The epidemic is fear.” As I scrolled through Instagram on my ride downtown to the Snapple Island Ferry Comedy Show, a reel from The Free Press popped up. Professor Arthur Brooks was making the case that “Gen Z is perhaps the most risk-averse generation in history.” Now, I’m no psychologist. I’m a social media editor.
And I theorize that some of that fear Brooks describes comes from our overexposure to a digital world that, seemingly, has all the answers. And when someone makes a decision outside the purview of algorithmic logic — like buying an abandoned ferry for $280,000 at a city auction — they are at the mercy of, well, being completely clowned. That’s exactly what the news cycle did to Pete Davidson and Colin Jost after they joined a group of investors to buy the decommissioned John F.
Built in 1965, the JFK was the oldest ferry in the Staten Island fleet when it was retired last August due to mechanical failures. Davidson and Jost intended to transform the vessel into a floating entertainment venue.“Davidson, who’s no longer with SNL, might need to call his agent to book those gigs — turning the 57-year-old ship into a nightspot is likely to cost millions,” The New York Daily News reported. The headline read: “Retired NY Ferry Bought by Pete Davidson and Colin Jost Is Full of Asbestos, Roaches, Say Ex-Crew Members.” The social media hate laid on thick, too: “Have you heard of the hottest club in the city?” one person tweeted (per the LA Times).
You’ll dance the night away while also always being just moments away from drowning.” Years had passed without hearing about the ferry until I got an unexpected email in my inbox: “EMBARGOED: Invite to NYC’s Most Unexpected Comedy Club From Pete Davidson and Colin Jost.” As it turned out, the “SNL” comedians partnered with Snapple to give New Yorkers an “unexpectedly refreshing break from the daily grind,” transforming their vessel into the Snapple Staten Island Ferry for a free, one-night-only floating comedy show. Could the comedians have listed tickets for $200 a pop and still packed the ferry? Instead, they dropped a limited batch of free tickets at 3 p.m. each day (Sept. 3-8).
The resulting buzz and scramble among young New Yorkers to secure tickets (not totally unlike the IMAX 70mm frenzy surrounding “The Odyssey”) was much more valuable than the low six figures a sold-out show might have grossed at the door.Those lucky enough to make it aboard became a test audience for two brand comebacks, each fiercely looking to win over a younger generation before betting on a much bigger, more calculated swing. The first is Snapple, which started phasing out its signature glass bottles in 2017, replacing them with plastic (the transition was complete by 2021). The company justified the brand’s “massive makeover” as a decision made “with the evolution of sustainability in mind.” The operational savings from slashing the cost of manufacturing a bottle to roughly a third of what it once was probably looked pretty savory to the big-wig execs at Keurig Dr Pepper.
Consumers weren’t as quenched. Snapple eventually budged in the fall of 2025, launching a limited glass-bottle revival at select bodegas and retailers across New York, citing a “demand for nostalgia from an OVERWHELMING number of consumers.” The brand has yet to commit to a wider or permanent return, but it was clearly testing the waters with this major brand activation. Hosting Snapple’s revival party was Davidson and Jost’s own comeback project to replenish the New York comedy scene, taking the form of a floating, popsicle-orange vessel.
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