Image Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBCHi Apprentice fans, and welcome to my blog for week #4. I am excited to have you all following me on EW.com, Twitter and Facebook, and I hope that you are enjoying this season so far. This week, things were getting a little vicious in the boardroom, so I am sure that you all enjoyed last night’s show!
Breathing the Same Air
As you may recall, Tyana won last week’s challenge and was rewarded with the fantastic opportunity to meet with Russell Simmons, hip-hop legend, entrepreneur and owner of the Phat Farm mega brand. I know Russell personally and he has always offered terrific business advice – he even penned a section of my book, The Trump Card. He is truly a diverse and gifted entrepreneur, and a natural mentor – Tyana was very lucky to meet with him. In their meeting, Russell gave Tyana some good points for success – to have a plan, write it down, and execute on it by finding people who like and support your ideas. While it seems simple, it’s an effective blueprint for any successful business. Russell’s second piece of advice was unique and inspirational – he told her to remember that she breathes the same air as billionaires, and then presented her with an envelope from my father. Inside was a $10,000 Calvin Klein gift card. Wow! When Tyana left Russell, she was walking on air for some very good reasons.
17 Billion Quarts
17 Billion Quarts. I couldn’t believe this statistic, but that’s how much popcorn is sold each year—it’s obviously a big business! Popcorn, Indiana is one of the country’s top selling popcorn companies, and we invited the company’s CEO, Hitesh Hajarnavis, on board for this task assignment. As a fan of The Apprentice, he was very excited.
Marketing is a huge part of selling popcorn and accordingly, Hitesh directed the teams to create a guerilla marketing stunt to be made into a video. The video with the best potential to go viral on the Internet would win. To help judge the task, we asked Charlie Todd, one of the hot shots of the viral video world to join us as well. Charlie mentioned the “crazy,” high-impact videos that have had enormous success on the Internet, garnering many millions of hits. This task assignment would definitely be scrutinized by the best. As someone who likes to communicate with my fans through social media, I thought this task was incredibly relevant to how brands market today, and I was looking forward to seeing the results.
Wade or No Wade?
Clint was the Project Manager for Octane. Although Wade had declared in last week’s episode that he would volunteer as Project Manager, he later explained that he had decided to decline as Clint was very eager to be the PM, and he didn’t want to cause any conflict or division on the team before the task was even started. Mahsa was chosen as Fortitude’s Project Manager. Based on her attitude over the past 3 episodes, she was sure to be controversial and outspoken!
Will This Pop?
As many of you may know from using YouTube and other video platforms, the most crucial element of a viral video is to attract significant attention and very quickly—within seconds—on the Internet. The concept of ‘guerilla marketing’ is to surprise, and the teams needed to focus very strongly on being as creative as possible.
On Octane, they had fallout to deal with — David broke his tooth on a bagel and had to have emergency dental work, so they were down a member. I don’t know if that was a pro or a con for the team, as he had been very disruptive and had succeeded in sabotaging James last week. In my opinion, Clint may have been dealt a lucky card with David’s absence.
On Fortitude, personalities continued to clash. Tyana was accused of complaining a lot, which is incredibly distracting in any work environment. Mahsa declared that she was there “to be the boss.” And so, Mahsa and Tyana continued their battle – not a good start for the women’s team.
See You at the Gym
Fortitude decided to shoot scenes of people working out at the gym and managing to eat popcorn at the same time. I was dubious of this approach, as I didn’t know if it had the potential to catch ablaze on the Internet. It seemed a little mild, disconnected and overall, not an exciting concept. When Tyana voiced her opinion to say that the concept didn’t seem “guerilla” enough, there was a lot of tension, causing Tyana to distance herself, and Mahsa to get territorial as a Project Manager. Don noticed that Mahsa seemed to be very much in control—maybe too much. It seemed like she wanted her chance to lead, and didn’t want anyone else in her way. In my opinion, this was very isolating and definitely not the most effective team approach.
Popcorn Wars
On the men’s side, Octane finally functioned well as a team and consequently, their video approach was more successful. The men decided to “harass people” in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, thereby causing popcorn fights to erupt, and even stopping traffic. While hitting people with bags of popcorn ran the risk of being perceived as violent by the client, the effect was lively and made for good footage. I thought it had all the elements of a good viral video.
The Boardroom
When Hitesh and Charlie reviewed the two videos, their comments for Fortitude’s video were that it was a clever idea, but that it didn’t go far enough. I definitely agreed. Regarding Octane’s video, they felt it was spontaneous and created an event feeling, but that it was a bit violent. However, they felt Octane’s popcorn fight was definitely superior in creating a stunt that would garner attention.
Octane won the task. For his reward, Clint will be meeting with Steve Forbes, one of the business greats of all time. I’ll be anxious to hear what Steve has to tell him!
Fire #4
For the women, the boardroom was brutal this week. Fortitude was definitely divided, with Mahsa calling Tyana “evil” and “the biggest and weakest member of the team.” When Mahsa declared herself to be tough, my father pointedly said to her, “Don’t say you’re tough. People who say they’re tough are the least tough”. If you are going up against my father, you’d better show your strength rather than talk about it!
In the end, however, it all came down to who had the better video – the women’s was not a guerilla stunt, but a commercial. In looking at who should have stepped up, Tyana was critical of the gym idea from the get-go, but she failed to come up with any ideas of her own. Instead of looking for or offering a solution, she added to the problem instead. She made no viable contribution to the team or to the task, and so she was fired.
Tyana has a lot to offer, she was a great competitor, and I’m sure she’ll be successful. I hope that she will keep Russell Simmons’ advice close at hand. I wish her the best.
Enjoy your weekend, and I look forward to seeing you in the Boardroom next week!
For More of Your Apprentice Fix
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If you want advice from visionaries such as Russell Simmons, find out more about my book, The Trump Card at http://www.thetrumpcardbook.com.
Annie Barrett’s EW.com recap of last night’s Apprentice: ‘The Corn Bawler’
I love Ivanka-she’s bright and funny and her comments in the boardroom are the best! She’s really good at reading people-very perceptive!
i agree Sammy. Ivanka has a very keen intuitive sense.
Trump should have fired the disruptive & dictatorial Mahsa. Had Tyanna agreed with Mahsa all along, Tyanna would not have been in the board room. Donald loves drama and Mahsa is drama. A little drama goes a long way. A lot of drama is just another Omarosa clone, and a viewer turn-off.
I agree. The PM, Mahsa should have been fired. I thought it was obvious, she dug her own grave. Her communication skills are very lacking; She spews negative energy. I believe it will all come back around. She is not the strongest link on that team. I predict next task that the women lose, she will be out.
There is a clear reason why Mahsa is unemployed and it is not the economy. She is an idiot lacking social skills. David is another example of using the economy as a scapegoat for his lack social interaction and arrogance. It is easy to tell why Mahsa and David do not have jobs. No one would want to work with them. Mahsa is an attorney. If she was a good attorney she would know how to do research (like researching a product or researching what exactly a guerilla campaign is.) If she were a good attorney then she would come up with a more effective vocabulary other than “evil” to describe a business colleague. It is not like Tiana murdered Mahsa’s family yet “evil” is the only way to describe Tiana. Please Mahsa!!! Wherever you got your law degree, ask for your money back. You got ripped off.
masha has a Job. She is an assistant Da I believe. David is clearly mentally unstable and thats the reason he is still on the show, drama…
Frank-You must have missed the headline news. When Mahsa went back to work after the filming was finished and the first episodes aired her bosses and jurys learned of her participation. It was a distraction in the courtroom. She was reassigned to a non-courtroom position. She didn’t like that and quit. Yes – she is now unemployed. Demoting a employee is seen by some as an invitation to quit tho they may deny it.
I’ve heard Donald Trump say he’s tough before. Does that mean he is one of the least tough, or is it just another example of him saying whatever comes into his head to put someone down in the moment?
Ivanka, I’m a big fan….of your Boobs!
Condolences to your wife (if any women would be stupid enough to marry a moron like you)
p.s. : see Malcolm Bothma comments below. Now there is a real man’s comments. Take a lesson.
I love Ivanka!!!
howdy ivanka…im from south africa…been watching the apprentice over here and loving it…i think youre awsome as well, the way you carry yourself accross ,can be an example to many women…keep it up..in our country we have sooo many under priveledged people, but its so nice to see somebody like yourself set a standard for us…thanks….. cant wait till the new episode gets here…once again thanks…
When I saw Tyana crying in the corner when everyone was working on the task, I thought then she had to go. I do think she secretly wanted the task to fail and by staying out of it she could then throw the Project Leader under the bus in the Boardroom. Playing the game is fine, but you have to also show you are a team player. I think Trump made the right choice.
IMO Mahsa was the one who should have been fired. The idea for the video was stupid, and everybody else (including Liza) just agreed with her because everyone is afraid of her. They failed because of her stupid decision and project management. Tyana was just made the scapegoat. I hope she becomes successfull in Real Estate Business.
Lizza only turned on Tyana because she saw that everyone else was against Tyana, and she knew if Mahsha was not fired, she would make Lizza’s life miserable. I have seen many cases where somebody who has been the victim of bullying (Lizza) will turn around and join the bullies in going after somebody else — anything to avoid being the victim again.
Ivanka: Here is an idea to reinvigorate The Apprentice (though I love it and you anyway). How about if for an episode you and Don Jr. are project managers with the contestants as your team. That would be something to see and to see you and your bro face down Dad in the boardroom.
I would win that show easily… Hands Down!
Big mistake! Mahsa should have been shown the door. And if she still has a job, what is she doing on this series that is supposedly showcasing unemployed contestants?
Mahsa should’ve been given the kick in the behind. She thinks she’s a leader, but she’s just a big mouth who gets her way by being a mean girl. Usually I would have given the boot to Tyana, who, by the way, looked pretty good in that black coat walking out of the building–clothes can do wonders, but Mahsa didn’t do what was asked. That is it. That is it in a nutshell. Her video looked staged, not organic and on the spot. They lost because of her approach, not because of Tyana’s negativity. I don’t get Trump’s thinking on this one.
Personally, I felt Tyana was railroaded last night. You have a few women that stick together like they are in the mean girl clique in high school and would have sold out whomever isn’t part of the group. I couldn’t believe Lisa rolled overnin her also, but the last scene of she and Mahsa walking back to the apartment hand-in-hand as I they had pulled off the world’s best coup said alot. I felt Don Jr. saw through the ladies this time very well, but didn’t fight enough to call them out. Tyana didn’t stand a chance, even though she was in the right.
I must have been missing something here, because Tyana was fired for not coming up with an idea and only pointing out the flaws of the original idea. No one else on the team came up with any good ideas, yet resorted to group-think and proceeded with a flawed concept (despite The Donald backing down on this later). So Tyana gets fired for being ganged up on by the same group that ganged up on presenting the first (flawed) idea to come to mind.
Tyana was not a team player. No matter how misguided the task it is the responsigility of the team to support the leader. If the task fails it does so on it’s own merrit and not that of the team. If Tyana had thrown herself into the task and they still failed to win then Mahsa would have had to go. It’s all a matter of strategy.
Tell that to David that is not a TEAM PLAYER but still didn’t get fired last week