As the celebrities wait to see who survives the Boardroom, Lisa contemplates the fact that she will still have to work with Dayana on the next task. She swears she is just going to be nice. When Teresa and Aubrey return, Aubrey tells everyone that Paul is fine and that he took it well because he’s a class act. Everyone agrees. Arsenio is upset though since he is now the sole remaining man on the team. He’s worried also because while he considers Aubrey talented, he’s not so sure about Teresa. Aubrey for her part feels like she doesn’t have anyone’s back.
Lisa visits the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York to deliver her winnings. She has lunch with everyone while they talk about the importance of the clinic. In the middle of the lunch, she surprises them with the check. Everyone applauds and thanks her. Dr. Marjorie Hill, the director of the clinic, talks about how much good it will do for the clinic.
The celebrities gather in Trump’s “humble” apartment in Trump Tower. Trump explains that he’s starting a new fragrance called “Success by Trump” to be sold through Macy’s. He introduces Martine Reardon, EVP of marketing and advertising for Macy’s, and Cathy Glosser, Trump’s director of global licensing. They describe the task: designing an in-store display and slogan for the fragrance. The celebrities will be judged on the creativity of their slogan, their brand messaging and the in-store display presentation. Trump’s advisors this week are Eric Trump and George Ross. Clay will be Forte’s project manager and Aubrey is project manager for Unanimous. Having lost to Clay before, she doesn’t want to a second time. The prize is $20,000, but if Trump really loves the winning slogan and display, he’ll make that amount $100,000.
Forte starts planning. Almost immediately, Penn starts describing his idea for the display: a model (he uses Dayana) next to one of Trump’s ties. Clay, interviewed, wonders why, since Penn is planning on taking over with the idea, he didn’t just choose to be project manager. Dayana volunteers to be the model, which the team okays, but when she suggests the model be scantily clad – for Trump’s sake – Clay thinks that this is more “sexual” than is appropriate. The team meets with Martine and Cathy and tries to get an idea of the best direction for a display. Martine says that a display should strongly convey a brand, and that while generally women buy fragrance, there is a certain “Macy’s man” who is comfortable buying his own clothes and his own fragrance.
Over with Unanimous, Arsenio and Aubrey argue the meaning of success. Arsenio think it’s related to money, while for Aubrey it’s making other people happy. Arsenio really disagrees, thinking that in our commercial society, it’s really about material wealth. Aubrey thinks Trump isn’t as “simple” as “bling bling.” Arsenio is realizing that Aubrey’s taking over and is worried that he won’t be able to work with her. Martine and Cathy visit and let the team know their demo: a male 18-40 who is looking for a piece of the Trump lifestyle. Aubrey’s description of what she’s thinking gets complicated – too complicated for Arsenio’s taste – and Cathy says that it’s important to stick close to the Trump brand. Arsenio says, “Especially if you want to win the $100,000,” and everyone agrees that was a nice surprise.
Forte tries to hammer out a slogan. They joke around for a while, until Penn says, “You earned it.” Clay isn’t so sure, but realizes that when the entire team likes an idea, it’s hard to not manage by consensus. Penn’s manner of “drilling down” an idea once again annoys him; he’s not sure if it’s even worth brainstorming anymore if they’re going to come back to the same display Penn is visualizing. They go to the studio where the display will actually be built. Penn says that now that he’s planned essentially the whole thing and the slogan, it’s up to Clay to execute the actual display. Clay admits that he thinks better musically than visually and isn’t sure how to continue when he finds out one part of the display will take longer to build than they have time for.
Teresa suggests a couple of slogans, but feels dismissed by Aubrey. When Aubrey suggests, “Trust your instinct,” at that moment Arsenio finds a quote online of Trump saying “Do you trust your instinct?” they take this as a sign and run with it. Then they work on the display. They think about using the fragrance boxes as a city skyline, and Aubrey suggests getting Eric Trump to be the male model for it, as a “young Donald.” Aubrey’s concerned that if they lose the task, the target will be totally on her back since she’s doing all the creative.
Team Unanimous hits the streets of Manhattan to research skylines, to make the display look authentic. Arsenio carries Aubrey on his shoulders while she takes some photographs, aware that if he drops her they will swear he “did it on purpose.” Then they hit the fabricator’s, to make the actual display. The fabricator tells them the kind of materials they need, and Aubrey assigns Teresa with getting the material. To Arsenio’s annoyance, she also sends him with Teresa, since she thinks neither of them have contributed creatively and it will give her time to think, and if they both go there will be less room for error.
Team Forte does the photo shoot with the male model and Dayana. Dayana is happy with Lisa on this task and is just hoping that Lisa is not trying to “bust her peanuts.” Clay thinks that unlike other tasks, Dayana is taking a visible, active part, so if they win, it’s good for her. If they lose, she’s front and center on the product that lost. When they start working on the actual display, Dayana suggests having a takeaway card, but Clay nixes it, thinking they don’t have the time. Dayana thinks this is a mistake.
Aubrey keeps fielding calls from Teresa and Arsenio, wondering how they are having such a problem when she gave them “the simplest thing on the list to do.” Eric pays a visit, to have the picture taken. He’s amused as this is his first modeling gig. He wonders if she’s doing this for brownie points, and as a result says he will probably scrutinize the product that much more closely if Unanimous loses the task. With Eric, Aubrey takes complete credit creatively and says that Arsenio especially offers no ideas. Eric says that if they win, this lets Aubrey take all the credit, and if they lose, she can blame it on the others’ lack of involvement.
Aubrey starts working with the graphic designer, making smell tabs for the fragrance. Arsenio suggests they be in the shape of a “T” for Trump, but Aubrey just makes a face. Teresa says that since Aubrey is nixing all their ideas, if they lose, it’s all on Aubrey. Teresa gets to work painting – dressed to the nines in a skirt and heels. Arsenio’s impressed by her ability to run in pumps. Lisa can hear Aubrey’s team on the other side of the partition and decides to sneak a look at what they’re doing. She runs back letting them know they’re basically doing the same thing. Clay gets a little nervous about this idea. Dayana doesn’t care; she’s just more worried about getting what they’re doing done.
Aubrey looks at the final product at Macy’s and is very happy with it, considering herself “a mini-Trump.” Arsenio laughs to himself as Aubrey tweaks everything with the builder of the display. George Ross visits them, and Aubrey is not too pleased – but says nothing – when George thinks one of the buildings is a Rolls-Royce grille and only comments that Eric’s silhouette doesn’t look like Donald. George can tell that Aubrey thinks the presentation is great, but he’s less than wowed and the silhouette for him is a bit of a dealbreaker. Arsenio considered George to be “business’ grim reaper.” But he considers Aubrey so narcissistic that she doesn’t realize they’re in trouble.
Unanimous gives their presentation to Martine and Cathy. Aubrey introduces the display and explains the meaning of the silhouette as a man looking up at the success that he’s created. She asks what Arsenio as a man considers success, but when she adds an awkward, “You were a man, at least the last time I checked,” Arsenio cringes. Interviewed, he says that jokes like this are dangerous around executives. Arsenio does his part of the presentation, and then Teresa chimes in with how affordable the fragrance is and the fact that she loves the smell strips that are provided with the display.
Forte is also very happy with their display. Clay realizes that it’s dangerous to get cocky, but he feels like they can’t lose. But Dayana is seeing gaps in the finished product and knows that if she’s seeing it, the client will as well. When it comes time for the presentation though, Clay breezes through his description of the display, and then asks Cathy and Martine if they have any questions. But when it becomes clear that they are expecting more of an actual presentation, Clay finds himself speechless. Lisa makes an “oh my God” face. Clay improves a line or two more, asks if anyone else has anything to add, and that’s it. Lisa, interviews saying that despite the stiff presentation, she still thinks they won, but is now worried.
Cathy and Martine share their thoughts. They really like Unanimous’s slogan “Always Trust Your Instincts,” and they liked the takeaway cards and the smell strips. But they thought it lacked in terms of creativity, and they didn’t get the connection with Eric’s silhouette. With Forte, they thought that the picture of Dayana was exquisite and represented the brand well. But Martine finds the slogan “You Earned It” pompous and thought there was a disconnect with where it was located on the in-store display. Martine thinks that if you could take elements from each campaign, it could be great. They realize that their decision is going to be tough.
In the Boardroom, Clay tells Trump that he’s very happy with everyone on their team, and that everyone did “incredibly.” Lisa considers Clay one of her favorite PMs, along with Aubrey. Trump says that both teams did very well, and that each team had elements of their displays that were better than the same element on the other team’s displays. It’s not going to be an easy decision. Aubrey says her team did a great job, but when Trump asks if she did all the work, there’s a marked pause before she says that her whole team worked. Arsenio says that he was impressed with Teresa, watching her run in pumps. Trump says that he considers Teresa underrated and that he knows she can be tough.
The teams look at each other’s displays and the accessories. Trump asks Lisa what she thinks, and she says she’s envious of the takeaway card and the smell strips. She also likes the display. For his part, Arsenio thinks Clay did a great job, and that Dayana is beautiful. Aubrey also points out that they had a “sexy” model as well, as Eric had posed for the silhouette. Trump asks Aubrey “possibly the most important question of the night: Do you think Eric Trump has a better hairline than I do?” Everyone laughs. Aubrey says they in fact altered Eric’s in the front, because “we prefer yours.” George says he’s not entering into this discussion at all.
Eric presses Aubrey about the fact that when he talked to her during the task, she seemed to feel as if she was the only creative input on the task. She explains that early on, she felt like she had done the brainstorming. Arsenio isn’t sure what he thinks of that, but Aubrey thinks the whole team will agree the project was her baby. Teresa says that it’s hard to change Aubrey’s mind, and George says that makes for a good project leader. When Trump says to Arsenio that he doesn’t like being criticized, Arsenio says he doesn’t like being “minimized.” Trump likes this phrasing and considers Arsenio a very smart guy. Arsenio explains that he found Trump’s quote, but Aubrey “clarifies” by saying that she came up with it first, and then Arsenio at that moment found it online.
Eric says that the execs found Forte’s photo of Dayana really well done, and integrated the Trump brand. They thought the display was well made. But they hated the slogan, considering it too pompous. And while they liked the photo, they found it too large and overpowering. Lastly, they found the slogan was too separated from the display and too small. Clay thinks the part about the picture being too big – if it was the best part of the display – doesn’t compute, and that it felt like a given to use an image of Dayana. Trump asks Clay if he ever considered using Lisa, and Lisa laughs. Clay says yes, and Lisa says, well, she has an audience of one.
Trump asks Clay if it bothers him that Aubrey thinks doing a fragrance ad with a beautiful woman is boring, but Clay says that he doesn’t find any picture of Dayana boring, and he’s “gay, so that’s saying something.” Trump asks Dayana if she considers a beautiful woman a sign of success for a man, and she says that around the world, you do find successful men with a “good, loving, smart, beautiful” woman; and Trump says, “Frankly, loving is most important.” Trump asks who came up with the slogan, and Penn says it was him. Trump says this might be a problem for Penn. Eric asks if Penn can see why “You Earned It” could come across as pompous, and Penn admits he can, though he doesn’t feel it that way.
George says that the execs loved Unanimous’ slogan and that it made sense that if you “trust your instincts” you’ll use the cologne. They loved the smell strips and the takeaway as well. On the negatives, they didn’t like the display; they thought it didn’t grab you and that it didn’t catch what the fragrance was about. They thought the silhouette was unappealing, and George agreed. They also couldn’t see how the silhouette connected with the rest of the display. So, George concludes, it was a tough decision, with plusses and minuses on each side. Trump asks Teresa who came up with the silhouette, and she says Aubrey. Aubrey says she also came up with the slogan and the materials they liked.
As Teresa tries to explain why they used Eric for the silhouette, Trump slaps the desk, cutting her off, and says that they have a dilemma. Trump wanted a clear winner so that he could give the big $100,000 prize to the winner. But the fact is that each team was better in certain respects than the other. But since it’s charity, he’s going to change up the rules a little. Since he didn’t love either display, he’s going to give $40,000 instead of $20,000 to the winning PM’s charity, and then he’s going to give $10,000 to every player’s charity. Everyone applauds. Then he announces that Unanimous won. Aubrey screams with excitement, and then Unanimous leaves for the suite.
Unanimous celebrates, but Teresa still wishes she could have gotten the big prize, and maybe if she would have had the brains on the other team, maybe it would have been better. They settle in to watch Forte in the Boardroom. Clay tells Trump that he’s surprised they lost. Trump explains that the execs hated Penn’s slogan, but that Clay approved it. Clay agrees. Clay says that he chose to lead by consensus. Trump asks if this is really a good idea, asking them if they think Patton would ask his soldiers “what should I do?” Clay says that he listens to advice, but then makes strong decisions. He also adds that Penn is very good at pitching ideas.
Trump gets frustrated when no one on the team, besides Penn, will take ownership of the ideas that didn’t work, and Arsenio, watching, isn’t sure who’s going home. Then Trump asks Dayana if anyone had wanted a takeaway, and Dayana says that she had suggested they make one. Clay says he didn’t necessarily understand that and Lisa says it was late in the day; but Trump says it’s important that the client wanted one, that Dayana suggested it, but that they didn’t have one. Trump asks Clay who’s making it out of the room. Clay says that Penn, because of the slogan, and Dayana, because she is “aloof” – a word that Dayana asks to have defined – and not always “present.” Lisa has escaped. Out in the suite, Aubrey chides Lisa for saying Dayana did a good job, worrying that Penn will get fired instead of Dayana.
Clay explains his rationale for bringing back Penn and Dayana. Trump says he understands why Penn was brought back since he did come up with the slogan that the execs didn’t like. He asks Clay directly whom he would fire. Clay says that based on the task, it would be Penn. Clay says that Penn can wear people down with his pitching style, but Trump sympathizes, considering this a part of being a competitive person. Penn says he did come up with the slogan, but that he also came up with a lot of the ideas that the execs liked as well. Trump, still divided, asks Dayana whom she would fire. She votes for the project manager, saying that while Penn came up with the slogan, he also came up with what the execs liked about the display, and in any case, Clay had approved everything.
Clay says that Dayana actually came up with the tie idea, but that it was a tie between a woman’s naked breasts, and that this was an example of Dayana’s ideas. Trump says he would love to fire Dayana since she’d been in the Boardroom six times. But he doesn’t think she belongs there. For Trump, the decision is between Clay and Penn. Trump stresses again how much the execs hated – hated! – the slogan Penn came up with. Penn acknowledges this but once again stresses that Clay as PM approved it. Trump wants to fire Dayana, but he can’t, and he wants to fire Clay as PM, but he won’t. Penn created the losing slogan, so “Penn, you’re fired.” Penn is copacetic about the loss, thanks Trump, then flashes the peace sign as he takes his leave.
Loading ...