An Offer You Can't Refuse

December 09, 2022

Running a startup requires you to be resourceful. So when it came time to model our merch we thought, “Why not go in house?”

Cole and Bella have demanding day jobs as our heads of growth and community, respectively, but on a recent Tuesday their job was to channel Derek Zoolander and model Roca-branded clothes. We're hesitant to share the pictures because we don't want Vogue to poach them from us, but let us know how they did (below).

If you approve of their work, head to the store and check out the trucker hats, hoodies, and more.

We have just a few left of each â€” let's clear the shelves!

In today's edition:

 đŸ”‘ Key Stories

Brittney Griner Released

  • Griner, a WNBA star, was arrested in Russia in February and sentenced to 9 years in jail for possessing weed oil. For her release, the US traded Viktor Bout — a Russian it had sentenced to 25 years in jail for conspiring to kill Americans by selling weapons to terrorists

  • Paul Whelan, a former US Marine serving 16 years in Russian jail, was not part of the deal. He was part of early swap negotiations, and US officials say they are still negotiating his release

  • Whelan was arrested in Moscow in 2018 while possessing a flash-drive that contained Russian “state secrets”; he claims to have been framed

Dig Deeper

  • Griner arrived back in the US early this morning after being swapped for Bout in Abu Dhabi

Political Crisis Grips Peru

Peru swore in a new president after the former was arrested in what some have called a coup attempt

  • The deposed president, Pedro Castillo, is a former teacher who had taken power in 2021. During his 16 months in office, Peru’s opposition-controlled congress twice tried to remove him from power

  • On Wed., legislators prepared their 3rd vote to impeach Castillo. He responded by trying to dissolve Congress and declare an emergency, but Congress voted to oust him and he was arrested and replaced

  • Prosecutors are charging Castillo with “rebellion,” and his vice-president is now leading Peru

Dig Deeper

  • Castillo's supporters say he was eroding Peru's democracy, which has been in place less than 30 years; his supporters say powerful interests removed him for upsetting the status quo

FTC Suing Microsoft

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Microsoft to block its purchase of Activision Blizzard

  • Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s largest video game companies. It owns franchises including Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and Warcraft. In January, Microsoft announced it would acquire Activision for $69B

  • On Thursday, the FTC sued to stop the deal, claiming it would let Microsoft “suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles.” The FTC is the governmen body that regulates competition

  • Microsoft says it “believed in giving peace a chance” and offered concessions, but will now fight in court

Dig Deeper

  • Also Thursday, opening arguments began in a separate lawsuit the FTC filed against Meta, Facebook's parent company, attempting to block it from buying a virtual reality startup. Analysts see both as evidence of the FTC's tougher stance against Big Tech

Germany Foils Coup Plot?

German police have arrested at least 25 people since Wednesday for allegedly plotting a violent coup

Dig Deeper

  • Those detained include a 71-year-old man who comes from an ancient lineage of German nobility. Police say this person, "Prince Heinrich XIII," was the group's chosen replacement for Germany's current democratic leader

"Dudes apparently love these"

Together with Public Rec

That’s what GQ said about our clothing, and we couldn’t agree more

  • Public Rec makes the All Day Every Day Pant, a pair of pants that will change the way you think about pants. The All Day Every Day Pant is available in over 40 different sizing combos and can fit men anywhere from 5’8” to nearly 7 ft tall

  • A more stylish alternative to sweatpants and a more comfortable alternative to jeans, the All Day Every Day Pant is the perfect gift whether you need something casual for the office, comfortable for the golf course, or just to upgrade your old sweats

  • Plus with over 10,000 5-Star reviews (and counting!), you know you'll be in good company                                              

Dig Deeper

So why settle for traditional retail sizes?  Make S–XXL a thing of the past.  Don’t wear pants the old way; wear them the Public Rec way. 

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

  • "Wordle near me": The top Google search term of 2022 in the US and globally was "Wordle." An engineer named James Wardle invented the popular word game in 2021

  • À la Condom: Starting January 1, France will make condoms free at pharmacies for those ages 18 to 25, according to French president Emmanuel Macron

  • Mr. Ripped Off: Kevin O'Leary, or "Mr. Wonderful" on Shark Tank, says he has lost the roughly $15M defunct crypto firm FTX paid him to be a spokesperson

Wildcard 

  • We the young'ns: An Arkansas town elected an 18-year-old to be its mayor. Jaylen Smith graduated high school last spring and is attending a local public college

  • "Let's see a resume, bud": Newly-elected congressman Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z House member, says he was denied a DC apartment because of his "really bad credit"

  • When you're here, you're fired: An Olive Garden manager in Kansas was fired after sending a fiery email to employees about taking time off. One line from the diatribe was, "If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us"

đŸ‘‡đŸ» What do you think?

Today's Question:

Today's Poll

Better cold-day meal: Chili or Lasagna?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🗣 20 Questions

20 questions logo

Every Friday, we ask the Roca readers 20 questions, then feature our favorite answers the following week. 

After another 1.9% of a trip around the sun, we are back with 20 more questions. We are absolutely fired up about today's, which are.... 

RATINGS EDITION!

We've got 20 prompts, which you will rate on a 1-10 scale, 1 being strong dislike; 10 being love. We will average your scores, and include them in here next week. All prompts are HOLIDAY THEMED! 

Here's the link. Have an AMAZING WEEKEND!

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

 đŸŒŠ Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

We messed up the poll and the results didn't save 😭 Will try it again another time!

Yesterday's Question:

Who's someone from history who truly inspires you?

Chris from OKC: "Teddy MF’n Roosevelt"

Matt from Queens: "Yuri Gagarin is my favorite historical character. He straight up got into a rehashed ICBM prototype that was built by the USSR, they shot him into outer space, and no one knew what was going to happen. He ended up ejecting himself at like 23000 feet above the surface of the Earth to get out of that contraption and subsequently become the first human to survive a spaceflight. That takes some guts."

Amy from South Dakota: "Mother Teresa, she never had much, but made a huge impact with her kindness and compassion. A genuine angel."

Last Week's 20 Qs Responses:

  1. Mini Golf 53.7%, Bowling 46.3%

  2. Burger 60.3%, BBQ 39.7%

  3. Sour Patch Kids 50%, Sour Gummy Worms 50%

  4. Almonds 52.6%, Peanuts 47.4%

  5. Popcorn with butter 65.8%, Kettle Corn 34.2%

  6. Chocolate Frosted Doughnut 51.4%, Boston Creme 48.6%

  7. Sledding 81.3%, Snowball fight 18.7%

  8. Lays 57.3%, Pringles 42.7%

  9. Hot Chocolate 69.1%, Chocolate Milk 30.9%

  10. Apple Juice 60.2%, Grape Juice 39.8%

  11. Alex Trebek 57.4%, Steve Harvey 42.6%

  12. Spotify Wrapped 58%, Wordle Results 42%

  13. Jennifer Lawrence 75.9%, Florence Pugh 24.1%

  14. Ring doorbell 63.6%, Loud dog 35.4%

  15. To Kill A Mockingbird 77.8%, Tale of Two Cities 22.2%

  16. Razor scooter 78.2%, Heelys 21.8%

  17. Christmas tree farm 63.9%, Pumpkin patch 36.1%

  18. Documentaries 87.2%, Junk reality TV 12.8%

  19. Sweatpants 60.1%, Jeans 39.9%

  20. Mint gum 58.3%, Mouthwash 41.7%

🧠 Final Thoughts

That's all we've got for this week. Have awesome weekends, do the 20 Questions, and see you on Monday!

Max and Max