10 12
WEEK ELEVEN


The Paper Chase

 

Winning is supposed to breed harmony, but apparently nobody told Arrow. The discontented two-time victors continued to distract themselves by yapping about Tim's divided loyalty between the team and his exiled love Nicole. It seems Nicole had helped stir up the hornet's nest when she suggested in the boardroom that Trump give Tim a chance to cross over to Kinetic.

Heidi, returning to the helm as PM, thought it reeked of high school behavior and said bluntly, "We don't need Tim." Trump had already reached the same conclusion and left the teams unchanged. The mogul gathered his eager, ever-dwindling pool of job applicants at the Los Angeles Times printing plant for their latest assignment. Their task was to photograph, design and produce a Sunday paper insert promoting the new mouthwash, Smart Mouth.

Realizing that he'd become a target to his own team, Tim forcefully pushed his creative ideas during brainstorming. Perhaps a little too forcefully from PM James' perspective. After some give and take, Arrow gathered a diverse cross-section of "everyday people," dressed them for bed and had them cover their mouths in mock morning breath horror. Frank took the lead in directing the photo shoot, but didn't wring much out of Arrow's potpourri of pajama people. At the last moment, Frank realized their main photo was pretty static and tried to cook up an alternative, which irked the rest of his team.

In contrast, Kinetic got along famously. Making the most of their natural good looks, Heidi, Kristine and Nicole served as the models featured in their insert, which depicted various women throughout the day who could benefit from the product. Heidi also proved to have a deft hand with delegation, dispatching Nicole and Kristine to work with the designer while she made sure the photographer got every product shot they needed. Kristine, however, thought Heidi was just being cagey by giving herself a way to duck boardroom blame if they lost. "Heidi knows exactly what she's doing," said Kristine.

Unlike Kinetic's clear sailing, Arrow had a bumpy ride. When production on their insert lagged, Stefani and Frank went home to prepare for the presentation. Unfortunately, they unwittingly misplaced both of the team's phones and were unreachable when Tim, still in pajamas from the photo shoot, tried to call requesting that they bring back his suit. In the end, Stefani brought Tim's clothes so he could change before the presentation, but the tension was symptomatic of the out-of-sync squad.

Stefani's presentation to Smart Mouth execs was smooth, but Arrow's newspaper insert was a little rough. Their models looked like they were yawning instead of smelling their morning breath. And a "scientific" page included within the insert seemed disconnected from the rest of the package. On the other hand, Kinetic blew the execs away. Their slick multi-page insert, shaped like a pair of Smart Mouth bottles, was attractively illustrated and well-written. Wrapping up their presentation, Heidi delivered this powerful kicker: "Smart Mouth. Don't take another breath without it." The executives told Trump that Kinetic was the clear winner, saying, "It was wow!"

Heidi told Trump, "I'm back," as she left the room a winner and went to settle back into the mansion. Nicole later crowed, "We creamed 'em.... They not only loved ours, they hated Arrow's." For their reward, Mr. Trump said Kinetic would be "served dinner by some of the finest chefs in the world." Surprise! These culinary celebrities turned out to be Heidi's mom, Nicole's mom and Kristine's husband, who happens to be a famous world class chef.

"It was a perfect reward," said Nicole. But for Tim? Not so much. He was meeting Nicole's mom under less-than-optimal circumstances: through the hedge. When asked by Nicole for her opinion on the Tim situation, Nicole's mom kept her eyes on the prize and advised her daughter to "Just worry about the tasks." But keeping things in perspective in a different way was a choked up Heidi, who said, "It's not just a reward for me, it's a reward for my mom. And that means more to me than anything."


 

LESSONS LEARNED