EPISODE TWELVE

When Sandy and Andy returned to the suite, Andy stunned the remaining candidates by announcing that Trump had fired not one, but two people. Andy said he was still "shell-shocked." Sandy said at that moment everyone realized it was a whole new game. At dinner, the group toasted themselves: the final six.

On Apex, Ivana stepped up and asked to be Project Manager for the next task. But she was not going to get the position just by asking. Jennifer M. also said she wanted to lead. Ivana said she felt she had earned the right to be Project Manager based on her performance in the previous task. In an interview, Ivana said, "It definitely hurt that much more when Jen threw up a roadblock because I just came off a task where she's been taking credit for all the work that I've been doing." Then, Kelly jumped in and said he wanted to lead, too. After a random drawing, Kelly became Project Manager. Later, Kevin, Ivana and Kelly whispered among themselves and expressed a mutual interest in being free of Jennifer M., who overheard the hushed tones and knew that the team was plotting without her.

The next day, the two teams met with Trump. But before he got down to the business of the next task, The Donald told Apex to send over one of their candidates to Mosaic to even up the sides. Without hesitation, Kelly announced that they were sending Jennifer M. Kelly told Trump, "I do not think Jen is the strongest." In an interview, Ivana said she felt lighter with Jennifer M. gone. In her own interview, Jennifer M. said that she was thrilled to have switched teams and would like nothing better than to score a big victory over her former team members. Next, Trump introduced David Burwick, Chief Marketing Officer of Pepsi. Trump said that for their next task, the teams would work at Pepsi's headquarters and design a brand-new bottle and marketing campaign for a new drink called Pepsi Edge. Trump said the team that created the best design and campaign, as determined by David, would be the winner. George and Carolyn would be along to observe. And Trump ended with his usual promise - to meet the losers in the boardroom, where another person would be fired.

As Project Manager, Andy led Mosaic during a brainstorming session at Pepsi's headquarters. Sandy said that since Pepsi Edge is somewhere between diet and regular Pepsi, it's the best of both worlds. Sandy and Andy batted around ideas based on the slogan. While discussing a promotional game, Sandy suggested that under each Pepsi Edge bottle cap there could be the name of a country - and if a customer collected the names of all of the countries in a continent, he or she would win a trip to that part of the world. Andy liked the idea. In an interview, Sandy admitted that she thought that Andy might have had too much energy - and she said that every time she turned around Andy was helping himself to the free Pepsi from a dispenser in the conference room. Next, Mosaic met with Pepsi designers to draw sketches of their ideas for the new bottle. Sandy suggested an idea to go along with their contest of traveling around the world. She said that the bottle could be a globe - a complete sphere. Andy worried that a customer wouldn't be able to hold a truly spherical bottle with one hand. Jennifer M. suggested making a bottle with two bulbous ends and a more narrow middle, where it could be gripped. Sandy tried several times to push for her globe idea, but Andy went with Jennifer M.'s design. In an interview, Sandy said it was frustrating not to be heard.

At the Apex brainstorming session, the team came up with the idea of making a bottle in the shape of the letters in the word "Edge." Kelly said that they could put a hole in the letter D for both a cool look and promotional purposes. When the team came up with ideas of what to put in the hole, Ivana didn't censor herself; she came up with all sorts of silly suggestions. In an interview, Kelly said he thought that Ivana was "meandering." Having settled on their bottle, Apex met with their Pepsi designers, who liked Apex's idea. But when Kelly asked about putting the hole in the bottle, the designers said it was really going to be a problem. Kelly insisted, calling the hole a "wow factor." The designers said they would give it their best shot. In an interview, Ivana worried that Kelly was "ruling with an iron fist" and wondered if it would come back to bite him.

While Apex finished their design work at Pepsi and went home, Mosaic worked into the night with their design team. To provide a little extra incentive, Andy gave all of the designers a one hundred dollar cash bonus. But in an interview, Sandy said she thought that Andy annoyed a few people with the cash tip. She said that you don't do business like that in the corporate world. Later, Andy told the hungry group that they couldn't eat the hot pizza that had been delivered until they met their deadline. Andy took the pizzas from their room and put them in the hallway so that they wouldn't be a distraction. In an interview, Sandy said that Andy was "like a slave driver."

The next day, Apex showed up to Pepsi's headquarters and got a look at their bottle. The Pepsi design team had managed to make the hole in the D work. Apex was thrilled and Ivana said the bottle actually brought a tear to her eye. The next stop for Apex was a small conference room to present their ideas to a few executives, or so they thought. Kelly, Ivana and Kevin walked into a large, theater-like space packed with the entire Pepsi marketing team - over one hundred people. This was no small presentation. In an interview, Ivana said it felt like her heart was beating out of her chest. Each Apex member presented his or her part of the well-rehearsed pitch. They showed off the bottle shaped like the word "Edge" and emphasized the hole in the letter D. They talked about both the cool factor of the hole and it's practical use for holding a variety of marketing materials. Apex left and Mosaic entered. Andy talked about the worlds of diet and regular cola coming together in Pepsi Edge and showed off their bottle with its two bulbous ends; the top was shaded in with the map of the northern hemisphere and the bottom was shaded in with a map of the southern hemisphere. The cap even had a compass in it. Sandy had a tough time finding her words at one point, but she was a professional and never stopped her part of the presentation. After Mosaic left the room, David opened up the floor for comments. The marketing folks had some tough criticism for Mosaic. They called the Mosaic bottle "ugly" and describe it as two "blobs." Another marketing team member commented that he didn't remember the last time that geography was cool. On the other hand, the group had praise for Apex's design. They called it "cool" and closer to the brand image of Pepsi. David brought both teams back in and got Trump on speakerphone. David said that the Apex design was innovative, contemporary and exciting. He said that while the Mosaic pitch was consistent in its message, the team's bottle design of globes wasn't very exciting. He also said the maps on the bottle made it impossible to tell what was inside. So, David declared Apex the winner.

For their reward, Apex got the chance to race Lamborghini Gallardos. Each team member jumped behind the wheel and tested the power of the racing machines. Kevin called a Lamborghini his dream car. And Ivana said racing them was great and compared the experience to sex. Back at the suite, Ivana raced over to Andy in the morning to tell him that his best move would be to go after Jennifer M. in the boardroom. After Andy got up, he whispered to Jennifer M. that Ivana had told him to go after her. Instead, Andy told Jennifer M. that he would back her in the boardroom. Later, the drama continued as Sandy told Jennifer M. that she felt that Andy was uncontrollable at times and that they had to calm him down during the task.

The next day in the boardroom, Andy, Jennifer M. and Sandy arrived. Trump asked Andy if he liked the bottle his team came up with and Andy said yes. But George had problems with it. He said that the bottle reeked of geography and not Pepsi. He said that the package didn't promote the product, as it should have. He also said that the bottle wouldn't even fit in a cup holder. When Trump asked him, Andy said that Jennifer M. was more creative, smarter and easier to manage than Sandy. But Sandy strongly disagreed. In addition, Sandy shot back that Andy was immature as a leader. She said that he kept pizza away from the hungry Pepsi designers and that he had offered everyone cash incentives. Even Jennifer M. admitted that Andy was a bit frantic at times. Trump skipped the formality of have Andy choose team members to bring back in the boardroom and told all three to leave and return when he called them. With just his advisors in the room, Trump asked for opinions. George said he liked the way Sandy defended herself. Carolyn said she wanted to figure out why Jennifer M. always seemed to have her Project Manager defending her. Trump called Mosaic back into the boardroom and asked Jennifer M. how she kept sliding by. Jennifer M. said she always did a good job and her Project Managers recognized that. Then, Sandy and Jennifer M. went at it, arguing hard while Andy was literally stuck in the middle, barely able to get a word in. When Sandy discovered that Andy had gone to Jennifer M. that morning and told her he planned to back her in the boardroom, she laid into Andy. Trump finally took control, saving Andy from any further punishment. Trump said that Andy was being pounded on and out debated by Sandy. Trump said he couldn't have someone running one of his companies who would get beaten up so badly. Trump looked Andy in the eye and said, "You're fired."
 

Team Apex Team Mosaic