Assertion Contradicted
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell's first three Chihuahua commercials copied his submitted storyboards
“They tested that ad in the northeast, which has happened to be where I was in Michigan, and I just lost it, you know, because it was the commercial that I'd written. You know, the first three commercials were our commercials, like we had storyboarded and share…”
Opinion
Tom Rinks: High-end luxury retail is cheaper long-term than DTC
“If the Four Seasons is carrying it, I think a high-end retail is a Cheaper strategy long-term than trying to think about this D to C, but again, I'm not a D to C guy.”
Assertion Supported
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell collaborated with creators for 18 months before ghosting
“And we worked with them for 18 months. We were on the calendar of when it was going to happen. They were planning on testing it.”
What-if
Tom Rinks: We would have accepted a $200,000 settlement from Taco Bell
“If they would have offered us, they're gonna hate to hear this right now, but if they would have offered us 200,000, We'd have taken it.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Consumer brands must maintain strict discipline around their distinct edge
“Be really disciplined on who the, what the brand is, right? If you look at Ben and Jerry's and the names of their products and the humor and the way they write, they went all in on that liquid death, all in on their edge. It's just so, I know who they are.”
Insight
Tom Rinks would build an uncool 'nerd sunscreen' if launching today
“If I was going to do it now, I would do something opposite of sunbomb. And so it'd be the opposite of cool. It would be like a nerd sunscreen or something.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Creativity fails in business unless you can sell your ideas
“There's a, I think his name's Ogilvy. Ogilvy and Mathers, he's like the father of marketing, I believe. He said something like, you know, in the modern world, you could be as creative as you want, but unless you know how to sell, you're just not going to make …”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Apparel trends lose their cool once fathers start wearing them
“When a line gets popular, it's popular by the cool people, the college-age kids, the high schoolers, right, they start buying it, and then their younger brothers see them wearing it, and then they want to buy it, so then it gets a little younger. And so then t…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell offered no settlement money during five-year litigation
“They didn't offer us one dime.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Consumer purchases are driven entirely by perceived status and self-image
“Everything you do is based on how this product or brand makes you feel about yourself or think other people feel about you.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Brand mascots outperform founders and celebrities because they avoid scandals
“Realizing the strength of a character, realizing the Budweiser frogs, the Eminem guys, the Energizer bunny. Yeah. They live forever. Mickey Mouse, right? They don't get old. They don't get DUIs like founders or celebrities or, right? They can just keep, they'r…”
What-if
Tom Rinks: Core surfers would have trapped Sun Bum in niche shops
“I think if surfers would have made this brand, they would have had two cross surfboards and called it Woody's, and it'd still be in surf shops today, and that would, or maybe it wouldn't be.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Strong brand personalities juxtapose edgy provocation with wholesome humility
“It's this juxtaposition of edge, sex, good, kind, humble, like mashing all of that together. It's kind of what people want. It's that combo is what's, what's a really interesting personality for brands, for people.”
Disclosure
Tom Rinks: Sun Bum operated in Michigan while forwarding Florida customer calls
“We got a PO box in Cocoa Beach, and then we you know, all the Calls were getting transferred up, you know”
Assertion Partly supported
Tom Rinks: Richard Branson made Sun Bum the exclusive sunscreen on Necker Island
“Richard Branson and Joan. The end of the first year, they saw it and bought it for, to be their exclusive sunscreen on Necker Island.”
Insight
Tom Rinks: Creative founders often fail when forced to manage operations
“Creatives usually start companies, and then they, and they're really good at creative, that's why they make companies, and then they start hiring people, and doing the P&Ls, and managing people, and all the stuff they suck at, and by year three, the curve star…”
Disclosure
Tom Rinks: Sun Bum marketed lip balm as 'world's greatest (to us)'
“And so we ended up making it a signage that said world's greatest lip balm to us in little parentheses underneath it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rinks: Art Van staff broadcast fake pickup calls to create buyer frenzy
“We'd say, you know, customer pickup for Johnson, door three, customer pickup for Smith, door five, just to get a frenzy going with nobody picking up anything, just to...”
Disclosure
Tom Rinks: Holding 400 college apparel licenses did not guarantee profitability
“So while at the end I had 400 and something licenses, while I had lots of licenses I wasn't super profitable.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tom Rinks: Psycho Chihuahua shirt sales collapsed after Taco Bell ad campaign
“So even our shirts stopped selling because everybody wanted the Taco Bell Chihuahua shirts. You know, we were just a knockoff. So sales of that dropped off.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell offered multi-million dollar settlement right before federal trial
“The first time they offered us something was at the trial. It was just before it started. They had lots of lawyers on their side. We had our little three lawyers on our side, and the judge came out, everybody rose, the jury was in, and they went up and said th…”
Assertion Partly supported
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell appealed the $42 million verdict before settling
“No, no, they appealed right away. And then and then a few months later, they settled.”
Disclosure
Tom Rinks details the massive lawyer and agent fees on $42M payout
“I got, you know, the 33% of the lawyers, plus hard costs, 25% of my agent. Me and Joe split the rest, the government took the rest.”
Disclosure
Tom Rinks: Agency charged clients upfront service fees plus company equity
“The idea was we'll make, we know how to make brands, we'll make a brand for you, and you pay the fees for us to do that, and you give us a piece of your company.”
