Thursday 23 April 2009

The Apprentice - series 5, ep 5: Kimberly fired for pants idea

Ignite team leader Kimberly paid the ultimate price for team-mate Philip's bizarre 'Pantsman' idea in an advertising task for breakfast cereal.

The task - to create a new brand identity for a healthy breakfast cereal - should have been ideal for marketing consultant Kimberly.

But from early on, Philip forced his pants concept on the rest of the team, which had remained unchanged from the last task.

Despite Lorraine's protestations, Ignite backed what was an obvious loser and the further the idea evolved, the sillier it got.

Philip continued to spearhead the effort. He branded the cereal as 'Wake Up Call' and invented a character, Pantsman.

Pantsman would point out that only superheroes are allowed to wear their pants outside their other clothing, and that eating Wake Up Call could prevent people making that mistake.

Lorraine remained unsure but this caused Philip to throw one of his now notorious tantrums and he accused her of being overly negative.

It took Howard to calm the situation but the arguments further undermined Ignite's efforts.

The lost time forced them to rely on the designer to produce their cereal box based on Kimberly's incredibly vague suggestions over the telephone.

Unsurprisingly, the finished product was a let-down with only the front panel of the box showing any design.

Empire, led by Kate, displayed the most impressive team performance of the series so far.

Unlike Ignite's mess, Empire's idea was clear and their whole approach seemed logical.

James came up with the concept of 'Captain Squak', a parrot dressed as a pirate, who would be used to market their cereal, branded as 'Treasure Flakes'.

Even the jingle for their advert was a relevant sea-shanty - in sharp contrast to Philip's horridly out-of-tune wailing for Ignite.

Indeed the only thing Empire were particularly criticised for was the execution of their advert as they threatened to over-complicate matters.

But, while Ignite's execution was seen to be better, the advert did not appeal to their child actors and it showed up the project's flaws clearly.

Sir Alan's aide Nick Hewer said: "Ignite has come up with a very strange, very bizarre theme involving Pantsman.

"Incidentally, the children don't think it is at all funny. But those involved in the production think it's hilarious"

In the boardroom, Sir Alan and his other aide Margaret Mountford praised Empire for their team-work.

Margaret said: "I think they worked very well as a team. It really was a good performance."

Their reward was a yoga and laughter therapy session, which was almost as odd as Ignite's idea.

But, even before the result had been confirmed, sparks were flying in the Ignite team.

Lorraine accused Kimberly of giving her "continuous mixed messages" while Sir Alan forced Philip to defend his invention of Pantsman, which he said looked more in place "in the middle of a Harry Enfield show".

And it was clear that the whole project had flabbergasted Sir Alan.

He said: "This is totally garbage. Absolutely garbage.

"How you can honestly believe that you could have an advertising campaign based around pants is beyond my comprehension!"

Kimberly brought back task troublemakers Philip and Lorraine back to the boardroom, allowing Howard, Mona and Noorul (again!) to escape.

Philip showed his disgust at being brought back while quieter members remained under the radar, even to the point of suggesting Kimberly should go for that decision.

In his summary, Sir Alan showed he had little time for Philip's cocksure attitude and compared his forceful nature to a bulldozer.

He also criticised Lorraine for her argumentative attitude but it became obvious that he had reserved his firing for Kimberly.

He said: "You remind me of the final scene from the Wizard Of Oz.

"You look very impressive but, in my opinion, behind the curtain there is nothing there. You're fired."

Unsurprisingly, Kimberly - who styled herself as a "rough, tough creme puff from New York" before the series - disagreed.

She said: "I think that Sir Alan definitely fired the wrong person today and he will see, he will see.

"If Sir Alan does not want me to be his apprentice, I am upset about it but there's nothing I can do about it.

"I'll find something else to do and I'll make the best of that."

With ten candidates left, there is still plenty of work for Sir Alan to do if he wants to find his "diamond in the rough".

And though some satisfaction could finally be had after a respectable performance from one of the teams, it was equally frustrating that some of the lurkers have stayed off the radar again.

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