
 |
When Sandy and Andy returned to the suite, Andy stunned the remaining candidates by announcing that Trump had fired not one, but two people. Andy said he was still "shell-shocked." Sandy said at that moment everyone realized it was a whole new game. At dinner, the group toasted themselves: the final six.
On Apex, Ivana stepped up and asked to be Project Manager for the next task. But she was not going to get the position just by asking. Jennifer M. also said she wanted to lead. Ivana said she felt she had earned the right to be Project Manager based on her performance in the previous task. In an interview, Ivana said, "It definitely hurt that much more when Jen threw up a roadblock because I just came off a task where she's been taking credit for all the work that I've been doing." Then, Kelly jumped in and said he wanted to lead, too. After a random drawing, Kelly became Project Manager. Later, Kevin, Ivana and Kelly whispered among themselves and expressed a mutual interest in being free of Jennifer M., who overheard the hushed tones and knew that the team was plotting without her.
The next day, the two teams met with Trump. But before he got down to the business of the next task, The Donald told Apex to send over one of their candidates to Mosaic to even up the sides. Without hesitation, Kelly announced that they were sending Jennifer M. Kelly told Trump, "I do not think Jen is the strongest." In an interview, Ivana said she felt lighter with Jennifer M. gone. In her own interview, Jennifer M. said that she was thrilled to have switched teams and would like nothing better than to score a big victory over her former team members. Next, Trump introduced David Burwick, Chief Marketing Officer of Pepsi. Trump said that for their next task, the teams would work at Pepsi's headquarters and design a brand-new bottle and marketing campaign for a new drink called Pepsi Edge. Trump said the team that created the best design and campaign, as determined by David, would be the winner. George and Carolyn would be along to observe. And Trump ended with his usual promise - to meet the losers in the boardroom, where another person would be fired.
As Project Manager, Andy led Mosaic during a brainstorming session at Pepsi's headquarters. Sandy said that since Pepsi Edge is somewhere between diet and regular Pepsi, it's the best of both worlds. Sandy and Andy batted around ideas based on the slogan. While discussing a promotional game, Sandy suggested that under each Pepsi Edge bottle cap there could be the name of a country - and if a customer collected the names of all of the countries in a continent, he or she would win a trip to that part of the world. Andy liked the idea. In an interview, Sandy admitted that she thought that Andy might have had too much energy - and she said that every time she turned around Andy was helping himself to the free Pepsi from a dispenser in the conference room. Next, Mosaic met with Pepsi designers to draw sketches of their ideas for the new bottle. Sandy suggested an idea to go along with their contest of traveling around the world. She said that the bottle could be a globe - a complete sphere. Andy worried that a customer wouldn't be able to hold a truly spherical bottle with one hand. Jennifer M. suggested making a bottle with two bulbous ends and a more narrow middle, where it could be gripped. Sandy tried several times to push for her globe idea, but Andy went with Jennifer M.'s design. In an interview, Sandy said it was frustrating not to be heard.
At the Apex brainstorming session, the team came up with the idea of making a bottle in the shape of the letters in the word "Edge." Kelly said that they could put a hole in the letter D for both a cool look and promotional purposes. When the team came up with ideas of what to put in the hole, Ivana didn't censor herself; she came up with all sorts of silly suggestions. In an interview, Kelly said he thought that Ivana was "meandering." Having settled on their bottle, Apex met with their Pepsi designers, who liked Apex's idea. But when Kelly asked about putting the hole in the bottle, the designers said it was really going to be a problem. Kelly insisted, calling the hole a "wow factor." The designers said they would give it their best shot. In an interview, Ivana worried that Kelly was "ruling with an iron fist" and wondered if it would come back to bite him.
While Apex finished their design work at Pepsi and went home, Mosaic worked into the night with their design team. To provide a little extra incentive, Andy gave all of the designers a one hundred dollar cash bonus. But in an interview, Sandy said she thought that Andy annoyed a few people with the cash tip. She said that you don't do business like that in the corporate world. Later, Andy told the hungry group that they couldn't eat the hot pizza that had been delivered until they met their deadline. Andy took the pizzas from their room and put them in the hallway so that they wouldn't be a distraction. In an interview, Sandy said that Andy was "like a slave driver."
|
|
 |