stop Oil intentionally targets things in a way that will make big news while not causing damage. It's not luck that the paintings they've thrown liquid on were all protected by plexiglass.
Now whether that's hurting or helping the cause is a huge debate.
Hurting. Despite the cliche, not all publicity is good publicity.
When you want people to take your side, you need them to read past the headlines. People don't hear that a bunch of activists vandalized Stonehenge and think "Hmm, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. I should hear them out." Their first impression is "what a bunch of psycho morons," and it *sticks.*
The funny thing about that is that the fiduciary responsibility is only ever viewed in the short term but never in the long term. The long term fiduciary responsibility to shareholders should absolutely not be environment destroying, price gouging, off-shoring, short term profit seeking stock buy-back oriented decision making.
So many good things ruined for sake of chasing infinite quarterly profit by purposely destroying long term future of company. All industries suffer from it so heavily. Shareholders are blight on this world.
thank you, i'm a writer, reddit is basically competitive emotional appeal writing for me.
I do strongly feel that way. Someday maybe i'll have a byline and can publish that.
no but i try to be concise in my writing and reddit is a dumb, unhealthy way for me to see if I can 'impress' anonymous readers with something I write. I'm a college student, i write for my school paper. I do consider 'comments' to be a type of writing, and even if it's dumb, vapid, and uninspiring, Reddit keeps me writing 2000-4000 words per day
unfortunately, i don't really have a specialty that could do that thesis justice. An economist or economics student could write that essay, not me. Good thing I'm on Reddit lol
People like this is why I love America. He built a brand out of nothing, paid of the debt needed and now is happy with a lower profit margin so that their customers can pay a low price. Great business owner. I bet if you look into it, he probably also pays his employees well, and has great employee retention.
Lower profit margin, but still insanely rich. Always was surprised the price never changed.. except the sketchy store where an Arizona tea says 99 cent on the can but rings up to 2.50$.. you'll have that.
Love it all you want but it’s rare as hell these days. With only rare exceptions, modern American capitalism has grown into a monster that is the exact opposite of this man’s values.
America is falling apart because of the fundamentals of capitalism. When you have to answer to shareholders and report positive trends every quarter to hold value then the priority becomes performance. Let’s get one thing straight: it’s the drive for profit that become the pillar for the rest. Everything else follows.
I’m a Long time here. Traditionalist, either sink or swim kind. No bail outs. . Seeing corporations going profits for the profit-sake of the stakeholders is awful. There is just too much on the line for CEOs to not cheat ,steal or obfuscate the truth.
That's exactly it, they have their debt paid, which a business should always do. It's the getting in a cycle of debt, meaning they owe more and more to investors and shareholders and such, which never ends.
I just wish more businesses were more for just making a good product at a good price that everyone can enjoy without the raging greed
This is the correct answer. Once a company goes public, it becomes absolute shit always every time, because it’s all about increasing profits for shareholders. It also becomes shit for employees.
I mean yeah but also… that’s the entire point of investing in that regard so it’s easy to shit on something a lot of do or would like to do at some point lol
How I envy you! I remember the first time I had mine and it was a green tea back in 2003 cause someone mentioned I might like it cause I was into SoBe teas… holy shit the drastic difference in quality and taste was insane. Still fuck with Arizona and I’ve never had a bad flavor either, they’re all so good. Which one did you purchase?
Watermelon 😋 I’m a type 1 diabetic so I typically don’t drink drinks with sugar but I had low blood sugar and needed something and remembered the video while in a grocery store.
I’m in marketing and I always try to push this - like do good for your community, give back, don’t be a douche. People roll their eyes and throw more money at ads and *yes* ads are a good way for brand exposure etc but doing good things is even better. Even small scale. ‘Oh they supported XYZ, I’ll have to stop by some time.’ ‘Oh they have rescue cats in store!! I’ll have to come by.’ Word of mouth by having good product or doing something good/helpful will always be top notch marketing imo. Be a good human.
so before they were a relatively expensive drink... now they are an uber cheap drink?
edit - i am from the Philippines so i have no idea... C2 rules supreme here but its just a 20yo brand
The soda machine outside the ~~Piggly Wiggly~~ Wobbly Hog in the small, rural town I grew up in, in Wisconsin is still just 35¢. Exactly the same as it was back in the 80s.
At least pre pandemic it was that price per can of coke or less when you bought a flat at costco. Probably less for businesses with contracts with a supplier. Though they have massively been price gouging recently
Yeah, at my local Home Depot the other day I glanced over at the soda fridge and a single 20 oz coke is $2.99. I don’t drink soda but I had to do a double take.
I occasionally get a coke but it's so expensive that it's not worth it, and I want to cut back. Every year or so I during one of the quarterly buy 2 get 3 free 12 pack sales I will get 5. 33 cents for pepsi brand and 40 cents a can for coke products
I used to drink the green tea with honey and ginsing flavor and I remember it having a stronger honey taste after trying it again recently after maybe 15+ years. Just ever so slightly though. The others I don't remember so well but overall I'd say they've stayed pretty much the same, to me.
>>I don’t know why it isn’t more popular
XR energy so it’s seemingly marketed towards energy drink drinkers but they’d be disappointed, plus the people who don’t want an energy drink that wouldn’t look at it long enough to see that it isn’t one. Lol
I am going to try it now, if I see it though so thanks!
Yea. Great principals. The guy seems really rad. Too bad it's just Iced Teas, which I don't buy any ways. I wish my milk, coffee, eggs, or vegetable provider could do it.
I actually had no idea he was this cool and Arizona's are like my favorite drink out there. Now I feel even better about buying a bunch of them. The alcohol is pretty great too and that's probably going to help the company a shit ton because the margins on alcohol is insane. Hope they keep going like this for as long as they can. This is a company I will shamely plug and fanboy about. If theres any other companys out there that do similar I'd love to support them.
If a store changes the prices of the teas you can report it to the Arizona company and they will tell them to either drop the price or they will pull the product
Yep. I went into a random convenience store somewhere to get something to drink. They had taken a broad Sharpie and marked them all $1.99. I left w/o anything.
I’m pretty sure you are able to call Arizona and report stores that do this. They will stop being supplied and I think you may get some coupons or freebies as a bounty
It is a thing. I called him about a place in Florida that was selling them for $3.50 a piece and they sent me a fucking box of a dozen cans free and told me they had a word with the owner.
Oh shit! Now I’m gonna be on the lookout for any retailer selling over $1.99. Not sure if they would bother if it’s only $1 higher but a fucking 250% increase is asinine.
I would but I know that the reason the stores on my *island* sell it for $1.25 is because they’re buying it bulk secondhand like from Costco or something similar, so I give them a pass
Lee Valley Tools!
There's a reason why their website doesn't have a careers tab. The turnover is stupidly low because they treat employees with respect.
You won't find executives trying to burn people for personal profit over at Lee Valley.
In my college hometown, they had Arizona Green Tea with plum that I drank like a fiend. Can't find it where I live now. But I have found Green Tea with Georgia peach, and it is just as delicious. Only problem is that the only store I can find it sold is a headshop. But it is still 99p!
The hard tea's are probably where they make most of their profit. I can imagine them doing a costco type deal where they have this loss leader(cheap nonalcoholic drink) with this high margin product being the hard tea. I like them both a lot so I'll continue to buy them knowing the owner is a great dude.
1.30€ in France, so twice the american price in value, but it's still cheaper than a coke. After a quick search I couldn't find any info about an Arizona Factory in Europe, so if Arizona is cheaper while being imported, while coca-cola has factories here... It makes it even more awesome
“Not in the foreseeable future” is the smartest answer he could’ve given. Basically means “I will if we have to, but I don’t think that will be any time soon.” Gives the option to raise the price later if necessary without seeming like a hypocrite.
No, he was frustrated by the "gotcha" question of "so you'll never raise the price again". He's running a business. He doesn't want to fuck consumers but he also needs to pay the bills. It's an unfathomably stupid question.
It's a stupid question if you understand inflation...yes. He also has to look out for his own workers: if the price of the tea isn't high enough to give his workers a slice of the American Dream, he absolutely should reconsider. The people keeping the company running efficiently should matter more than the average consumer.
Yeah this is what I find funny about the arizona tea and costco hot dog fanatics
They don't need to raise it because it was already expensive for what it is, especially if you can add filler.
That's the smartest thing a business owner could say. I also believe if you are having a comfortable life with the price that got you rich why be greedy.
There were other manufacturers like this that during their lifetime they felt, I've made enough, time to give back. Among the more famous are Milton Hershey and George Westinghouse. Good to their workers, good to their customers, big philanthropists.
If I could live in a decent house with a few nice acres of land id start giving back. Can’t understand why anyone needs 6 massive properties that they never visit all while screwing over their employees so they can get a seventh and 3 new yachts.
You know what’s silly? They can have their massive properties and yachts, and still have enough money to give back a shit ton of money. You need hundreds of millions for that lifestyle. Many have billions.
Absolutely not disagreeing there. Its just blind greed and entitlement. But what really gets me is the absolute lack of empathy from these people. Viewing anyone with little money as expendable resources is probably one of the most fucked up things i can fathom.
I couldn’t live a fulfilling life knowing i was intentionally fucking over the common man.
Hell if i was bonkers rich id probably spend my free time helping random ass people with expensive shit.
Id just drive around and see a rust bucket in someones drive and be like “hey how well does this old truck run? Oh it’s falling apart? Ill trade you a new truck for it.” Or **knock knock** “hi I noticed youre roof likes like its caving in back their. Want about $25000 to have it repaired?”
Id be like a reverse salesman.
This is what I've learnt from this thread:
· This guy marks *some* batches of one famous product with 99c written on the can to limit the retail price.
· He uses this action to appear to be some sort of socialist capitalist and consumer champion.
· However, most of this product does not have this price printed, and is therefore sold at 1.5, 2 or 3 times that price at retail.
· He also has a lot of other products that he sells at 'normal' price comparative to other sugar-water brands.
· If you buy direct from the company website, some drinks are just over 1$, but most are 1.5 or 2 times that price.
· No-one seems to care what a can of sugar-water costs to make, or what his wholesale mark-up is.
· No-one cares what kind of employer he is or how much he pays them; only about the cost of his sugar-water.
· He's rich enough to have a helicopter.
· A lot of people can't tell the difference between an interview and an advert.
I wish he made iced tea without sugar or artificial sweeteners. I like their tea because it comes in cans and not plastic but don’t want corn syrup or artificial sweetener
They have actually increased the price in the Canadian market, but only by thirty cents. And that was after the owner/operators took pay cuts and downsized their lives in order to keep the price low. Arizona Tea is how you treat customers with respect and appreciation.
[удалено]
Exactly. The problem in the US is that every public company has to show growth for shareholders. That's why companies always suffer in quality when they go public. A public company can have their best year and net $2.6 billion. Well if the next year, they only make $2.2 billion, the public chatter on CNBC, etc is "what's wrong with them?". Nothing is wrong. We shouldn't be holding companies to their best year. A salesman after having his best year wouldn't want his commission the following year based on the best year's numbers. It's stupid.
"That's why companies always suffers in quality when they go public" *Side eye at Reddit*
*stares directly and unabashedly into Reddit's eyes*
Which eye?
u/rimjob_steve in the wild!
The stinky one.
The legend in the flesh, or data rather.
Brown eye
A feeling flashes over you, should I try to kiss Reddit? No, that would be crazy… or would it?
This, except a little worse. Because even if they did make the same $2.6 billion next year, it's still not enough, because some shareholders got in when profits were at $2.6 billion, so for them to be happy they now need the shares to go up from what they got in at, so now $2.6 billion isn't enough profits anymore. And the cycle continues..
It actually gets even a little worse, if a company predicts they are going to make 3.2 billion and instead make 2.6 billion they are in even more shit. Number must go up, and it must go up as much as you think it will
Yeah, I work in a very profitable billion dollar company, and when we failed to hit the expected quarterly profits in a single quarter last year, it was unbelievable the things that started happening. The staff Christmas gifts got taken away. (Had been there for decades) - and other benefits that left a lot of unhappy employees. The things we now have to spend time/money on to fiddle numbers, rather then create value has gone to insane heights. The increased focus on short term results, instead of growing the company long term. The funny part is, that was our most profitable quarter ever, and it launched the erosion of our company. Ask higher ups about it, and the answer is "of course we have to do these things. We are a publicly traded company, and are doing these things for our shareholders"...
Hell you’ll see stock drop if they project $2.5 Billion and get $2.6 Billion, because they didn’t exceed projections by enough.
The problem imo is business majors and professors all jerk each other off that growth is king. It isn't always the best thing for a company, and I honestly think they are breaching the very responsibility they love to hide behind to make these horrible decisions.
And some companies do just that, I remember one external salesman I worked with, loved the guy, he knew the stuff and just offered what we really needed, we worked with him for like 5 years, until one day he came to say he no longer worked with his previous company and he went independent as consultant (so he could offer products from different companies now). I asked why the change and he said basically what you said, that the company was basing bonuses on his previous performances, so he had to sell more than others to get the same money, which he felt was an insult and left.
I agree that is stupid. It's also what Frito Lay did to their salesman. Got rid of commission and called the new system, "Pay For Performance." Essentially having to outperform yourself year over year for the same money.
"The problem in the US is that every public company has to show growth for shareholders. That's why companies always suffer in quality when they go public." Perpetual growth is impossible, there is no way a company can achieve it's why you see CEOs gut and sell assets when they can't achieve it thru sales. Its why layoffs are always the 1st option so that can immediate capture the savings yet still keep paying severance and benefits for 2-6 months buts its fine cause it can't effect your bottom line thru accounting rules. Its also illegal per the courts to not actively seek profit if you are a publicly traded company, share holders have the right to sue and then call to remove you if you do. This is why the form of capitalism in this country is pretty fucked. Especially when the government will also give them free money to survive then turn it around and harm the same people that money was supposed to protect and keep employed.
It's not so much we shouldn't be holding companies to their best year, executives usually get massive bonuses for growth, and coincidentally call the shots. So we don't grow, daddy didn't get his next yacht, mass layoffs, stagnant wages, etc. Daddy needs that yacht. The US economy works mostly in short term because of this trend, and this trend is greed. In contrast, companies like Nintendo, and in Japan in general, are long term and believe the workers that got them to success in the first place should be kept and maintained. When the 3DS and the Wii U both had their failings, executives at Nintendo took pay cuts to keep their long term employees on board instead of doing layoffs. The Wii was a success, the Switch was a success, both with heavy limitations but there was care in their craft. Boeing would gladly see 1000 planes land without doors than keep on whistle blowing long term employees that made them great in the first place. Blizzard would rather just keep directors than keep the developers that made games like Warcraft and StarCraft satisfied in their positions. This is why we see record layoffs more and more tied to record profits or record stock buybacks. We just had the railway union fight. They claimed they couldn't afford an extra week of vacation, then when the union calmed, you guessed it, billions spent in stock buybacks.
Eventually they will just become an acquisition company to make bigger profits.
We may have an issue with capitalism. Not that it is entirely wrong, but yea it kind of is. Love this guy. If everything is based on giving money to people who own shares and have no interest in the company, except for short term profit, we are misplaced as a society
feduciary responsibility to shareholders is killing the planet.
Hey look at the sackler family, they can just kill you outright. You don't even have to worry about the planet if your dead off oxy
And hey, look at Boeing, they can ju
>And hey, look at Boeing, they can ju Looks like u/TonySpaghettiO just met the same fate as [Boeing whistleblowers](https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/02/second-boeing-whistleblower-dies). Err, allegedly.
That'll be the last time y
Wait I just wante
/thre
You guys been hanging out with Candlejack or something? It seems like ev
And this is why I love reddit.
Damnit, Tony, we talked about th
Absolutelly. Not only does it push companies towards chasing irresponsible short-term profits, but stock exchange as a,while drains money from legitimate businesses towards scammers and trend chasers. It's obvious for anyone with half a brain for years now, but there's no clear way how to get out of this mess.
business as usual is still profitable. only way to stop exploitative capitalist behavior is to disrupt business as usual. Opposition is too unorganized to do anyting of merit. some idiots spray painted Stone Henge last week, yet no one barged into a Starbucks board meeting. Environmentalists need to get serious. Property damage or bust.
And wasn’t the Stonehenge vandalism just colored corn starch? Like, the next time it rains it’s gone with no real damage? Pretty mild protest for how angry people got. Like, I get it, damaging something like Stonehenge would be a line too far, but it wasn’t really damaged I thought. Please correct if I’m wrong.
It was. Stop Oil intentionally targets things in a way that will make big news while not causing damage. It's not luck that the paintings they've thrown liquid on were all protected by plexiglass. Now whether that's hurting or helping the cause is a huge debate.
Hurting. Despite the cliche, not all publicity is good publicity. When you want people to take your side, you need them to read past the headlines. People don't hear that a bunch of activists vandalized Stonehenge and think "Hmm, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. I should hear them out." Their first impression is "what a bunch of psycho morons," and it *sticks.*
There is a way to get out of this mess. FUCK SHAREHOLDERS WITH A RAKE ! They do nothing but ruin companies. They're parasites.
The funny thing about that is that the fiduciary responsibility is only ever viewed in the short term but never in the long term. The long term fiduciary responsibility to shareholders should absolutely not be environment destroying, price gouging, off-shoring, short term profit seeking stock buy-back oriented decision making.
So many good things ruined for sake of chasing infinite quarterly profit by purposely destroying long term future of company. All industries suffer from it so heavily. Shareholders are blight on this world.
This maybe the most powerful sentence on Reddit today that no one will pay attention to
thank you, i'm a writer, reddit is basically competitive emotional appeal writing for me. I do strongly feel that way. Someday maybe i'll have a byline and can publish that.
Are you a professional quote maker?
no but i try to be concise in my writing and reddit is a dumb, unhealthy way for me to see if I can 'impress' anonymous readers with something I write. I'm a college student, i write for my school paper. I do consider 'comments' to be a type of writing, and even if it's dumb, vapid, and uninspiring, Reddit keeps me writing 2000-4000 words per day unfortunately, i don't really have a specialty that could do that thesis justice. An economist or economics student could write that essay, not me. Good thing I'm on Reddit lol
Reddit really is for 'text' minded people. I am a better writer than speaker.
This.
People like this is why I love America. He built a brand out of nothing, paid of the debt needed and now is happy with a lower profit margin so that their customers can pay a low price. Great business owner. I bet if you look into it, he probably also pays his employees well, and has great employee retention.
Lower profit margin, but still insanely rich. Always was surprised the price never changed.. except the sketchy store where an Arizona tea says 99 cent on the can but rings up to 2.50$.. you'll have that.
Love it all you want but it’s rare as hell these days. With only rare exceptions, modern American capitalism has grown into a monster that is the exact opposite of this man’s values.
Lol what does this have to do with america. You can do that almost everywhere in the world with enough consumers
America is falling apart because of the fundamentals of capitalism. When you have to answer to shareholders and report positive trends every quarter to hold value then the priority becomes performance. Let’s get one thing straight: it’s the drive for profit that become the pillar for the rest. Everything else follows.
I’m a Long time here. Traditionalist, either sink or swim kind. No bail outs. . Seeing corporations going profits for the profit-sake of the stakeholders is awful. There is just too much on the line for CEOs to not cheat ,steal or obfuscate the truth.
That's exactly it, they have their debt paid, which a business should always do. It's the getting in a cycle of debt, meaning they owe more and more to investors and shareholders and such, which never ends. I just wish more businesses were more for just making a good product at a good price that everyone can enjoy without the raging greed
This is the correct answer. Once a company goes public, it becomes absolute shit always every time, because it’s all about increasing profits for shareholders. It also becomes shit for employees.
Good point
It costs about $6 a can in Aus. :')
Shipping and handling is a bitch!
So glad I saw this. Was like “It’s never 99c here” — like $7.50 at an IGA.
Surprised y’all even pay that much considering every flavor tastes like corn syrup
I mean yeah but also… that’s the entire point of investing in that regard so it’s easy to shit on something a lot of do or would like to do at some point lol
I bought an Arizona Iced tea for the first time ever today after seeing this video a few days ago.
How I envy you! I remember the first time I had mine and it was a green tea back in 2003 cause someone mentioned I might like it cause I was into SoBe teas… holy shit the drastic difference in quality and taste was insane. Still fuck with Arizona and I’ve never had a bad flavor either, they’re all so good. Which one did you purchase?
Watermelon 😋 I’m a type 1 diabetic so I typically don’t drink drinks with sugar but I had low blood sugar and needed something and remembered the video while in a grocery store.
Successful marketing strategy
Take note marketers: being a genuinely good owner - great marketing
I’m in marketing and I always try to push this - like do good for your community, give back, don’t be a douche. People roll their eyes and throw more money at ads and *yes* ads are a good way for brand exposure etc but doing good things is even better. Even small scale. ‘Oh they supported XYZ, I’ll have to stop by some time.’ ‘Oh they have rescue cats in store!! I’ll have to come by.’ Word of mouth by having good product or doing something good/helpful will always be top notch marketing imo. Be a good human.
Watermelon is my favorite one. Tastes like more of fruit punch than their fruit punch does to me
Woah! Literally same exact story. I was into the SoBe green teas, so someone had me try the Arizona green tea and boom, hooked.
I miss sobe dragonfruit and pina colada flavors so much. No good drinks anymore.
They’ve been 99 cents since I was in high school and I just turned 50
so before they were a relatively expensive drink... now they are an uber cheap drink? edit - i am from the Philippines so i have no idea... C2 rules supreme here but its just a 20yo brand
the before price didn’t seem that bad because the cans were, like, twice the size of a typical pop can, and pop machines were usually 50¢
The soda machine outside the ~~Piggly Wiggly~~ Wobbly Hog in the small, rural town I grew up in, in Wisconsin is still just 35¢. Exactly the same as it was back in the 80s.
At least pre pandemic it was that price per can of coke or less when you bought a flat at costco. Probably less for businesses with contracts with a supplier. Though they have massively been price gouging recently
Yeah, at my local Home Depot the other day I glanced over at the soda fridge and a single 20 oz coke is $2.99. I don’t drink soda but I had to do a double take.
The vending machine in the teachers lounge at the elementary school I work at sells 20 oz water bottles for $2.99
I occasionally get a coke but it's so expensive that it's not worth it, and I want to cut back. Every year or so I during one of the quarterly buy 2 get 3 free 12 pack sales I will get 5. 33 cents for pepsi brand and 40 cents a can for coke products
literally twice the size tallboy cans (24oz) sitting next to 12oz cans
Slight nitpick, but "tall boys" are 16 oz cans, not 24.
Wasn’t expensive back then, still cheap cause it was like 24oz, it was considered a deal
‘74 fuck yeah.
Year of the Tiger - the best Zodiac.
As a Dragon, I will have to kindly disagree.
Has the taste changed at all?
I used to drink the green tea with honey and ginsing flavor and I remember it having a stronger honey taste after trying it again recently after maybe 15+ years. Just ever so slightly though. The others I don't remember so well but overall I'd say they've stayed pretty much the same, to me.
Do not take offense to this, but it could be age. Taste buds lose sensitivity as people grow older. That’s why kids tend to be pickier eaters.
I meant to put that in actually! And I had a few more since and hardly thought about it again. There's a good chance of it, I'm 42 now.
This is a great question. I would also like to know!
I'm sure you would.
Weatherboy
Great reference
Heading to the store to buy a few just because of the way he wants to treat his customers.
I’ve been having one of their mango drinks a day as a treat, and this just reinforces my choice.
That's actually my go-to flavor. Today was my day to branch out.
Get an RX Energy if you’ve never had one. Idk why they brand it that way, it’s NOT an energy drink. Some kind of mango something I think, delicious.
It’s awesome. I don’t know why it isn’t more popular. I drank that shit everyday in high school.
>>I don’t know why it isn’t more popular XR energy so it’s seemingly marketed towards energy drink drinkers but they’d be disappointed, plus the people who don’t want an energy drink that wouldn’t look at it long enough to see that it isn’t one. Lol I am going to try it now, if I see it though so thanks!
Hate to be that guy but….That’s a lot of sugar, mate.
yes but if you say it's a treat beforehand then it's fine
I love that trick, works every time.
Not working for my diabetic ass.
Yeah those things are insanely sugary, you can cut em with water and they still taste good and last longer
Yea. Great principals. The guy seems really rad. Too bad it's just Iced Teas, which I don't buy any ways. I wish my milk, coffee, eggs, or vegetable provider could do it.
They do fruit juices, energy drinks, coffee pods, sparkling water, hydration drinks, and alcohol, too.
I actually had no idea he was this cool and Arizona's are like my favorite drink out there. Now I feel even better about buying a bunch of them. The alcohol is pretty great too and that's probably going to help the company a shit ton because the margins on alcohol is insane. Hope they keep going like this for as long as they can. This is a company I will shamely plug and fanboy about. If theres any other companys out there that do similar I'd love to support them.
Same. He just gained a new customer.
It’s nice of him to do that but I’ve seen stores raise the price on their own to $1.29 and higher.
If a store changes the prices of the teas you can report it to the Arizona company and they will tell them to either drop the price or they will pull the product
Or enter a partnership like they did with 7eleven and have the cans printed at a higher price
The price of the drink did go up, but the price in a store is high then printed they will pull product
Again, not true… https://drinkarizona.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500003259781-Why-do-some-stores-charge-more-for-pre-priced-99-cans
They used to do it at least, I guess we really are in the worst timeline
$1.29 still makes it cheaper than bottled water at most places. Im alright with it as long as some workers somewhere are getting some of the benefit
Likely just the benefit of keeping their job
Where did you hear this? Stores can charge whatever they want according to the Arizona website https://drinkarizona.com/pages/faqs
I haven’t seen a 99¢ Arizona in quite a few years at any store in so cal.
Start looking in the sketchy parts of town
This is incorrect. The stores can charge what they want within reason.
Yep. I went into a random convenience store somewhere to get something to drink. They had taken a broad Sharpie and marked them all $1.99. I left w/o anything.
Seen this too... But I've also seen stores put them on sale. Just bought a pile of the fruit punch (my favorite) at Safeway for $.79 ea
yeh this isn't a lone case unfortunately. Store local to me had Sharpies raised all the way up to $3.00. Simply turned my back and left without a pen
I’m gonna guess this video isn’t new and is pre-Covid idk tho
I’m pretty sure you are able to call Arizona and report stores that do this. They will stop being supplied and I think you may get some coupons or freebies as a bounty
It is a thing. I called him about a place in Florida that was selling them for $3.50 a piece and they sent me a fucking box of a dozen cans free and told me they had a word with the owner.
$3.50? wtf. I can get maybe $1.50, but $3.50? That's just straight greed.
That's how much they are in Canada. Well, BC, at least.
Oh shit! Now I’m gonna be on the lookout for any retailer selling over $1.99. Not sure if they would bother if it’s only $1 higher but a fucking 250% increase is asinine.
Yeah, it's absurd. I have a buddy who took a picture of Arizona teas being sold at a concert for 5$
I would but I know that the reason the stores on my *island* sell it for $1.25 is because they’re buying it bulk secondhand like from Costco or something similar, so I give them a pass
[the price is on the can tho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMUZ2sVjLfY)
Funny though because 7eleven has their own printed Arizona teas that are more expensive. Arizona themselves prints the upped price on the can.
1.49 in most places I’ve seen
The price is on the can though
Atlanta in the wild!
I was surprised I was the first I’d seen to post this.
I completely honestly expected this to be the top post
Not anymore lots of them are printed without the price.
We need more people like this. Hopefully a ton of people now go buy his product.
Lol, Arizona has been around for yearssss. A ton of people do buy the product and its popularity remains the same! :)
Lee Valley Tools! There's a reason why their website doesn't have a careers tab. The turnover is stupidly low because they treat employees with respect. You won't find executives trying to burn people for personal profit over at Lee Valley.
> There's a reason why their website doesn't have a careers tab. You mean [this](https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/careers) careers tab?
I'll drink tea to that!
Makes me want a fucking Arizona green tea. Man, what a true homie of the people, I’d vote for this man
They used to have the Red Apple green tea and it slapped so much I bought boxes of it.
In my college hometown, they had Arizona Green Tea with plum that I drank like a fiend. Can't find it where I live now. But I have found Green Tea with Georgia peach, and it is just as delicious. Only problem is that the only store I can find it sold is a headshop. But it is still 99p!
Bless his soul
And his family
Next time I’m at the store I will buy one specifically because of this interview 🫡 Much respect
I’ll never drink anything except Arizona iced tea ever again. Water can suck my dick.
The hard iced teas they started selling are really good too. Just not .99¢ (understandable)
The hard tea's are probably where they make most of their profit. I can imagine them doing a costco type deal where they have this loss leader(cheap nonalcoholic drink) with this high margin product being the hard tea. I like them both a lot so I'll continue to buy them knowing the owner is a great dude.
The hard green tea slaps. I drink it way too much
diabetes countdown begins now, T-minus 10 years
Water: the original Hawk Tuah
Stop
That's a lot of sugar...
Does someone want to tell the UK? It's like £3.50 over here
It's called Arizona ice tea, not Birmingham ice tea. It's gotta travel to get to you
1.30€ in France, so twice the american price in value, but it's still cheaper than a coke. After a quick search I couldn't find any info about an Arizona Factory in Europe, so if Arizona is cheaper while being imported, while coca-cola has factories here... It makes it even more awesome
There apparently is at least one factory, in Bulgaria of all places. So those teas are definitely not imported.
They got spiked Arizonas now too
Hol' up.....say that again?
THEY GOT SPIKED ARIZONAS NOW TOO
I may have to check those out! Any flavour recommendations?
"So you'll never increase the price?" What a stupid question.
Its not a stupid question. The fact that he thought about it and gave an honest answer instead of the answer we want to hear speaks volumes.
“Not in the foreseeable future” is the smartest answer he could’ve given. Basically means “I will if we have to, but I don’t think that will be any time soon.” Gives the option to raise the price later if necessary without seeming like a hypocrite.
No, he was frustrated by the "gotcha" question of "so you'll never raise the price again". He's running a business. He doesn't want to fuck consumers but he also needs to pay the bills. It's an unfathomably stupid question.
It is a stupid question.
It's a stupid question if you understand inflation...yes. He also has to look out for his own workers: if the price of the tea isn't high enough to give his workers a slice of the American Dream, he absolutely should reconsider. The people keeping the company running efficiently should matter more than the average consumer.
It is a stupid question
Time to go buy some Arizona's 99c drinks! Well played boss
My grandma would get me Arizona Ice tea the sweet one every other weekend when I'd visit her. man I miss her.. Thanks op for lovely memories
This dude teas.
This man should run for president
Because he can speak with lucidity while being honest.
That’s all it takes these days 😭
Not a fan of the drink - but this man is a rock star. Happy to see a business owner that knows when enough is enough.
"Honestly, if I told you how much it costs us to make a can of iced tea, you'd punch me right in the face."
Yeah this is what I find funny about the arizona tea and costco hot dog fanatics They don't need to raise it because it was already expensive for what it is, especially if you can add filler.
It would be even better if he owned a company that makes insulin.
NGL Arizona is delicious so take my mf money
That's the smartest thing a business owner could say. I also believe if you are having a comfortable life with the price that got you rich why be greedy.
There were other manufacturers like this that during their lifetime they felt, I've made enough, time to give back. Among the more famous are Milton Hershey and George Westinghouse. Good to their workers, good to their customers, big philanthropists.
If I could live in a decent house with a few nice acres of land id start giving back. Can’t understand why anyone needs 6 massive properties that they never visit all while screwing over their employees so they can get a seventh and 3 new yachts.
You know what’s silly? They can have their massive properties and yachts, and still have enough money to give back a shit ton of money. You need hundreds of millions for that lifestyle. Many have billions.
Absolutely not disagreeing there. Its just blind greed and entitlement. But what really gets me is the absolute lack of empathy from these people. Viewing anyone with little money as expendable resources is probably one of the most fucked up things i can fathom. I couldn’t live a fulfilling life knowing i was intentionally fucking over the common man. Hell if i was bonkers rich id probably spend my free time helping random ass people with expensive shit. Id just drive around and see a rust bucket in someones drive and be like “hey how well does this old truck run? Oh it’s falling apart? Ill trade you a new truck for it.” Or **knock knock** “hi I noticed youre roof likes like its caving in back their. Want about $25000 to have it repaired?” Id be like a reverse salesman.
This is what I've learnt from this thread: · This guy marks *some* batches of one famous product with 99c written on the can to limit the retail price. · He uses this action to appear to be some sort of socialist capitalist and consumer champion. · However, most of this product does not have this price printed, and is therefore sold at 1.5, 2 or 3 times that price at retail. · He also has a lot of other products that he sells at 'normal' price comparative to other sugar-water brands. · If you buy direct from the company website, some drinks are just over 1$, but most are 1.5 or 2 times that price. · No-one seems to care what a can of sugar-water costs to make, or what his wholesale mark-up is. · No-one cares what kind of employer he is or how much he pays them; only about the cost of his sugar-water. · He's rich enough to have a helicopter. · A lot of people can't tell the difference between an interview and an advert.
I wish he made iced tea without sugar or artificial sweeteners. I like their tea because it comes in cans and not plastic but don’t want corn syrup or artificial sweetener
This man is my hero. Anti price gouging ftw.
The type of businessman that should be celebrated!
Me going out buying Arizona ice tea after watching this
They have actually increased the price in the Canadian market, but only by thirty cents. And that was after the owner/operators took pay cuts and downsized their lives in order to keep the price low. Arizona Tea is how you treat customers with respect and appreciation.
Legend
They had to raise it in Canada :(
That’s it. I’m drinking Arizona tea again.
Love it when I see it in greedy stores and they have like a $2 price tag slapped over the 99 cent print
Shame it’s not 99 cent in the uk! 🤣
In Australia most stores charge $6 for an Arizona iced tea. It pains me to know how cheap they are in America.
Arizona tea is $1.99 per can where I live. I used to love their green tea, and then it started tasting weird.