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VROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
High on the buzz of luxury at Trump Park Avenue, Trump set the task: To
create an in-store promotional video and print campaign for the Lamborghini
brand. The group that created the most original presentation, as judged by
advertising honcho Linda Kaplan Thaler and Lamborghini executive Ehren
Bragg, would win. Clearly revved up for the challenge, Chris took charge of
Excel, citing his background, "I sort of nominated myself to be project
manager because I have a background in advertising, that's what I do for a
living."
The women of Capital Edge Corporation settled on Marshawn as project
manager, and she grasped the difficulty of the challenge immediately,
"Because we are women presenting a masculine product, we had to exemplify
strength." She knew that if the women didn't demonstrate that power up
front, during the task, they'd end up in boardroom again, facing the
discerning eye of Mr. Trump.
PUNKED BY PUNCTUATION
The supremely confident men of Excel
thought their bond with the luxury sports car brand was tighter than a
Lamborghini lug nut. "We've already won this," said Brian, before any work
had been done. "I'm guaranteeing the victory. There's no way we're gonna
lose," said Mark. Seeming like anything but a finely tuned machine, Excel
sped forward, but sputtered intermittently. Over project manager Chris'
objections, Markus presented his stale slogan "Smooth as Silk" before Excel
met with the client.
Later, while shooting their corporation's ad, Markus failed to follow
directions, irking most of Excel. "Markus is by far the weakest link," Josh
said in an interview. "He runs interference. You might actually think he's
on the women's team." Meanwhile, Mark had problems with the poster ad
slogan, "Rebirth of Italian Intimidation," deciding that "Italian" would
look better with a lower case "i".
Capital Edge had conflicts as well. Kristi bristled at Marshawn's hands-off
management style: "Marshawn was getting on my nerves because I didn't think
she was stepping up and adding value to this task." In the end, however, the
women's project came together in a tightly edited ad that featured a
powerful tagline: "Do you need permission?" The women just hoped they'd been
able to overcome the men's natural affinity for this hyper-masculine
product.
SKATING ON THIN ICE
Summarizing the presentations of the two corporations, ad guru Linda Kaplan
Thaler, CEO of Kaplan Thaler Group, noted that, "Men say it. Women feel it."
But the men would feel something soon: the divisive pull of the boardroom.
Thaler's assessment meant that Excel was heading for their first unwelcome
meeting with Mr. Trump.
As their reward for winning the task, the women of Capital Edge earned a
skate-around with the New York Islanders. Fitted out with skates, sticks and
slick custom hockey jerseys, the women slapped it around with the pros.
Though obviously inexperienced, the ladies played hard and even scored a
goal.
The fun took a nasty twist, however, when Rebecca injured her ankle and had
to be helped off the ice. The men faced the immediate danger of the
boardroom, but who knows what may happen if Rebecca's injury is serious and
Capital Edge has to play shorthanded.
DO AS THE DONALD WOULD DO
Pride go'eth before a fall, and George rightly pointed out that the men's
overconfidence was their biggest problem. Their boisterous early high-fives
gave way to slumping posture in the boardroom as the predictable bickering
began and Trump berated them: "I hate losers. Everybody hates losers and
you're all losers." Project manager Chris was quick to scapegoat Markus for
the group's inefficiency--and others piled on.
But Excel's obvious antipathy toward Markus couldn't make Trump take his eye
off the ball. "Markus didn't make you lose the task. A lack of creativity
lost the task." Trump pointed out that Mark had been in charge of the
lowercase "i" in Italian and the incoherent "Green With Envy" line on one of
the posters. He strongly hinted that Chris should bring Mark back into
boardroom for the dismissal. But Chris opted to return with only Markus.
"I look forward to the dance," Markus had said in anticipation of the
boardroom. And the dance went well--for him. Trump pointed out that as
disliked as Markus was, he was the only member of Excel to object to Mark's
lethal typos. "I asked you to make a smart business decision, and you made
an emotional one," Trump told Chris.
"You're fired Chris and you've got great potential. Get out of here." Trump
said. With the boardroom door barely closed, a disappointed Trump told
George and Carolyn: "I hated to fire him, I think he's great."
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