Episode Details

Phillip and Brian get deep on a week when everything felt a little unhinged: Shopify's AI sidekick started building custom apps, Iran allegedly took out AWS data centers mid-Claude-outage, and the McDonald's CEO went mega-viral just days after Phillip prophesied it. Underneath the chaos, a throughline emerges: the things we've used to measure value (view counts, credit card rewards, third-party apps, and AI contracts) are quietly expiring. Culture is first. Then comes commerce.

This SKU Is Delicious

Key takeaways:

• Shopify Sidekick can now build one-off apps on demand, raising real questions about the future of third-party SaaS.
• AI geopolitics is here: data centers are now strategic infrastructure, and the "human in the loop" question has military stakes.
• Meta's move to invoicing ends years of free credit card rewards for brands running paid social,  — and that party's been winding down anyway.
• MrBeast's long-form view counts are down 50% YoY, even with heavy paid promotion; the algorithm has shifted to interest-based, not subscriber-based.
• Media buyers optimizing for CPMs are chasing non-real traffic. — Rrecovering a sense of propriety is the only way back.

In-Show Mentions:

• How MrBeast Dominated 2025 Using Advertising
• Phillip’s Big Arch burger virality prediction
• Get on the list for the Future Commerce x Shoptalk After Party

Associated Links:

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce Plus for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.