New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce - You Might Enjoy: The Best Idea Yet

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Which legendary candy was created by a former frog salesman? Who created that bottle of Sriracha permanently living in your fridge? Did you know the Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA, or that Super Mario became the best-selling video game character ever thanks to a strategy called “The Infinite Game"?On The Best Idea Yet, Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer (hosts of the award-winning daily pop-business podcast, The Best One Yet) have identified the most viral products of all time and reveal their untold origin stories — plus the bold risk-takers who made them go viral. From Levi’s 501 jeans to Reece’s PB cups, come for the products you’re obsessed with, stay for the business insights that’ll make you the most interesting person at your next brunch. Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Wondery.fm/TBIY_IPSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let me take a second to talk to you about a new show that's coming out. If you know me, you know that I love learning. I love expanding my mind and finding out information that I didn't know about. And whether it's finding out how things are made, history, I don't know, little dumb factoids that for some reason I hang on to. If you are similarly wired, there's a new show that you might enjoy. If you've ever wondered how Reese's Peanut Butter Cups came to exist, what's the origin story of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, one of the most iconic candies to ever exist in the

American culture? They've been a proud sponsor of our show because we have pubbed them before they even gave us money. I've actually never known how they came to exist. And I would love if there was a show out there that could tell me how they were created and came to exist. So, did you know that it involved a former frog salesman? That's right. A frog salesman, F-R-O-G, the animal. That's right. But anyways, if you like stories like this, I highly recommend you check out the podcast from Wondery called The Best Idea Yet.

Every week, the hosts of The Best Idea Yet are going to bring you incredible origin stories from some of the most beloved successful products in the world. Not just Reese and Peanut Butter Cups, we're talking Air Jordans, Levi 501 jeans, Super Mario Brothers. Who doesn't want to know where that Italian cartoonish video game character comes from? Sriracha Sauce, the super soaker. If there's a product you're obsessed with, there's probably an episode about it. And the stories are going to be wild.

I'm going to play this short clip. And if you're into it, click the link in the episode notes or go listen and follow the best idea yet wherever you get your podcast to hear the rest of the episode. Don't knock it till you try it, Jack. Don't knock what? Don't knock it till you try it. What are you talking about? Olive oil on ice cream.

Because once you do olive oil on ice cream, you're going to start putting olive oil on your yogurt and then breakfast and dessert are covered. I don't get either of those ideas. I was in Bangkok once. I had mango and rice. Have you had mango and rice? This is a good combo. Are we talking about perfect combinations? Surprisingly perfect combinations, Jack.

Okay, can I just go like regular over here and say scrambled eggs and ketchup? What about that? Ah, you're not gonna win any Michelin stars for this stuff, but I see where you're going with this, Jack. Chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk. All right, Bobby Fillet, I know what we're talking about. How about corduroy with cashmere?

Well, the most perfect, surprising perfect combination is peanut butter and chocolate. Peanut butter and chocolate, yetis, whenever Jack and I get an unexpected combo, we call it a Reese's moment. And of course, when we say Reese's, we're talking about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. That perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter that actually comes from a very specific and very secret way of roasting the peanuts. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the most popular choice

of Halloween candy for kids, and they're the second top selling candy for adults right behind M&M's. Is it chocolate with peanut butter, or is it peanut butter with chocolate? We should point out Jack that the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was actually invented nearly 100 years ago in 1928. But it wasn't even invented by Hershey's. Today we'll tell you the true inventor of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup who went from a down-on-his-luck frog salesman to a real-life Willy Wonka. Oh, you hear that?

Yeah, that's it. That's the shrill whistle that signals the end of another long shift at Summer's Cannon Company in the town of New Freedom, Pennsylvania. Among the workers streaming out the doors of this cavernous cannery is a tired-looking man named Harry Burnett HB Reese. HB has worked every kind of odd job at this point. From fishery manager to dairy farmer, he even did a stint raising frogs

and selling those frogs to local restaurants. I gotta ask, what are the lily pad numbers? Do the frogs know about this whole operation? But at this point in his life, HB just can't catch a break. It was all looking so good when he married his wife Blanche Edna who came from a well-to-do family. But now the pressure is on. HB and Blanche have nine kids. Plus his mom and his aunt they live with them too making it 13 mouths to feed. So HB's in-laws, they can only help so much. And he can't rely on amphibians to feed a family of 11. I think we learned that in business school. So right

now in 1916, money is tight, but HB doesn't let that bring him down. He hasn't found his perfect gig yet, but he's always gained to try new things and reinvent himself another time. So here's what our man HB does. He hauls his tired body up the steps of his porch. He pushes open the door to this cramped two bedroom house. And the poor guy, he's been working all day. He wants just five minutes to himself to scour the paper for job opportunities before he

just gets a little bit of shut eye. But as soon as he walks in the door, his kids jump on him. Robbie wants to piggyback, Clara demands he read her a story, John and Anna, they're fighting over in the corner and a searing pain shoots up HB's leg. Oh yeah, little Ralph just jabbed him in the thigh with a pencil.

And there's probably a toad loose in the living room on top of all of that. So Jack, eat his pandemonium in the Reese house. HB, he finally balance his way over to the dining table, finding his newspaper and scanning the job section. And one item grabs his eye. It's a help wanted ad for dairy farm workers in a town called Hershey. By this point, Milton Hershey's chocolate making operation is in full swing. The town of Hershey is thriving.

Sales are soaring and the company recently launched a hit new product, the Hershey's Kiss. Now, funny thing yetis, HB himself, he's a little family history when it comes to the chocolate trade because his mother used to make chocolate covered almonds and raisins. And maybe it's a sign that chocolate is actually in his future. So HB finds a moment to himself to mail off his application for this promising new job. A few weeks later, he receives an envelope

with a Hershey, Pennsylvania postmark. He's got an interview. And when he steps off the train, HB is stunned by what he sees. Because what he's looking at is this town that Hershey invented out of nowhere. They got grand buildings. Hershey, it is the Babylon of bonbons.

But Nick is here to get a job. He can't be distracted by all those fancy Hershey perks. So he focuses, he nails the interview, and he gets that job. Follow The Best Idea Yet. Wherever you get your podcasts to hear the rest of the episodes, you can listen to new gets that job.