Rick & Rick Rule the World

Insights on Google’s Agentic AI moves. Billie’s scratch-and-sniff deodorant billboard. “The Pineapple Pizza Wars” raging at the Chicago Sun-Times, sparked by an AI-generated summer reading list’s fake books. Oura Ring’s provocative new campaign, and more. IN THIS EPISODE: 🍔 Welcome BBQ surprises are the best kind of BBQ surprises (at 1:17) 🧨 “M:I The Final Reckoning”: No “Fallout,” but still fun (1:44) 🥋 Bruce Lee and “Warrior” parties like it’s 1888 (2:34) 🚀 Tony Gilroy’s “Star Wars: Andor” lands the dismount (4:21) 🤖 The droid you’re looking for? “Murderbot” has “Lost in Space” vibes (4:44) 🧟 “The Last of Us” pulls a Ned Stark—and the Ricks aren’t impressed (5:28) 🍿 “Lilo & Stitch’ steals box office gold from Tom Cruise & crew (6:50) 📚 The summer reading list that wasn’t, courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times (8:20) 🛍️ Are agencies and retail brands ready for Google’s agentic AI? (9:24) 👀 Why SEO is more important than ever in the age of AI (10:49) 👃🏾 Billie’s scratch-n’-sniff deodorant billboard smells like the pits (11:43) 🥃 A whiskey brand’s scent-vertising & a ski trip with Longtime Listener Bill (13:03) ♨ Oura Ring’s new campaign begs you to “give us the finger” (15:00) 🔭 Outlook: Insights from Deloitte’s latest CMO survey (16:27) 🦁 Looking ahead to winners at the Cannes Lions Ad Festival (18:03) Approx. 20 min. Review privacy and cookie policies for SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify and all other streaming services. Some audio and visual elements created using generative AI-based tools. Brought to you by Taskin, the first name in ultra-stylish, premium-quality travel gear for 🛩-setters everywhere. 👐🏻Shop now and save 30% with promo code R&RTAKE30 at TaskinSF.com: ow.ly/Vh6M30r9EpF👐🏻

From the vault: In this episode from 2018, the Ricks respond to a Geek.com article about eleven 1970s sci-fi movies that were … better than Star Wars? Plus: iHop’s “iHob” rebrand revisited—and advice the Ricks would give their younger selves about a career in marketing. Brought to you by Taskin, the first name in ultra-stylish, premium-quality travel gear for 🛩-setters everywhere. 👐🏻Shop now and save 30% with promo code R&RTAKE30 at TaskinSF.com: ow.ly/Vh6M30r9EpF👐🏻 IN THIS EPISODE: 🥞 iHob Revisited: Results from iHop’s stunt re-brand as “iHob” (at 0:54) 💥 Geek.com says these 11 1970s sci-fi movies better than Star Wars … (at 2:24) 👽 … And the Ricks have some thoughts about it (at 3:11) 📈 The Ricks on advice they’d give their younger selves about a career in marketing (at 14:33) Approx. 20 min, 08 sec. Review privacy and cookie policies for SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify and all other streaming services. Some audio and visual elements created using generative AI-based tools.

From the vault: In a pre-pandemic time capsule from August 2019, the Ricks marvel over a freaky new Amazon Prime show called “The Boys,” an R-rated horror movie featuring “The Banana Splits,” the origin story of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, and enormous Luck Charms marshmallows coming to a s’more near you. Brought to you by Taskin, the first name in ultra-stylish, premium-quality travel gear for 🛩-setters everywhere. 👐🏻Shop now and save 30% with promo code R&RTAKE30 at TaskinSF.com: ow.ly/Vh6M30r9EpF👐🏻 IN THIS EPISODE 👨‍🏫 The Ricks talk Back to School and pre-Internet gaming in the good old days 🗓 The Ricks have a big milestone coming up 🧜‍♀️ It's summertime, so of course Pumpkin Spice Lattes are already back 🥤 Remembering McDonald's Shamrock Shakes of yesteryear 🍌 The Banana Splits are back, in an very violent, R-rated horror flick 📺 Why you need to drop everything & watch "The Boys" on Amazon Prime 🥛 Did somebody say McWTF? McFizz is an unintentional eye-opener 😸 "Friends": Old TV comes with perks—LEGO's Central Perk Playset 🥣 Lucky Charms Jet-Puffed Marshmallows: Magically Delicious? 🚀 "Star Wars Barbie" rocks the geek look—for an out-of-this-world price 📸 Instagram and WhatsApp get new names 📱 Verizon sells Tumbler to Automattic … for how little? 🦸🏻‍♂️ Look who's coming to CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" Approx. 17:33. Review privacy and cookie policies for SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify and all other streaming services. Some audio and visual elements created using generative AI-based tools.

It’s time for our annual predictions scorecard episode, as the Ricks review their prognostications about trends in marketing, media, tech, and pop culture—the bullseyes, botched calls, and more. Brought to you by Taskin, the first name in ultra-stylish, premium-quality travel gear for 🛩-setters everywhere. 👐🏻Shop now and save 30% with promo code R&RTAKE30 at TaskinSF.com: ow.ly/Vh6M30r9EpF👐🏻 IN THIS EPISODE: 😬 The GenAI nightmare that wasn’t (at 01:32) 😅 Sighs of relief over SEO fundamentals (at 03:02) 😎 Shifting from paid search to paid social: big changes, new rules (03:42) 🛍️ Social commerce: Win, lose, or draw? (05:10) 💩 The poop on Phillips Laxative…and Taco Bell (08:00) 🛒 Shoppable streaming’s new converts (09:04) 🕺🏻 Social media: declines here, resurgences there (10:39) 👨🏽‍💻 Domain-Specific Language Models: Ahead of the curve? (13:24) 📺 The year video streaming became profitable (14:43) 🤖 Machine customers in the age of agentic AI (18:10) 🌭 Whither Neuralink Sausages & Franks? (19:50) 🦾 ChatGPT: Building a better candidate? (21:19) 🎲 A rebrand for OpenAI? (22:02) 🐯 Was “Cheetle” really 2024’s Word of the Year? (22:50) 📣 Outdoor advertising for outdoor advertisers (24:24) 🎨 Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year (25:55) Approximately 28 minutes. Review your streamer’s privacy policies. Episode may feature audio, visual and/or other forms of content developed using generative AI or other digital tools. © Maverix, LLC.

🎄 Are those chatbots roasting on an open fire? Through the magic of AI, Coca-Cola spreads holiday joy by kicking Santa to the curb. Amazon Prime’s effort to bore subscribers to death with spoiler-free, AI-generated episode recaps. Plus a “Wicked” packaging face plant, and more. Brought to you by Taskin, the first name in ultra-stylish, premium-quality travel gear: Shop now and save 30% with promo code R&RTAKE30 at TaskinSF.com: ow.ly/Vh6M30r9EpF👐🏻 IN THIS EPISODE: 🥤 Ho-ho-ho, or oh-hell-no? The backlash over the Real Thing’s holiday ad campaign (00:30) 📺 Amazon Prime promos yawn-inducing episode recaps generated by AI (03:25) 🧸 Toys tied to Universal’s latest movie release come with a “Wicked” surprise (at 05:28) Approximately 7-minute, 54-second runtime. Review privacy and other usage policies for technologies and/or services through which you access this podcast. Episode contains audio, visuals, and/or other content developed using generative AI and/or other digital production tools.