March 10, 2022

Today we learned that the Russian name for a Big Mac is “Bolshoi Mak.” But did you know that McDonald's original name for the burger was "The Aristocrat?" But then a young secretary named Edith Glickstein suggested the name Big Mac, which execs originally laughed off. Edith, you are a national hero.

Roca co-founder Max Frost has returned from Ukraine! In today's Wrap, he shares his final thoughts on 10 days in eastern Europe. Let's ride. 

― Key Stories

Put it in Reverse, McDonald's!
Overview

• Food companies are joining the corporate exodus from Russia following boycott threats from the West
• This week, McDonald's said they would temporarily close their restaurants in Russia, as will Starbucks, though they will continue to pay Russian employees
• Coca-Cola is also suspending operations in Russia; Pepsi said it would still sell food but not drinks
• Coca-Cola has been operating in Russia since 1992; Pepsi since the Soviet Union, in 1974. When the first Russian McDonald's opened in Soviet Moscow in 1990, hundreds lined up for a “Bolshoi Mak.” It was the world's largest McDonald's at the time

US: No Fighter Jets for Ukraine

• The US rejected an offer by Poland to provide Ukraine’s military with fighter jets. Poland belongs to NATO, the US-led military alliance
• Ukrainian pilots know how to fly the jets in Poland's arsenal. Poland offered to transfer the jets to the US, who would then transfer them to Ukraine
• Poland said it would do the deal “immediately and free of charge,” but the US said it wasn't “tenable” because it risked creating a broader military conflict between NATO and Russia
• Poland is reportedly avoiding transferring the jets directly to avoid a confrontation with Russia

US Warms to Venezuela

• Venezuela freed 2 US prisoners, as relations between the country and long-time rival US begin to thaw
• For 2+ decades, the US has been at odds with Venezuela over its increasingly anti-American and authoritarian government
• In recent years, the US has sought to make it one of the world's most isolated countries; Venezuela's government accuses the US of plotting its overthrow
• Now, the US is considering lifting sanctions so Venezuela can produce more oil and help reduce global oil prices. The Trump admin had banned US purchases of Venezuelan oil

Aging Enzyme Identified?
Overview

• Researchers think they’ve identified the compound that causes physical fragility in people as they age
• A Spanish research institution found that deficiency of the Q10 coenzyme leads to lower muscle mass and higher fragility. Q10 carries electrons to help cells recharge
• “Levels of Q10 fall with lower levels of physical activity…the lower [the] levels, the lower the capacity to exercise. It’s a vicious circle,” one researcher said
• Q10 deficiency is also linked to aging, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and more. Researchers are now considering ways to boost Q10 levels

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports 

• NOLAN! Drake and Josh star Josh Peck is joining the star-studded cast of Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic Oppenheimer
• Strike 3 on week 2: Major League Baseball canceled week 2 of the regular season as owners & players fail to reach an agreement
• Keeping up with the streaming wars: The Kardashians will arrive on Hulu on April 14. America's royal family has kept hush about it until now

• Amazon announced its first stock split since the dot-com boom in 1999, giving investors 20 shares per 1 they own (a purely cosmetic move)
• Let's make that union a "venti": 3 more Starbucks locations voted to unionize, doubling the total number of unionized US Starbucks
• Is nothing holy anymore?! Pizza ice cream (yep, you read that right) from Van Leeuwen will launch exclusively at Walmart on March 14

• The Endurance, the legendary ship of explorer Ernest Shackleton, was found and filmed in great condition 107 years after it sank
• Try the Kyiv Mule yet? A number of bars across the US are renaming the popular "Moscow Mule" cocktail to show support for Ukraine
• A northern California woman arrested last week for allegedly faking her own 2016 kidnapping was released from jail after posting $120k bail
• Spring break, category 5? Florida expects to be flooded with spring breakers this month, perhaps the most visitors since Covid hit

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

Roca co-founder Max Frost has spent the last 10 days in eastern Europe, including 4 days in Ukraine. He's writing about it here this week. 

After wrapping up my stay in Ukraine, I got a ride to Ukraine’s border with Romania, where I walked across without a wait. Volunteers there thought I was a refugee, and despite me repeating that I wasn’t, they gave me a free SIM card and offered me mental health services and train tickets. 

From there, I hitched a ride to Romania’s second largest city, Cluj Napoca, then from there to Bucharest, the capital. I flew back from there yesterday.

***

The 4 formerly communist countries I visited – Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania – are each distinct, yet I heard and saw similar things across them. 

I saw volunteers in neon offering help to thousands of Ukrainian refugees. I saw Ukrainian flags flying on buses and in each country’s city centers. I saw “solidarity with Ukraine” superimposed on each country’s TV channels. 

In each place, people told me that Ukraine is the first step, not the last. Russia is just being Russia; the relative peace of the last 30 years was an aberration. Whether Vladimir Putin is crazy, rational, evil, responding to NATO – the people I met in these countries say it doesn’t matter: Russia has forever sought their territory; it is simply doing so again.

I heard concrete fears of nuclear war, specifically the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Everyone agreed that Putin cannot lose this war – he would be overthrown – but victory seems unlikely. People in each country told me they were preparing “for the worst”: Prepping emergency kits, updating passports, discussing evacuation plans with family. People everywhere thought escalation was more likely than Russian retreat.

And in each country, people told me that Russian misinformation – “fake news” – was making a response to Russia much more difficult. Because of Russian propaganda, I was told, minorities in each country believed that Ukraine was ruled by Nazis, that the war was the West’s fault, and that Russia was protecting itself. 

I’m not commenting on the validity of any of this; it’s just how the dozens of people I spoke to felt. Whenever I raised doubts or skepticism, I was told the same thing: We’ve been here before; we see history repeating itself.

***

Since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Eastern Europe has become increasingly wealthy and integrated with the West. Nearly all of its formerly communist countries have joined the EU, and many have also joined NATO. In doing so, they sought to protect themselves from Russia and share the pie with the world’s richest countries. For the last 20+ years, that’s what happened.

Now, though, countries are now wondering if they are next; if they should move investment from their IT sectors to fighter jets; if the progress of the last 30 years was an illusion. 

That shift will have significant and unpredictable impacts. But one thing is for certain: After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world will never be the same. 

 Games

1. Chick-fil-A
2. Subway
3. Jimmy John's
4. Taco Bell

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― Final Thoughts