the Joshua Schall Audio Experience

Rich People Live Longer. This year’s Hims & Hers Super Bowl ad is certainly provocative…but as a strategist with deep domain expertise, I know exactly what it meant! Because even if almost everyone accepts that “Father Time” will remain undefeated, the upper portion of the “K-Shaped” U.S. economy realized that they didn’t need to solely default into being patients within the healthcare market,...

Celebrities are everyday people just like us and should never be placed on a pedestal. Well, unless their oftentimes mysterious financial involvement within the dietary supplement industry is being investigated. Welcome back to Part 3! And I bet even my most avid audience members are scratching their heads (in confusion), as it’s been what feels like a lifetime since my last update in 2021. But I...

Dear BellRing Brands board of directors…please consider this my formal submission for your open CEO position! BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR) is a portfolio that owns a collection of convenient nutrition brands like Premier Protein and Dymatize Nutrition, which was previously wholly-owned by Post Holdings. A fast-paced and busy lifestyle is pushing consumers to switch to quick and healthy meal option...

As one form of cultural capital is democratized, “the elite” promptly establish a new (less accessible) social asset. Therefore, what could it mean across the CPG landscape after GLP-1s made thinness no longer a pursuit of rarity? And while I recently shared a short-form content piece on this topic, it was not nearly enough time to properly assess massive opportunities emerging from this social ph...

Are popular OnlyFans creators and/or adult film stars too spicy for the CPG industry? While crossover attempts have been occurring for decades, a significant cultural shift…where the line between adult entertainment and mainstream influence is increasingly blurred, has more commonly allowed performers to achieve a different kind of celebrity and control over their careers. Though, beyond noticing...

Did the intern hit send too early on the brand’s 2026 April Fool’s Day joke? Was this AI image slop designed to distract us from their abysmal stock market performance? Are we actually living in some weird alt-protein simulation? Honestly, I had all those same gut reactions! And while those “hot takes” might be funny…my comedic skills hardly warrant any attention from strangers. So then, what’s th...

Shohei Ohtani is redefining what it means to be a baseball player in real time, and we’re all witnesses. However, that greatness doesn't come from talent alone…as Shohei Ohtani is widely recognized for his meticulous data-driven attention to holistic health management and his commitment to maintaining peak performance. But let me tell you something from recent experience…I don’t care if you’re...

Alcohol has been part of society for thousands of years. Also, likely because of its ability to trigger a release of dopamine…leading to feelings of confidence and impulsivity (thus increasing the likelihood of initiating contact with individuals you find attractive), alcohol has been part of the mating process for an equally lengthy period. However, driven by a wide range of factors…from increase...

If increased accessibility to GLP-1s is “changing the social distinction game,” with “thinness” now being replaced by “strength” as today’s highest social ideal…then you probably need to learn more about what I call the foundational triad of muscle health. So, not that the protein-ification trend needed further support, especially after the FDA just inverted the old food pyramid…but protein is the...

For the last eight years, I’ve publicly shared my conviction around “relaxation” building into the next functional CPG frontier, due to the growing consumer demand from today’s overstimulated (especially younger) generations for products that enhance mental wellness, support relaxation and stress relief, and enable alcohol moderation. Also, during that same timeframe…I’ve highlighted only one sing...

If you focus on what you can do, what you cannot do will diminish in size. As THG CEO Matthew Moulding recently stated, “we can’t control commodities or currencies.” After more than a decade of marketplace stability, MyProtein faced a “Great Shutdown” era spike in whey input costs and the Japanese Yen collapse (impacting its second largest market). And these two external factors almost entirely wi...

In an era of college football where bowl games don't matter anymore, it seems CPG brand marketers didn’t get that memo! Imagine a world where fans are showing up (or watching at home) not just for the sport but the title sponsor’s brand experience! In what has become a marketing platform for some of the wackiest shareable moments in recent memory…a select group has mastered how to turn passive...

Who’s better at making functional foods, functional beverages, and/or nutritional supplements taste the best…certified flavor chemists or famous chefs? Unless you’re an industry insider like me that truly understands the rarity of certified flavor chemists is equivalent to Master Sommeliers, you most likely believe famous chefs would be able to create the best-tasting products. And I totally get…f...

Just when I thought I’d seen everything within the energy drinks market (and I do mean it all), a press release gets forwarded to me about Titan Casket introducing the world’s first energy drink brand launched by an online direct-to-consumer casket company. Though, in all honesty, it wasn't until after looking at the Titan Casket social media accounts that I quickly realized launching an energ...

If you haven’t seen last week’s headlines yet, Kroger announced the sale of its online health and wellness subsidiary, Vitacost, to iHerb. And while terms of the M&A transaction were not disclosed…there’s still tons to discuss regarding why both sides considered this deal value accretive. But I'll start my examination on the sell-side, as A LOT has happened since Kroger acquired Vitacost f...

Most recognized RFK Jr. had a significantly different vision for the FDA compared to that of Trump’s first administration, so why is anyone surprised at the apparent “MAHA vs. MAGA” riffs? There have been ample opportunities for clashes (with potentially significant political ramifications), but the largest surrounds MAHA seeking to curb Americans’ consumption of sugary soft drinks and ultra-proce...

There were more flavors of QUEST Chips just announced...which undoubtedly means more protein, but what about more revenue? In this latest episode, I'll utilize the Q1 2026 Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ: SMPL) financial statements, earnings call, and supplemental presentations for my expanded strategic commentary around convenient nutrition market dynamics and trends. In fiscal Q1 2026, Atk...

What does surging demand for creatine and increases in European defense spending have in common? Well, that would be the global specialty chemicals company, AlzChem Group, which is a critical Western supplier in two sought-after (albeit drastically different) sectors. Obviously, my deep domain expertise is far outside Europe’s rising share of NATO defense spending and/or critical raw materials use...

Let’s face it…there’s A LOT of terminology associated with ultra-processed foods. You have industrialized ingredients like certain seed oils or sugars like high fructose corn syrup. Then, there are the lab synthesized ingredients like artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners. So, in an effort to improve public health and nutrition policies, the FDA is collaborating with the USDA to develop the f...

Business history repeats itself…first as tragedy, second as farce. But for the sake of Cizzle Brands' future, let’s hope lessons were learned the first time! While the company is managed as a single operating segment, Cizzle Brands started with a flagship brand CWENCH Hydration. Then, in January 2025…Cizzle Brands launched SPOKEN Nutrition, an NSF Certified for Sport line of athlete-grade spor...

Did you know there’s a paradox of distinctive brand assets…where the most effective asset types are used least? Every founder is consumed by recognizable visual elements like logos or brand colors. But what about the strategic use of sound across touchpoints to create memorable emotional connections, improve recognition, and differentiate a brand? In today’s short form content era, strong sonic cu...

More than four years after Better Being Company withdrew its IPO plans, one of the most historically significant dietary supplement brand portfolios finally got a (technically) new owner. Since that “Great Shutdown” period can be blurry for everybody, I’d guess most aren’t aware Better Being Company filed Form S-1 with the SEC (in July 2021) for a proposed initial public offering…let alone that it...

For those that weren’t lucky enough to experience it firsthand, I’m sorry but you’ll never truly understand what it felt like being a suburban kid growing up in the mid-90s, with this unwavering need to dial 1-800-FUN-COLOR…convinced that your persistence toward a winning vote could change the candy landscape forever. In fact, if you were to ask the 10-year-old version of me about his crowning ach...

It’s hardly a secret that American food companies rely heavily on undocumented immigrants for physical labor. Whether it’s the laborers who tend livestock and cultivate crops or workers behind the scenes in meatpacking and other agricultural production plants, our food system is powered by a cheap, willing and, often, undocumented workforce. Yet, intensified immigration enforcement, such as ICE ra...

Reports suggest around one-third of U.S. adults use continuous monitoring technology and health wearables…with trends showing persistent growth, especially among younger, educated, and higher-income individuals. And by providing 24/7/365, real-time data on physiological metrics like vital signs, glucose levels, and sleep patterns…continuous monitoring technology and health wearables are becoming i...