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March 4, 2004 [ view dossier ]
(continued)
Protégé started their day with the pedicab drivers. Kwame laid out an incentive program and the drivers seemed to like it. Then, Kwame suited up and jumped on a pedicab himself to earn some extra income as a driver. Troy and Heidi went out to sell prepaid ride cards to businesses. Unfortunately, no one on the team had much luck. After a dismal start to the day, Troy had an epiphany - the team should just have fun. So, he changed clothes, put on his cowboy hat and jumped into the driver's seat of a pedicab. Troy's mood was contagious and he was soon giving rides to customers. Kwame and Heidi even had some success selling prepaid ride tickets to a few people on the street. Things looked like they were turning around for Protégé, until they saw another pedicab glide right by them, sporting a Versacorp flag. As the cab moved away from them, they could see a large ad on the back of it. Protégé was shocked as the realization washed over them: Versacorp had sold advertising on their pedicabs. Protégé was in deep trouble, or as Troy put it, "We were looking up the ass of a dead dog with fleas."
Versacorp ran into problems of its own. Amy and Katrina weren't getting fares as easily as they thought they would. But even worse, some of the advertising signs on the cabs weren't staying on correctly. One even fell off. Bill considered giving the restaurant that bought the fallen sign a partial refund, and sent Nick to talk to the restaurant owner. Nick felt that the team had not come through on their promised advertising and gave the owner back his full $250, which angered Bill.
When the two teams met with Donald in the boardroom, George and Carolyn laid out the numbers. Versacorp had a total profit of $3,680 while Protégé had a profit of just over $382. Even the always cool Trump seemed to do a double-take. The lopsided victory was the direct result of selling advertising. Trump said that Protégé did not think outside the box and took a severe "thumping." As a reward, Versacorp would take a private yacht tour of New York Harbor while Protégé would be taking their own special trip back to the boardroom. Versacorp enjoyed their time aboard the luxurious yacht and Amy and Nick continued their flirtatious yet competitive relationship. Who was in control and who might let their emotions be used against them? It was hard to tell. But one thing was clear: Amy and Nick's relationship was getting even more intense.
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