1/21/26: Netflix’s $480M Gamble, The $300k GPT-4 Killer, and Why Taylor Swift Just Lost to a 4-Year-Old Song
Thu Jan 22 2026
From Netflix’s massive $480 million bet on Stranger Things to a four-year-old "invisible" song dethroning Taylor Swift overnight, TOPAgency.com CEO Ben Kaplan deconstructs the week culture moved faster than the boardroom.
We’re double-checking the ROI on $8M Super Bowl ads and diving into how a "cheap" Chinese AI model just undercut OpenAI by 50x. Is "Made in China" the new premium in AI, or a race to the bottom?
Featuring:
The Joe Keery Effect: How the Stranger Things finale created a global #1 hit from a 2022 "side hustle."
Streaming Math: Why $60M per episode is actually a bargain for Netflix retention.
The DeepSeek Disruption: Can a $300k Chinese model actually beat billions in Silicon Valley R&D?
NVIDIA vs. Tesla: Why Wall Street just picked the "platform" over the "product" at CES.
The Dictator’s Hoodie: How American brand Origin turned Nicolas Maduro’s arrest into a masterclass in real-time marketing.
Jonas Brothers vs. AI: Why the future of "real" advertising might mean ditching the algorithms.
Watch on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@branded-podcast
Follow on TikTok at: http://tiktok.com/@top_agency
Get the merch at: https://store.nationaltoday.com/
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From Netflix’s massive $480 million bet on Stranger Things to a four-year-old "invisible" song dethroning Taylor Swift overnight, TOPAgency.com CEO Ben Kaplan deconstructs the week culture moved faster than the boardroom. We’re double-checking the ROI on $8M Super Bowl ads and diving into how a "cheap" Chinese AI model just undercut OpenAI by 50x. Is "Made in China" the new premium in AI, or a race to the bottom? Featuring: The Joe Keery Effect: How the Stranger Things finale created a global #1 hit from a 2022 "side hustle." Streaming Math: Why $60M per episode is actually a bargain for Netflix retention. The DeepSeek Disruption: Can a $300k Chinese model actually beat billions in Silicon Valley R&D? NVIDIA vs. Tesla: Why Wall Street just picked the "platform" over the "product" at CES. The Dictator’s Hoodie: How American brand Origin turned Nicolas Maduro’s arrest into a masterclass in real-time marketing. Jonas Brothers vs. AI: Why the future of "real" advertising might mean ditching the algorithms. Watch on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@branded-podcast Follow on TikTok at: http://tiktok.com/@top_agency Get the merch at: https://store.nationaltoday.com/