What Were Bryan Cranston And Aaron Paul Doing At Costco This Week?

It's ironic that nearly a decade since "Breaking Bad," whenever we see former TV tough-guys Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in the same room, we still can't help but default to dad-joke mode, wondering, as we do, "What's cooking?" But apparently, all dad-joking aside, these two made such an indelible impression as meth-cooking frenemies on AMC's critically acclaimed jewel-in-the-crown, "Breaking Bad," that they've come to agree that whenever they feel like working together, at least for the foreseeable future, it might be best for both of their careers if they do so outside of acting gigs, per Forbes. So, in 2019, when the not-acting-together bug bit them both, they founded Dos Hombres, a mezcal brand sourced from agave from San Luis del Rio, a remote village in central Oaxaca, Mexico, per Dos Hombres' website. 

From the beginning, the fans have been here for it, showing a willingness to brave rock concert-esque crowds for a chance to be adjacent to these apparently quite affable stars. We saw this starting with their first major appearance at Tales Of The Cocktail 2019, during which they bartended to the delight of attendees of the event. 

And we continue to see it in their most recent appearances. For example, on May 19, Cranston and Paul entertained beyond-indoor-capacity crowds at Stamford, Connecticut's Fortina restaurant (formerly helmed by Food Network-famous Cristian Petroni), at which they bartended and hosted gregariously, per the Stamford Advocate. And now, what's this? These two intrepid mezcal mavens were just seen at Costco?

Before we get into what Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were actually doing at Costco, we'd like to point out that if this duo of actors of "Breaking Bad" fame have not been thanked for their service as virtual first responders during the height of the pandemic's lockdown culture, then we're here to step into the breach. Back in October 2020, Cranston and Paul were on the job to make gloomy pandemic birthday parties just a little more palatable with greetings via Zoom and a real-life delivery of their artisanal Mezcal with a little help from Drizly, the beverage delivery service. After all, who wouldn't want booze delivered to their door by "Breaking Bad" stars?

In truth, however, what these two seemed to be going for then is what they would appear to be going for now as they take their in-person promoting of Dos Hombres back on the road in 2022 — as in, a little levity and a lot of marketing. 

That certainly seems to have been the thrust of Cranston and Paul's appearance on June 7 at a Hawthorne, California, Costco, about which some of the theme-adjacent subreddits are quite astir, including the one devoted to all things Costco and the one focused on "Breaking Bad." The former, however, is where you'll find the bulk of the levity in the form of a discussion that devolves into what 50 Cent would be called now that the Consumer Price Index says that inflation is up 8.3%.