“It’s a G thang” — Gucci’s fake myth. The Big Mac Index’s winner. Grand Theft Auto’s super-trailer. +Influencer University

The hosts return from August break with a roundup that spans fashion fakery, a video game bigger than movies, and a 40-year-old burger index that says America is winning on something — just not the things that matter most. Along the way, Arizona State University launched a $142,000 bachelor’s degree in content creation, joining Cornell and UT San Antonio in the influencer-education gold rush. But the three main stories carry the weight.

Gucci’s invented history and its sudden comeback

Gucci had been in a 12-quarter sales slide. Then last month, the brand signed Tom Brady as a model, and parent company Kering’s stock surged 24% in a single day. The hosts argue the real story is how Gucci built its image in the first place: on a lie. The company’s founder’s son, Aldo Gucci, invented a 500-year family history as saddle makers to medieval royalty. That myth explains the double-G logo (designed to look like a horse bit), the red-and-green color scheme (equestrian stable colors), and the metal band on Gucci loafers (modeled after horse stirrups). “We were never saddle makers,” a family member told a journalist in 1987. “Gucci just dreamed up the image because it aligned with the elite clientele they were hoping to reach.”