No Rules, Just One More "You're Fired"

Another selling task on tonight’s episode of The Apprentice…does anyone else wish that they would bring back the tasks from season 1? Ok, maybe it’s just me…but the thing is that this is supposedly a “15 week job interview.” All Trump knows about these candidates is whether or not they are good salespeople. And while I’m sure that being a good salesperson also shows good business sense, they’re certainly not one in the same. I know, it’s all about the advertisers, but I already like Outback, so…well…you get the idea.

No surprise that when someone had to switch teams, Sean gladly volunteered. And also no surprise that the guys lost. (oh…I guess it also wasn’t surprising that Trump wanted to “check out the cheerleaders”…looking for his next wife maybe?) Whenever they show a team that is ridiculously confident about a task, they always lose. Especially when it’s a male-female thing. As I watched the buzz that the guys were generating I thought that maybe they would be the exception. But they priced their food too cheap (a blooming onion is nearly $10…selling it for $5 is a deal, selling it for $2 is absurd) and they had events that involved overhead. They had to pay for the money machine, the money that they paid out, the food for the eating contest, and the prize for that contest. I don’t think the girls spent any non-advertising money on their event.

Now, the strategy itself for the guys was good – Lee knew the types of things that attract college kids to an event. But they couldn’t follow through with sales.

The girls’ event wasn’t as spectacular (although I’m not sure the cheerleaders would have helped their strategy), but it was effective. First, they priced everything at $5 – cheap enough to appeal to college kids, but high enough to make a profit. Their prices also made the cash flow easy for everyone. The best part, though, was the concept of delivery. Not having to move made their sales pitch very inviting. Minimal effort, low prices, and great food, all delivered by cute girls who took the time to learn the Rutgers cheer? How could they lose?

I loved Sean’s take on the pre-boardroom scrambling. He’s right – there’s only 3 of them, so if you ask “who do you think should be fired?” there’s a 50% chance that it’ll be you. And how could Michael be surprised that he was fired? He knew that he spent too much time on the microphone. And his explanation about giving the girls a few cheerleaders as a gesture of good will was, well, lame. Carolyn was really upset about that – it’s simply a horrible business move. So Michael goes home…and Lee manages to stay alive another week.