Episode Recap: Week 8 (4/10)
Even though he wasn't fired, Lee was not in a celebratory mood when he returned to the suite. He was sad that Lenny wouldn't be there for him in the future. Charmaine lectured Lee for putting friendship over good business sense. The teams met up with Trump in Central Park to receive their next task. To help out Gold Rush, who was losing, Michael moved over from Synergy. This week, each team was to help launch the P'EatZZa, a new 7-11 sandwich, by creating a promotional giveaway item based on the 7-11 Andretti-Green racing car. The team with the highest increase in sales at their store would win the task. With Andrea as project manager, Synergy got started by sampling the P'EatZZa, which was two slices of pizza with sandwich meat in between. Andrea disregarded all her team members' suggestions and settled on doing a promotional hat giveaway with each P'EatZZa. Leslie took charge of Gold Rush. Lee suggested that they cater to their local audience, and the team collectively settled on a cooler as their promotional item. Leslie then sent Lee, Charmaine and Michael to scope out their 7-11 location. At the 7-11, Lee convinced the store manager to completely strip the shelves of all other sandwiches and focus on the P'EatZZa promotion. The manager suggested a price point of $6.99, but later on, Leslie insisted on $7.99 for one P'EatZZa and $8.99 for two. Sean and Allie met up with Tony Kanaan, a member of the Andretti-Green racing team, for a photo shoot. Later that night, Sean and the rest of Synergy handed out fliers to customers at their 7-11 to prime the pump for the next day's promotion. Gold Rush got to work hustling up sales for the P'EatZZa. Outside the store, Tarek tried to entice customers with a trivia quiz that rewarded correct answers with a free giveaway. When no one paid any attention, he resorted to shouting out that the sandwich was so good it would "change your whole concept of reality." Lee overheard two managers in the stockroom saying the sandwich was priced too high. When he reported this information to Leslie, she bluntly dismissed him. Both Leslie and Charmaine felt that he was "totally negative." Synergy also got to work hustling up sales, pricing their P'EatZZas at only $4. Carolyn stopped by to check on them. She felt that a hat was the wrong promotional item since it had no connection to pizza. Back at Gold Rush's store, Lee took it upon himself to try and make a big deal, selling sandwiches in bulk to a local business. After checking with Leslie, he offered the business owner a price point of three bucks a sandwich, but the guy demanded them for only two. Lee went back to him with an offer of $2.50, but he still declined the deal. In the boardroom, Michael thought he had helped Gold Rush break their losing streak, and his new team members agreed. George then announced that Gold Rush, even with their high price point, increased their store's sales by 608%. Carolyn gave the results for Synergy. At their lower price, they had increased sales by 997%, making Synergy the winner for the fourth week in a row. For their reward, Synergy flew down to Washington, D.C. on a private plane to meet with New York Senator Chuck Schumer for breakfast at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel. Sean was especially thrilled to visit the nation's capital since he had just got his green card and it made him feel like more of an American citizen. Trump started the boardroom session by asking Leslie what had gone wrong. She thought they'd done a fantastic job. She then threw Lee under the bus by saying he didn't contribute anything and wasted too much time trying to make a "shady" deal. Lee defended his deal and then jumped into the price point issue, explaining that Leslie wouldn't listen to the information he provided. Carolyn weighed in by saying any kid on the street could have told them their price was too high for a 7-11. Leslie struggled to defend her pricing scheme, but Trump cut her off by asking the team whom they should fire. The general consensus was Leslie, but Charmaine put in a good word on her behalf. Leslie brought Lee alone back to the boardroom with her. Trump asked why she'd made this decision, and she replied by saying that all her other teammates worked too hard to be brought back. Leslie attacked Lee for being a "zero" because he'd worked on a deal that fell through. Lee defended his attempt to make the deal and then went after Leslie for wasting time developing trivia questions they didn't use. Trump commended Lee for trying to make his deal, but conversation soon turned back to Leslie's poor decision regarding the sandwich's price point. Trump felt that Leslie brought Lee in for personal reasons, and that her ultimate blunder was not lowering the price. On her birthday no less, Leslie got to hear those two resonant words… you're fired!Source: http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice_5/recap/week8_p1.shtml#main
Even though he wasn't fired, Lee was not in a celebratory mood when he returned to the suite. He was sad that Lenny wouldn't be there for him in the future. Charmaine lectured Lee for putting friendship over good business sense. The teams met up with Trump in Central Park to receive their next task. To help out Gold Rush, who was losing, Michael moved over from Synergy. This week, each team was to help launch the P'EatZZa, a new 7-11 sandwich, by creating a promotional giveaway item based on the 7-11 Andretti-Green racing car. The team with the highest increase in sales at their store would win the task. With Andrea as project manager, Synergy got started by sampling the P'EatZZa, which was two slices of pizza with sandwich meat in between. Andrea disregarded all her team members' suggestions and settled on doing a promotional hat giveaway with each P'EatZZa. Leslie took charge of Gold Rush. Lee suggested that they cater to their local audience, and the team collectively settled on a cooler as their promotional item. Leslie then sent Lee, Charmaine and Michael to scope out their 7-11 location. At the 7-11, Lee convinced the store manager to completely strip the shelves of all other sandwiches and focus on the P'EatZZa promotion. The manager suggested a price point of $6.99, but later on, Leslie insisted on $7.99 for one P'EatZZa and $8.99 for two. Sean and Allie met up with Tony Kanaan, a member of the Andretti-Green racing team, for a photo shoot. Later that night, Sean and the rest of Synergy handed out fliers to customers at their 7-11 to prime the pump for the next day's promotion. Gold Rush got to work hustling up sales for the P'EatZZa. Outside the store, Tarek tried to entice customers with a trivia quiz that rewarded correct answers with a free giveaway. When no one paid any attention, he resorted to shouting out that the sandwich was so good it would "change your whole concept of reality." Lee overheard two managers in the stockroom saying the sandwich was priced too high. When he reported this information to Leslie, she bluntly dismissed him. Both Leslie and Charmaine felt that he was "totally negative." Synergy also got to work hustling up sales, pricing their P'EatZZas at only $4. Carolyn stopped by to check on them. She felt that a hat was the wrong promotional item since it had no connection to pizza. Back at Gold Rush's store, Lee took it upon himself to try and make a big deal, selling sandwiches in bulk to a local business. After checking with Leslie, he offered the business owner a price point of three bucks a sandwich, but the guy demanded them for only two. Lee went back to him with an offer of $2.50, but he still declined the deal. In the boardroom, Michael thought he had helped Gold Rush break their losing streak, and his new team members agreed. George then announced that Gold Rush, even with their high price point, increased their store's sales by 608%. Carolyn gave the results for Synergy. At their lower price, they had increased sales by 997%, making Synergy the winner for the fourth week in a row. For their reward, Synergy flew down to Washington, D.C. on a private plane to meet with New York Senator Chuck Schumer for breakfast at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel. Sean was especially thrilled to visit the nation's capital since he had just got his green card and it made him feel like more of an American citizen. Trump started the boardroom session by asking Leslie what had gone wrong. She thought they'd done a fantastic job. She then threw Lee under the bus by saying he didn't contribute anything and wasted too much time trying to make a "shady" deal. Lee defended his deal and then jumped into the price point issue, explaining that Leslie wouldn't listen to the information he provided. Carolyn weighed in by saying any kid on the street could have told them their price was too high for a 7-11. Leslie struggled to defend her pricing scheme, but Trump cut her off by asking the team whom they should fire. The general consensus was Leslie, but Charmaine put in a good word on her behalf. Leslie brought Lee alone back to the boardroom with her. Trump asked why she'd made this decision, and she replied by saying that all her other teammates worked too hard to be brought back. Leslie attacked Lee for being a "zero" because he'd worked on a deal that fell through. Lee defended his attempt to make the deal and then went after Leslie for wasting time developing trivia questions they didn't use. Trump commended Lee for trying to make his deal, but conversation soon turned back to Leslie's poor decision regarding the sandwich's price point. Trump felt that Leslie brought Lee in for personal reasons, and that her ultimate blunder was not lowering the price. On her birthday no less, Leslie got to hear those two resonant words… you're fired!