Taco Bell’s Wildest Idea Yet 🌮🔥

Biz Analyst Club Newsletter

by The Business Model Analyst

Hello, Biz Enthusiasts!
AI is disrupting delivery apps, Taco Bell is crafting taco shells out of cheese (still not crispy enough), and PlayStation’s side hustle on Steam just hit $1.5B. Meanwhile, X is telling us where those shady MAGA meme accounts really come from, and it’s… not America. Oh, and if you’ve applied to 300 jobs and heard nothing back? You’re not alone — welcome to the job market black hole.
Let’s get weird. Let’s get smarter. Let’s get into today’s top business buzz. 🧠✨

Hot Takes 🚀

1. The Taco Bell Test Kitchen Is on Fire (Literally?) 🌮🧪
Taco Bell is still chasing its cheese taco shell dream — a decade in the making. The issue? It gets soggy too fast. Their head of innovation (yes, that’s a real title) has dropped more viral hits than some record labels, but this one’s proving tough. The goal: launch 2 dozen new items this year that explode on social and keep drive-thru lines long.
👉 Peek inside Taco Bell’s flavor lab

2. The AI Browser That's Scaring Amazon 😱📦
Amazon is suing Perplexity’s AI browser, claiming it’s freeloading by placing orders and scraping listings without permission. It’s the start of the “AI DoorDash problem” — where humanless bots order stuff without seeing ads, reviews, or upsells. For Amazon and friends, that’s a terrifying shift in who “owns” the customer.
👉 See how AI is breaking the internet’s business model

3. Steam Is a $1.5B Goldmine for PlayStation 💰🎮
Sony’s titles on Steam — like Helldivers 2 — just raked in $1.5B+ in revenue. What started as a side hustle for older PlayStation games is now big business. Sony may be forced to rethink its entire PC strategy. Your move, Valve.
👉 See how PlayStation quietly built a billion-dollar PC biz

4. X’s New Feature Is Exposing Fake Patriots 🇺🇸🧭
X (formerly Twitter) just dropped a location feature that shows where accounts are really based. Spoiler: A lot of “Ultra MAGA” types are operating from Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Macedonia. Even NBC reporters were mislocated based on recent travel. Welcome to the new age of geo-tagged chaos.
👉 Find out where those viral “patriotic” posts are really coming from

5. The Job Market Is Officially Broken 🧑‍💻🕳️
The average white-collar job gets 242 applicants, giving you a 0.4% shot at landing it. That’s not just bad — it’s black-hole-level hopeless. Recruiters are drowning, applicants are ghosted, and both sides are blaming the software. Congestion isn’t just for highways anymore.
👉 Why applying for jobs in 2025 feels like sending your resume to space

Strategy Deep Dive

Quick Hits 📰

• YouTube > Everyone Else: Pew says 84% of U.S. adults use YouTube, beating Facebook and Instagram. Threads? Only 8%.
  👉 See which platforms are really winning

• Hotels Are Selling… Water? 💧💎: Luxury hotels are replacing bottled water with $15 faucet filtration systems. It’s the new champagne.
  👉 Check out the luxury hydration trend

• WhatsApp Adds Custom Tags: Soon you can label yourself “Finance Guy” or “Snack Queen” in group chats.
  👉 See how tags might fix chaotic group threads

• TikTok Lets You Control AI Content: Don’t want AI-generated videos in your feed? There’s a slider for that.
  👉 Customize your For You feed

• 🌍 Climate Tech Is the Hottest Sector Right Now: Investors are pouring trillions into climate startups — from food to fashion to fuel. The opportunity? Massive. The timeline? Urgent.
  👉 See why now is the best moment to leap into climate tech

• MrBeast’s Ex-Strategist Built a Creator AI Tool: From Paris baguette videos to analytics dashboards.
  👉 See how AI is powering the next YouTubers

  • Beehiiv Says Newsletter Fatigue? Never Heard of Her: CEO says there's more room for quality newsletters — and now, podcasts, courses, and websites too.
  👉 See how Beehiiv is expanding beyond email

• Smoking’s Image Makeover: Celebs like Addison Rae and Lorde are glamorizing cigarettes again — raising alarm bells.
  👉 See why anti-smoking advocates are worried

• Walmart & TJX Are Winning the Holidays: Even rich shoppers are bargain hunting.
  👉 See why discount retail is booming

• Gap Is Back Thanks to Katseye: A viral denim campaign gave the retailer its best quarter in years.
  👉 How one ad helped Gap crush expectations

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