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WEEK TEN


Theme Park Throwdown

 

Arrow was chilling poolside after their win on the soap opera webisode task as Nicole gushed about how she, Tim and Frank would soon be in the final four. Not so fast! Just as everyone was getting settled for the night, Trump placed a troubling phone call to Arrow. With the former stars of Kinetic falling on hard times, Mr. Trump decided Arrow should send someone over to the opposite camp. As no volunteers were forthcoming, PM James decided Nicole was expendable and cut her loose.

Tim was shocked by James' executive decision to dump his romantic partner, but not shocked enough to actually object and make the case for Nicole staying with the team. Nicole was angry and vowed to make James pay, saying "I would lose an arm to win the next task."

With dismemberment on the table, Mr. Trump and Ivanka gathered the teams at the historic Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The location was appropriate because the assignment Ivanka doled out was pure Tinseltown: Selling passes to Universal Studio's theme park. Utilizing a new wearable, interactive Ad Walker ticket system, whichever team sold the highest ticket total would win.

Nicole's determination and energy immediately impressed the women of Kinetic, who liked her idea of a sexy sales force on roller skates placing orders with their mobile ticketing computers. Heidi, Kristine and PM Angela all fell sway to Nicole's forceful pitch: "Sex sells. Mr. Trump should fire us if we didn't use our assets."

While Kinetic planned to roll up the competition on skates, Arrow chose to build a kiosk and stake out a central position with their Ad Walkers. Before the event, Tim told Arrow, "I'm all about fighting dirty," asserting that despite his affection for Nicole, he wanted to beat her bad. "It could get ugly," James said of the head-to-head competition and he was right.

During the event, Arrow fought tooth-and-nail for sales, "stealing" customers who were already signing up with the roller girls while undercutting their prices and offering free bottled water to the thirsty throngs. Kristine complained that Arrow seemed "like the slimy people you want to stay away from at the used car lot." But what remained to be seen was whether sex or slime would sell better.

At the boardroom results meeting, Nicole's crossover was the talk of the table. "I was shocked that they jettisoned Nicole," Trump said, and most agreed. But James stuck to his guns, maintaining that Nicole was the weakest link on Arrow. And the Universal Theme Park admission totals backed James' claim. Though Kinetic sold a hefty $24,000 in tickets, Arrow booked $31,000.

Arrow's reward was a helicopter tour of LA landmarks, which let them see the sights like their would-be boss. To say they were sky high would be no overstatement. Kinetic, meanwhile, was feeling much lower.

Before the boardroom, however, both teams were unsettled. Tim spent a lot of time apologizing through the hedge to Nicole and then tipped her off about James intention of pinning the loss on her roller skating idea. Kinetic's Angela also planned to target Nicole, but the PM was clearly nervous about the impending showdown.


 

LESSONS LEARNED