The Marionette Madness March
Posted by Mitch on 19th October 2017
The TV show The Apprentice is interesting for two reasons.
The first is, if you turn the sound down, and drink enough tequila, it’s like watching a bunch of wind-up dolls all randomly bumping into each other for an hour.
The second is that it’s the only reality TV show where the real winner gets fired in the first week. They probably don’t realise it at the time though.
Previous winners will probably say they now have successful businesses as a result of being on that show.
But I’d argue that they’d have built successful businesses anyway – because that’s the type of people they are. People capable of working for themselves aren’t created just because they’ve sat in a room with a barrow boy made good for a couple of hours.
If anything, winning The Apprentice probably hindered them getting their own business off the ground – especially from a credibility perspective. That’s assuming intelligent, critical-thinking people make up a big part of their target clients.
I’ve seen previous winners start a new business and then throw all their marketing into the “I Won The Apprentice!” channel. I’ve even been called and pitched a service almost exclusively on the fact that the MD was a previous winner.
Surely they had a business plan that was a bit more comprehensive than;
1. Enter The Apprentice.
2. Win The Apprentice.
I understand why some people watch this programme – but why do some people agree to go on it?
Are they thinking about their futures? Are they not having nightmares about Katie Hopkins?
Maybe someone needs to set-up a phone hotline for people who have attended an audition for the show? You know, to talk them out of it. A kind of Samaritans for young white-collar semi-professionals who are toying with the idea of becoming a figure of public ridicule. It’s niche, I admit.
Maybe that idea could be broadened out to include all reality TV shows? Except for The Great British Bake Off. They’re all really nice and seem to have their shit together.
Would you ever do business with someone just because they’ve been on the telly?
Yeah, me neither.