PepsiCo Slashes Poppi's $300M Earnout: Take the Cash

Hey, we're live. PepsiCo has cut its Poppi earnout estimate to almost nothing, brands are getting sued over AI-edited ads, big companies are locking out AI agents, and Hark's free pizza launch charged people for pizza. Chris Orzechowski of Orzy Media is guest host, with Phil Kiel of Taikun Digital and Sean Wendt of dtcmvp in the saddle. Watch the show live →

✶ THE CURRENT THING ✶ M&A

PepsiCo paid nearly $2 billion for Poppi last year, plus up to $300 million more if the soda hit undisclosed growth milestones by Q3 2027. That earnout estimate was $278 million in December and $117 million in June. As of Sept. 5, it's about $12 million (The Star/Bloomberg).

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Shea: "At this rate, it seems plausible that they may not pay any of the US$300mil." PepsiCo says Poppi still grew volume double digits in Q3. Founder Twitter's verdict was fast. Levelsio: "When you sell your business, never ever agree on an earn out. Always get it in cash!" (levelsio on X)

✶ CREATIVE & LEGAL

Pin creator Catherine Amador sued the Pin Trading App on Oct. 2, saying a paid Facebook ad lightened her skin and changed her features. The app blamed Meta's auto-enabled Advantage+ creative enhancements and admitted it didn't review the ads. Model Francheska Pujols is suing Rainbow Shops over AI-generated images too (The Fashion Law).

✶ AGENTIC COMMERCE

Amazon reportedly blocks Meta's Muse agent, Chase blocks outside agents from running retail accounts, and Schwab's CEO says it stops "unauthorized agents trying to move client money." Delta says it has "no third-party booking integration" yet (Digg). Greg Isenberg's read: "Companies block agents because agents skip the ads and upsells" (Greg Isenberg on X).

✶ LAUNCH LESSONS

Hark promised "$1,000,000 of pizza" to celebrate Hark Pro: tell the app to order a free pizza and it applies a $30 DoorDash credit (Hark on X). Then Hark admitted "there was a bug for a short period of time when the promo was not applied and some users were charged in full" (Hark on X).

Your CX team is buried in the same repeat tickets — refunds, order tracking, subscription cancellations — and every one of them is costing you money.

Richpanel is an AI helpdesk that automates 70–80% of those interactions end to end. Your team only handles the exceptions; a team of Richpanel AI agents handles the rest. If you're paying humans $2–$10 a ticket, wait until you see what 30 cents feels like.

Ridge cut their cost per ticket by 70% — saving $500K a year by making the switch. Migration takes under two weeks, and CSAT tends to go up, not down. The guarantee: 50% autonomous resolution in 30 days, or your money back.

Nike's 10-shoe Halloween basketball pack starts releasing Oct. 23. The headliner is the LeBron 24 "Storm Drain," a nod to LeBron's 2017 Pennywise costume from IT. Wemby, Giannis, KD's "Slim Reaper" and Caitlin Clark's "Jinx" round it out (Sneaker News, Nice Kicks on X).

Elon says ugly, shrill or overhyped ads are no longer welcome on X (Elon Musk on X). He already banned hashtags in ads last year, calling them "the esthetic nightmare." DTC Twitter, the proud home of the ugly ad, is taking it personally. Time to check what your X creative actually looks like.

GoodPop's 2021 redesign drove a 40% sales jump and won the Designalytics grand prize, with 75% of category buyers preferring it (Packaging World). Now it's refreshing again to "pop through the freezer door" (Nosh). Would you touch a winner? (LinkedIn)

Amazon now runs more than one million robots across its fulfillment network, a milestone it first hit last year, and uses a generative AI model called DeepFleet to route them more efficiently (TechCrunch, Polymarket on X). Your 3PL's prices are about to look different.

McDonald's energy drink lineup is getting a holiday spin, with a Frosted Cranberry Energizer spotted by franchisee accounts (McFranchisee on X). It follows the Red Bull dragonberry energizer, the chain's first-ever energy drink (Food Business News). Seasonal flavors are still the cheapest launch in retail.