People Are The New Brands
Audio Recording by George Hahn
Scott’s away this week on a safari. I’m not sure what a Prof G safari looks like, but it likely involves tented camps with fine china, Zacapa, and remote NAD treatments.
In his absence, I’m keeping the lights on. Yes, me, Ed Elson, Scott’s 25-year-old co-host on Prof G Markets. I get paid to make Scott appear younger and more relevant, i.e., keep him abreast of trends in business and tech. Plus wardrobe advice — the guy dresses like an aging skateboarder.
This week I’m sharing my thoughts on a long-brewing trend that came to a head in 2024. It’s simple: America has fallen out of love with brands and in love with people. This is evident in every corner of American life — from politics and business to technology and media. People are the new brands.
Some context: What I lack in age and wisdom, I make up for in screentime. I spent almost seven hours scrolling the internet yesterday — average for me, below average for my generation. I am a product of the greatest digital transformation in history, and the erosion of traditional brand value is happening downstream of this transformation. Scott concurs. Where our views differ, however, is that while he believes digitally-enabled products and services have replaced brands, I believe people have.
First, some numbers: Gen Z spends an average of 109 days per year looking at a screen. Eighty percent of our waking hours are spent consuming information, up from 40% in 1980. We see 208 ads per hour — 10x more than our parents did at our age. As a result, we are more anxious, distracted, and depressed than any generation in history. We all know this but do not comprehend it. Like frogs in boiling water, we’ve been slow-cooked by screens.
The most important number is 12%. That’s the share of Americans who say they have zero close friends, up from 3% in 1990. Meanwhile, half the country says they’re struggling with loneliness. These numbers took off when Apple put computers in our pockets, and they’ve been climbing ever since.
There is an epidemic of loneliness in our country that extends far beyond the lives of Gen Z. We’ve underestimated its impact — loneliness touches everything, from the media we consume and the products we buy to the relationships we (don’t) form. When we reflect on the winners and losers in 2024, we will bucket them into two categories: those who capitalized on loneliness and those who didn’t. Moreover, we’ll realize that, in this society of lonely people, we find a lot more to love in a person than a brand.
Cravings
Meta naturally insists the loneliness epidemic has nothing to do with social media. Common sense suggests otherwise. We now spend 70% less time with our friends than we did a decade ago. There is no question: The phone has replaced our friends.
Research shows our bodies are not OK with this. Loneliness has a neurochemical impact similar to that of hunger, in that it activates the same parts of the brain. The longer we go without social interaction, the more we crave it. Interacting with other people is not a human desire but a human need. For the past decade we’ve starved ourselves of this essential nutrient.
The implication is simple: Whether they know it or not, near everyone you know is craving a friend. The best visualization of this subconscious craving is the internet, which has been overrun by billions of people in search of other people. TikTok is an endless stream, not of landscapes or products or experiences, but people. Same for YouTube, where the highest-performing videos are those with thumbnails featuring a giant human face. Meanwhile, on Instagram, pictures with human faces are 38% more likely to get a like than those without. The algorithm is the truest reflection of our cravings, and the algorithm has been very clear: We crave people most.
For lonely people, however, simply seeing someone is not enough. What we really want is to know them, to understand them, to be familiar with the intimate details of their life and for them to understand us. In other words, we want a friend. Many have watched in confusion the extraordinary rise of online influencers — people who make millions posting videos of their daily coffee routine or workout regimen. Much of this can be explained by our chronic lack of friends. Research shows Gen Z views their favorite influencers in the same way they view their friends. We know what clothes they wear, what food they eat, and what brands they buy. This has radically transformed the retail economy, so much so that 40% of us now consult an influencer before we make a purchase.
Parasocial
The technical term for this phenomenon is “parasocial relationship.” Per the Tech & Science dictionary: “a relationship a person imagines having with another person whom they do not actually know.” Parasocial is mostly used in reference to Instagram and TikTok. But I believe our parasocial relationships affect everything. If I had to describe 2024 in one word, it would be parasocial.
This is evident in my industry, podcasting. Joe Rogan has become more influential than the world’s largest news networks. His podcast gets 3x more downloads than the average primetime viewership of CNN and MSNBC combined. Many have misdiagnosed this tectonic shift as a left vs. right phenomenon, i.e. “CNN is woke/liberal; Rogan is anti-woke/conservative.” In the context of loneliness, however, that’s a red herring.
The key distinction between CNN and Joe Rogan is that one is a brand and the other is a person. This distinction is embedded in everything, from the name (CNN vs. Joe Rogan) to the logo (red letters vs. a face) to the product (“the news” vs. normal conversation). In a world of chronic loneliness, the person is more compelling. It’s no accident the name of our pod is Prof G.
One might argue that Abby Phillip is a person. But this neglects the intimate nature of podcasting as a medium. Abby Phillip reads off a teleprompter, wears makeup and a suit, and sits in a multimillion-dollar production studio. Rogan wears a T-shirt and talks with his buddies in a room that looks like a converted garage. For millions of Americans, Rogan isn’t a newscaster or even a celebrity, he’s a friend. And you will find this dynamic at all the top podcasts in America. (Side note: I surveyed 10 friends on their preference between Abby Phillip vs. Joe Rogan; none of them knew who Abby Phillip was.)
Beast Mode
Hollywood is suffering at the hands of the same trend. The 2024 Academy Award for Dumbest Purchase goes to Larry Ellison’s son, David, who, after getting caught up in a bidding war with the children of two other billionaires, spent $8 billion on Paramount Global. Every character in this transaction suffered from Hollywood Derangement Syndrome, believing the Paramount brand still holds any cultural currency. It doesn’t. Meanwhile, they didn’t comprehend that Hollywood is up against the same unbeatable enemy that cable news faces: people.
The individual who’s levied the greatest damage on Hollywood is YouTuber MrBeast, whose portfolio includes hits like I Survived 7 Days in an Abandoned City and I Built 100 Houses and Gave Them Away. MrBeast has mastered the art of the parasocial relationship. Put simply, he’s a friend who gets up to interesting stuff. Last year, MrBeast racked up more than 1 billion hours of viewing time, more than any of the top shows on Netflix. He’s one of the millions of YouTubers swinging the pendulum of power away from brands and toward individual people. This trend has been well documented (“the Creator Economy”), but it was ratified this year when analysts valued YouTube at $455 billion. That’s 20% more valuable than Netflix, and more than twice as valuable as Disney. Streaming or AI didn’t take down Hollywood; people did.
GOPerson
As with podcasting, this presidential election was also less about left vs. right than it was about people vs. brands. No one understood this better than Donald Trump, who doubled down on his parasocial relationship with millions of Americans while actively disassociating from the Republican brand. It was the ultimate people-over-brand strategy.
What drove this home for me was a leaked video of Trump watching the Democratic National Convention with his team. “Too many thank yous,” he says about Harris’s speech. “Is she crazy?” At first it looks like a watch party, then the tone changes. “Get that out right away,” he orders. A staffer types out his exact words, then blasts them across social media channels. Throughout the rest of the speech, Trump live-dictates his thoughts. With each thought, another tweet. The team’s job is to publish anything and everything that pops up into his head — no edits or cuts, just the raw Trump.
Call it narcissism or flooding the zone with shit, but what’s most striking is Trump’s determination to livestream his persona to his followers. He’s so determined, he hired someone to type out his thoughts. Think of the millions of lonely people watching that convention, craving Trump’s live commentary, perhaps because they share his politics, but almost certainly because they want his friendship.
Now compare this to the Harris strategy of carefully written speeches and manicured interviews. The Harris team managed its candidate the same way a corporation manages its brand. Every detail was consumer-tested. Every message, board-approved. By November 5 it was clear that the candidate was not Kamala Harris but the Democratic Party. She had become a brand, not a person. And, the person won.
Person, Inc.
The corporate world has started to wake up to the power of the person, but the movement was started years ago by Elon Musk. From the beginning, Musk knew he was Tesla’s greatest commercial. This is why the company never ran ads. Instead, like Trump, he plastered himself everywhere — at every conference and on every network. His tweeting frequency went from mildly obsessive to clinically insane. He quickly amassed nearly 200 million Twitter followers, then bought the platform. People wonder how Tesla commands a valuation premium 10x greater than its peers while spending only four ad dollars per vehicle sold. The answer is Elon Musk.
Other companies have picked up where Elon left off — most notably, Meta. Meta’s worst rebrand happened three years ago when the company tried to wash away its sins by switching from Facebook to Meta. It didn’t work, and brand trust tanked. Its best rebrand, however, came this year, when Mark Zuckerberg went from awkward coat-and-tie-wearing Senate-hearing prop, to gold-chain-donning T-Pain-loving jiu-jitsu fighter. In addition to leaning into his personality, Zuckerberg has made himself more public. He posted 71 Instagrams this year, documenting everything from Taylor Swift concerts to UFC fights. In 2021 he posted just 29 times, mostly product announcements. The extent to which the Zuck has put himself on display this year is astounding. But more important, effective: Since the rebrand, Zuckerberg’s favorability score among what was once his most hostile cohort (18- to 34-year-olds) has increased 73%. This is what it means to choose “person” over “brand.”
Honorable mentions go to Spotify and Shopify. I’ve spoken before about the need for CEOs to ditch highly polished press releases and embrace TikTok instead. In line with my belief that people > brands, TikToks show us who is running the company in a way press releases can’t. This is starting to happen. Spotify’s Q2 earnings update this year came in the form of a short selfie video filmed by CEO Daniel Ek. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein did the same. Memo to CEOs: This is the way to do it. Brands and logos and press releases do not resonate with us anymore. We are interested in your people — who they are, what they care about, and what they have to say — not your brand. The most overvalued firm in tech, Palantir, isn’t a tech company, but a CEO (Alex Karp) masking as a public company.
Reality Check
The premise of my argument is more important than the argument itself: We have become a society of lonely people, and our loneliness is permeating everything we do. This is a harrowing truth, and I’m grateful that Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has lent the issue the gravity it deserves by declaring it a national epidemic.
I remind you that more than 1 in 10 Americans today have no close friends. Single-person households now make up 29% of all households — up from 13% in 1960. We are more socially isolated than ever before. These are important facts for businesses to know if they are to understand their customers, but they’re also important facts in and of themselves.
Clarence
It’s the holidays, which means cheesy movies and trite truisms. I personally find myself increasingly confident that these movies and truisms are correct. This Christmas I’ll be watching It’s A Wonderful Life, and I look forward to Clarence’s always timely reminder to George Bailey at the end of film:
Remember: No man is a failure who has friends.
Happy Holidays,
Ed
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Ed,
I am a great fan of Scott and wait to read his stuff and also watch the podcasts with you. Having read this awesome piece of yours, I so much loved you picking the thoughts on the growing importance of people vs brands and the impact of parasocial creating loneliness at scale… and you have rendered them so beautifully in the post! You are a star at 25!! Look forward to seeing more of your work Ed! Cheers!
Great post! I’m not lonely, but then I’m a Boomer. Picked up a lot of good tips and information in this post. Well done and best wishes for the holidays to you and Prof G.
Ed, you nailed it. Simply superb.
“while he believes digitally-enabled products and services have replaced brands, I believe people have”
apparently screens have
I was pondering on exactly same stuff for some time I have very similar approach. Great stuff.
I had no idea that Ed was so very insightful. I enjoy Scott’s work, though often I find there’s a lot of sizzle and re-sound biting of a few good thoughts. As someone of Scott’s generation, I was all ears on every sentence of this podcast and I learned a lot. Props to Scott for giving Ed the canvas to show what he can do, and props to Ed for doing a great piece.
Loved this. I have been focused on the loneliness aspect for a long while now, but I hadn’t linked it to the decline of brands and the rise of the Creator economy.
The tricky part for brands is the huge risk that at some point the CEO will become a viral sensation for their faults, prejudices, incompetence, and even crimes. Let’s face it, most CEOs in the US will get caught with their pants down at some point and if they are the face of your company then the risk is intolerable to most boards.
For example, if a CEO who regularly shares his personality on social media, and this sharing has led to a huge (some would say unjustified) valuation, what would happen if suddenly there is lots of video footage of him addicted to drugs and running his own version of a rap stars oily rape party? I have to believe that this is a likely scenario unfortunately.
And having written that, I wonder how the pants- down CEO in question would affect the share price. If it were Trump or Musk would the share price rise? And if it were Zuck or Ek would the price fade to zero?
Perhaps only a Prof G CEO scandal would not affect share prices because he’s been open about his predictions in all his awful jokes? 😜
Best commentary I’ve read in years
Ed, I was disappointed to see in the lead-in that Scott was away. Then I read your piece, and now I have to observe—you nailed it. Send Scott some more $ to stay on vacation and give us another read. What a timely and thought provoking article. Well done! Merry Christmas!
Solid. Way to go Ed. Great job filling in for The Prof. Opening with ”Lack of age and wisdom but make up in screen time“ was huge and telling. Fucking gold! But I’m not surprised. Been following since Prof.Galloway was on Bill Maher. Love the format and chemistry. You are integral to the success of the show. You know it. But more importantly Prof. G. knows it. You bring to the table this optimism that your generation gets it. I argue too often with too many about how the youth of this world will be big change makers.
I’m a big fan of Prof. G. He very much understands what is going on with the older generations and the effects on the younger generations. No small task. I totally get the self awareness. The struggle to stay “cool” while aging in a sector that is not seen as “cool”. The Micro and Macro, the Ego and reality the assumptions and the data. The man both a lighthouse and a laser.
You nailed it with person/corporation branding topic. The drama on the personal brand wars with what will be Trump vs Musk is going to get juicy. The devotees of MAGA (not all republicans.Not all the MAGA’s) with their ignorance on tariffs is going to produce such a neck snap that it will be worth the price of a bucket of popcorn just to watch.
Get out your selfie stick and start promoting ! I have a music entertainment business and I’m always posting bands playing to promote ticket sales. In 2025 , I’m going full Musk ( minus the a-hole behavior) and will be talking up and talking with the talent that performs at my place. Brand is out, people are in. You nailed it Ed.
I love it! However, this is not a new concept. Tom Peters wrote about this quite a bit in the late 90s / early 2000s, calling it “Brand You”. I remember it was the cover story of Fast Company in Aug 1997. (Dunno if links work in comments, but you can still find the article in their online archive.) Oh, I should explain, “Fast Company” was a popular business magazine back in the day… actually, I should explain, a “magazine” was like a website made out of paper. Anyway, Peters wrote several books and articles about this concept, so there’s a lot more there for anyone who wants to do some googling (or tiktoking or ChatGPTing or whatever the kids are doing now)
Great and an exelent post. thanks Ed! 2024 is undoubtedly the peak year of parasocial relationships, and the revolution that began in the early days with YouTube, ‘U R the Tube,’ has turned into a monster that devours brands and the entire media, while simultaneously turning people into more depressed, unsatisfied, and lonely individuals. An interesting question is how large brands should deal with the power of the individual versus the brand, assuming most CEOs are not CEOs of Spotify or Mark Zuckerberg. There is significant power and clear results that brands (uless u r Jaguar) get from big branding moves accompanied by huge and flashy TV campaigns. My question is still unclear as to how MrBeast can replace that. how u shift old power to a new one??
Favorite holiday movies, Home Alone, Elf, ACS and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Hubby fell asleep as soon as we got home from a lovely dinner at my favorite restaurant in Miami. Here I am, 1am catching up on emails and socials, seeing what the offerings from your gen to mine are this week to “stay in the know”. Does that make me lonely in my parasocial life now? “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” MSM is not for me at 52! I prefer the less theatrical, drama-free, real, unscripted versions of podcasts and some socials for news or anything that interest me, from investing, remodeling to even cooking reels. Aren’t we all done with Paula’s butter recipes since now moving towards longevity and healthy eating after loosing Richard Simmons. We always preferred people. Heard of Marilyn Monroe, and The Kennedys? Nobody is reinventing the wheel. Are we more anxious? Anxiety has always existed, from the silent generation to how we deal as a society now with anxiety. I tell my daughters anxious never goes away, the topic of it just changes. Loneliness comes and goes. Put the screen down, learn to allocate time for it, time for connection to humans or animals like a safari, make the time for self growth and care. It’s all about balance, some days it’s extra and others lighter. In the end every generation makes life work for them. Here’s an optimistic view you can adopt, instead of doom and gloom, everyone survives the changes.
Awesome post, I had never thought about it but makes total sense.
This piece was offensive to me as a boomer in so many ways that I don’t know where to start. But let’s start here: The writer uses a simple yet misleading approach by suggesting it was a personality versus a brand success for Trump. On the face if it, the statement might have some merit. But it fails to illustrate that Trump’s so-called “person” is quite clearly a sociopathic “person” with populist propaganda meant to distract and divert and appeal to the lesser angels of our souls. Instead, the writer attacks decency and integrity as a losing methodology. Hello?
As a boomer as well, and psychotherapist, this piece was insightful about the loneliness epidemic and how relationships are changing, especially with those in the younger generations than ourselves. It made me notice what is still absent. Why do we choose friends, or parasocial “friends” that help or hurt ourselves. In our search for true and real experiences, do we gravitate to the louder more extreme, anger producing experience online just to feel? Does that make one feel seen?
Excellent article. Thanks Ed
“Some context: What I lack in age and wisdom, I make up for in screentime.“
Literally lol’d nice blog post Ed!
This makes a lot of sense. The questions I have are;
• How does it play out longterm as leaders leave, age out, or if there is a scandal?
• And does it work in these contexts because the personalities are so strong or can you strategize the shift effectively?
Great write up and I can see where the reasoning is coming from with Scott’s recent JIF comments. I think the medium that people consume information has a big role to play in the brand story also. Social media and the creator economy has leveled the playing field for advertising to consumers. Because anyone can start a YouTube channel today, it’s unlocked an ability to go direct to people and not spend so much on advertising. Personally, I think Elon uses X as an advertisement for his cars and he has proven effective at it. Pre purchase, what better way to promote Tesla than the founder ranting on Twitter and getting a massive following boosting his legitimacy in public eyes.
Well done, Ed.
A thoughtful essay. Nice job Ed filling in for the boss.
Thank you, Ed, for stepping in. I’ve been unable to convince my 27 year old son or 24 year old daughter to take a look at the excellent work and thoughtful insight you, Scott and your team bring to your audience. Perhaps I will have more luck with your words, as a peer.
A thank you to Scott for mentoring the next generation of leadership and making it possible for Ed and other young people to grow into their own voices. Scott is a door opener in many ways, helping to make a brighter future.
Ed, The excellent counterbalance to the old man. My critique is less TDS and less talking as an influencer for the DNC. Insights are the whole purpose for the Pod and clever ways to intellectualize the obvious. When Scott shares his perspective he’s interesting and provocative.
While I appreciated this post’s astute observations on demographic statistics, and YT and alt media’s success, I am not so sure on the presented premises and drawn conclusions. All things considered, the double-edged sword called technology has contributed to democratizing and leveling the playing field for so many industries. Invariably, negative externalities emerge such as partly what is described here as the cult of personality. By design, its power is unparalleled and its considerable effectiveness also spells its demise, which Frank Herbert took great pains to illustrate through his Dune series having drawn countless examples from history.
Abbey Phillip represents the parroting pundits dominating the regulatory-captured MSM in the USA that are a far cry from the fact-seeking, intelligent journalists that can be glimpsed now and then on BBC News, Al Jazeera, etc. Why should people know who she is when the “news” industry in particular has declined so greatly? This blog entry was a bit ambitious that ultimately concluded with a somewhat amateur takeaway on the Paramount+ acquisition. The havoc wreaked by the destructive Max CEO, previously covered by Professor Galloway says everything about the harm these media acquisitions can yield, yet the influence that persists nevertheless when wielded properly.
An earlier example of this is Steve Jobs. Apple nearly tanked under the Pepsi strategy. While absent from Apple Jobs builds two other companies with lasting impact then returns and puts the ailing Apple in motion towards becoming the most valuable company… ever. I had not made the connection of People vs. Brands as the explanation for this, but you did it beautifully. I’ve heard that education is the formalization of the obvious. This was educating.
I say fire Scott, and let this Ed guy run the show. The “Prof E Pod” not only has as easy a ring to it as “Prof G Pod” but it has the added bonus of kinda promoting illicit drugs.
Don’t tell him but I never makes to the end of any of Scott’s rants.Yours, on the other hand, I read from top to bottom. Good work!
Great post. I recommend “Bowling Alone” as a further reading on the rising trend of loneliness. I recently watched a YouTube video that asserted people largely pay for OnlyFans and tip Twitch streamers so they can find community and ease their loneliness. Icky stuff. Welcome to the brave new world of parasocial relationships.
This is great! Who needs Prof G? Branding is dead, peopling rules.
I’m glad you’re getting to speak and opine more on the pod. You keep things fresh(er). Scott should be grateful to have you.
Perfect and congratulations Scott on selecting Ed, harnessing his insight and cultivating his persona.
One thing that I haven’t seen referenced is the importance of a comfortable-voice, something that has accompanied highly accepted people, e.g Scott, Howard Stern, David Attenborough and now Ed.
Successful podcasts require appealing content but many are turned away if the voice is harsh (reflect on Ed v Scott’s voice-abrasive political offsider, whatever her name is). Many like myself intentionally use podcasts to induce sleep, a comfortable-voice makes this way easier. A ‘distinctive’ comfortable-voice is something I will let influence what I listen to. Welcome Ed with your ‘distinctive’ comfortable-voice and no matter your plans my advice would be to always be loyal to the distinctive comfortable voice that has given you a chance to be heard and embraced. Thank you Scott.
Terrific essay and post. Spot on Ed. Have a good break and stay well.
Ed Elson, you are SO RIGHT!!
perfect post and Clarence too.
Yezzzzzzz!!
Holy Shit! You hit the nail on the head!
So well written. Put your face to this and post all over social media accounts.
The most important of the very, very good articles written this year on No Mercy/ No Malice – this stands at the top of a steep hill. Kudos Ed. This will be hard to top. Thanks for putting in writing the most important fact of life in the last year which the old people are just not understanding. Here’s my parasocial with you – enjoy the holiday with your family.
Agreed, Ed, amazing post. Engaging, funny, and really forced me to think about a new dynamic. I don’t know if I agree with the premise but I certainly don’t not agree. That speaks to the quality of your writing.
Prof G is good too. We can love both of them. It’s not a zero sum game where Ed wins/Prof G loses or visa versa
An excellent debut! Scott quite often allows his politics to get in the way: this was first rate: well done 😁
Spot on. Lucky me though. I scroll and have human friends too. Win/Win.
I didn’t miss Prof G one bit, that’s saying something. Nice job.
This is only the second NM/NM I’ve read in its entirety. Well done Ed.
Uau! The best post! So good!
You did an absolutely awesome job
Great job Ed. Another useful anecdote is that the rise and dominance of PostSecret.com (the worlds largest ad free blog) coincided with the use of social media. PostSecret is anonymous secrets posted weekly. No ads, no comments. We adapted the blog into a play we toured nationwide but the secrets were heartbreaking and a stark reminder of how although we’re more ‘connected’ than ever, we’re lonelier than ever. All the best guv. Keep up the awesome work. Scott, stay in the vehicle. Do not approach the animals. 🙂
Very enlightening POV and exposed me to research I was not familiar with.
Listen to you and Scott several times a week and love you both, but as a Mom with two single daughters around Ed’s age, I love Ed more. Reach out if it doesn’t work out between you and your girlfriend.
What a fantastic post, probably the best one from this blog all year. Really love listening to you guys multiple times a week, the chemistry just works.
Great newsletter, Ed. Well done! Also very refreshing. Frankly, Scott has gotten a bit redundant of late so I’m taking a break from the pods. Still reading the newsletter, obviously, but I’ll be back once the topics have moved into new (hello, Trump era!) territory. Thanks
Not felt the urge to comment before but this post did it—great read, great ideas and very funny. Nice work, Ed!
Ed, you make a great stand-in for Scott. The craziest thing about friends is that it gets harder as you get older (esp for men), to make new ones – so a 25 year old (you) writing about this topic makes me (a 60 yo) fearful for your generations future friend-less times. Thanks for keeping this important topic in front of people.
Not felt the urge to comment before but this post did it—great read, great ideas and very funny. Nice work, Ed!
Brilliant post Ed, very insightful. I’m convinced, and am in your corner. OTOH, the public is fickle, and while loneliness is a real public health concern, chasing an imagined relationship for commerce does have a short shelf life.
Ed, I LMAO @ make Scott appear younger and more relevant, but the slight modification “keep him a-breast”
Thanks for leeping his lights on.
Joe