Thursday, January 8th, 2009, 9:44 pm
Down to the Final 5 ... and thank goodness it's a bona fide marketing task and not another "whip out your Crackberry" contest. As The Donald says, it's "totally legit" -- they have to sell Quiznos sandwiches to rank-and-file New Yorkers.
And so there were more things to learn from our rapidly diminishing crew:
Lesson One: Opinions are not marketing research (part two). I have to agree with Ivanka in that I probably would have preferred Trace Adkins and Stephen Baldwin's "Cowboy Club" sandwich (with prime rib and bacon) over the relatively bland turkey-based "Champ Sandwich" cooked up by Lennox Lewis, Carol Alt and Piers Morgan.
But the latter team's strategy was solid: pick what's already popular with the public and tweak it a bit.
Original? Nope. But it turned out to be a classic crowd pleaser.
Lesson Two: Always have Plan B (and C, and D, and ...). The fiasco with the flyers for both teams was frustrating. Trace and Stephen, though, were able to drop back and punt - find another printer who could deliver faster - while Carol continued to hammer away at the same printer who was having technical issues.
Although it didn't make a winning difference for Trace and Stephen, it did show they knew how to work a problem.
(And Piers -- really, shame on you, you gutless wonder. That whole anti-Carol rant behind her back was just pathetic.)
Lesson Three: A good gimmick is worth its weight in gold. The star of the day really had to be Lennox Lewis. He did what he has done best all season -- interact with the public.
There he was, in front of the Quiznos, chatting people up, posing for pictures, even mock-fighting the odd fan or two. And always, always, inviting people inside for the Champ Sandwich.
It may have been a predictable scenario (see Favorite Moment #2), but it still worked like a charm.
MY FAVORITE MOMENTS:
* "If I never have to say 'Lennox Lewis, the heavyweight champion of the world' again, it'll be too soon." So, Piers, I take it your little man-crush has run its course?
* "It's Lennox Lewis and the Knockout Sandwich - the sandwich that'll really knock you out!" Hilarious that Stephen and Trace knew that would be Piers' angle!
* Stephen getting behind the counter and workin' that sandwich line.
THE FIRED APPRENTICE'S CHARITY: Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund http://www.findacure.org/
THE WINNING PM'S CHARITY: The Muhammad Ali Center http://www.alicenter.org
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Thursday, January 8th, 2009, 8:59 pm
FINALLY! Oma goes home-a! I want to break out into song, but I can't decide beween the "Hallelujah Chorus" or "Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead!"
As schadenfreude moments go, this beats the Gene Simmons firing by a couple million miles. She really did know she was whipped -- her whole demeanor screamed "defeat."
Like the credit card commercial says: Priceless.
Lesson One: Performance trumps politics. Omarosa clearly had been counting on Donald Trump's regard for her as immunity against firing. She was wrong.
Piers Morgan outplayed her, not through clever gamesmanship so much as superior performance. He raised more money simply because he had better contacts than she did. And he knew how to work them.
(In fact, I have yet to see Omarosa display any real skills at all, other than backstabbing. Is this chick employable anywhere other than television?)
To all sub-par performers everywhere who rely on schmoozing skills for protection: Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Lesson Two: Don't play someone else's game; make them play yours. As Piers himself noted in this week's boardroom, he made the mistake during Episode 7 of getting mad about Omarosa's insults instead of playing it cool. To put a finer point on it, his mistake was playing her game instead of making her play his.
Week 10 saw him correct that mistake. During this task, she couldn't play his game, and he knew it.
I just wish he'd seen the light sooner.
Lesson Three: Pick your enemies carefully (if you must). Ivanka Trump really called it: Omarosa, thinking she was psyching Piers out with her "your children hate you" insults, instead handed her enemy a loaded gun and all but begged him to shoot her.
And Stephen Baldwin's continuing (and childish) attempts at spying and sabotage are putting him in the cross-hairs for next week (especially if he and Piers are re-teamed for the next task and they lose).
If you insist on making enemies, pick somebody weaker than yourself.
Better yet, just ... don't.
MY FAVORITE MOMENTS:
* Carol Alt and Lennox Lewis both stealing donors right out from under Stephen.
* Lennox standing in impotent awe of Omarosa's chutzpah in diverting all incoming patrons to her side: "You're good!"
* Piers' hilarious "Brokeback" stunt. Never kiss a cowboy, indeed ... especially not one who doesn't see the humor in it!
THE FIRED APPRENTICE'S CHARITY: Positive Vibrations http://www.tamuseum.org/positivevibrations
THE WINNING PM'S CHARITY: Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund http://www.fallenheroesfund.org
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