Hey Apprentice fans! Hope you all enjoyed Sunday's all-new Celebrity Apprentice. The ladies were on a bit of a winning streak and brought home a win last week for Debbie Gibson's charity, Children International. The men had a tough Boardroom last week losing both Adam and Michael. Being down two players and given their general feelings towards Lou, I was curious to see how they would fare this week.
This week the teams were tasked with creating a viral video for O-Cedar's new product, the ProMist Spray Mop. O-Cedar has been in the cleaning business for over 100 years, so they clearly know their product and their audience very well. The teams would be judged on product integration, brand messaging and entertainment value. Immediately following a "trick" question to Dayana, it was time to choose the project managers. This week Lou and Tia stepped up. I was happy with the team's choices as I think last week both Tia and Lou felt that they had some proving to do. Not only last week but also in previous tasks, I felt that Lou always seems to want the ball but never actually stepped up. This week will be very important for both Lou and Tia.
As the teams split up, Dayana was desperately trying to give her ideas, which seemed to be shot down quite quickly. Now whether they were necessarily great ideas or not, the claws were definitely out early on the women's side... The executives visited Team Forte first and immediately mentioned that the viral video should be sexy and shared their last campaign, which definitely pushed the envelope. Upon meeting further, the women decided upon, "What's Your Number?" as the theme. It definitely had sex appeal. How they presented it to the judges using their criteria would be another thing.
While the men were brainstorming there seemed to be a superhero theme in all of their ideas... go figure, with The Hulk as the PM! While they seemed to be all working together well, Penn continuously seemed to chime in about the negative elements or reasons why a particular idea wouldn't work. From a business perspective and from working in groups, I am sure that many of you have been in a room with this type of attitude, so I understood Clay's frustration. At one point Clay burst out mentioning that he felt that people were setting Lou up to fail. I hadn't seen this side of Clay and was impressed; he was a lot tougher than I would have thought! After Clay expressed his issues - I am sure that Lou felt relieved - they came up with a tagline, thanks to Paul Sr.: "I'll mop the floor with you." I think given the Hulk and the rest of the team members, I was thinking it could be very entertaining if executed properly.
As the women were filming their viral video it seemed like a lot of the team was sitting around, and with a task this size with a time crunch, I don't see that as a great sign. Additionally, Dayana whispered to Debbie that there was no mop in the frame of the video. I think Dayana's point was very valid and perhaps she should have voiced it sooner. I think if the product integration is not a point they hit during their video then it will certainly be a topic of discussion in the Boardroom.
Whoever thought that the Hulk was only capable of crushing things... think again! Lou showed off some serious dance moves on this task, which was a new side to him and also extremely entertaining!
It was time for the presentations, and overall they were both extremely entertaining. The women utilized the star power on their team incorporating almost all of the ladies in their video. The men chose to focus on Lou in the video and a spokeswoman to address the components of the product. It was time for the Boardroom to see if the women's number game or Lou's dance moves won over the judges.
My father began on the men's side in the Boardroom asking Lou how he thought their team did on the task. Lou was very confident and felt he gave 110%, and while I feel like I have heard that before, I do think Lou did a great job and it was evident from the kudos he received from his team members. Paul Sr. even said that he felt Lou was the star of this task, and Clay felt that he is the most committed person to the task. I think that commitment is a key element especially on this show. If you slip up or lose sight even for one task you could potentially lose your shot all together.
Over on the women's side they initially began with that same positive energy, and Tia named Lisa as the "star" of their task... although after Lisa's reply, I was thinking Tia may have wished she didn't say Lisa. Lisa explained that she felt that Tia never had her arms around the task. She went on to explain that in every task the three most creative people take on the most work, that being herself, Aubrey and Debbie. For three out of the seven women on the team to apparently be doing most of the tasks is not a great sign for their ability to work together and utilize their collective talents. As the conversation continued, you could tell that there was great frustration on both sides.
As the conversation continued, each celebrity began to voice who they felt was the weak link. Dee was asked who contributed the least and responded that he felt it was Paul Sr. on this task, and Paul seemed to accept that. However, I reminded both Dee and Paul that he came up with the concept; so to me, that was a huge contribution, and Dee had to admit that was true.
My brother Eric and I took the teams through the executive's feedback. On the ladies' video, the executives felt that they nailed it on entertainment and the brand, but their concept overall was confusing. They also felt that they focused too much on the presentation and not enough on the viral video. The men's team received a great review from the executives as they loved Lou as a housewife, and they thought the concept was very clear. They did however feel that it lacked the viral video element, which was a negative.
In the end, Lou brought home his first win of the season, proving that he did actually give 110% and it paid off! I was very happy for Lou, as I felt he really needed this one. The men headed to celebrate, and the women were left to battle it out... and that is what they certainly did.
From the very beginning of this Boardroom, there were many issues being laid out on the table. Creative people versus "worker bees" and disagreements over the concept and how the PM led the team. Harsh statements were flying back and forth and finally it was time for Tia to decide the two people she would bring back in to the Boardroom. As soon as Tia began questioning bringing two people back in I knew her fate. She decided to take the bullet for her team as the PM, feeling that it would be unfair to fire someone else. We respected Tia for accepting the responsibility but also felt that she could have shown more fight and stayed in the game.
I hope you enjoyed Sunday's episode and will join me again next week for another explosive Boardroom. Follow me live on Twitter on www.twitter.com/donaldjtrumpjr during the episode!