Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Apprentice - Why Morgan PR has soured to Sir Alan Sugar's circus.


Did you see the first episode of the new series of The Apprentice? It has attracted record audiences by all accounts in today's media - yet we chose not to watch it. Why? Excepting the obvious and scatalogical condemnation, just why we have abandoned Sir Alan in his hour of needing viewers deserves exploration.

I'll admit I did see the clip that the BBC released earlier in the week to oil the PR cogs and honestly? It was terrible - my dog was flinching at the high pitch squealing ridicule as the apprentice candidates lambasted a garage salesman that he must be wrong quoting his current supplier's charges of £60 to wash three Hummers - when they wanted £300. I know not the outcome, and nor do I need to. It confirmed the worst suspicions!

This programme is so cynically edited to elicit the greatest sense of drama that it leaves little for the viewer to garner any business information from. Okay - it is entertainment and that must be what most viewers want. But don't try and pass it off as anything other than a gameshow.

We also abandoned Dragon's Den just a few episodes into the last series for much the same reasons - and our objection to the blatant way the Dragons (more like wolves if you ask me!) would gang up to ridicule and wear down a candidate... before Colombo-like returning to throw them a lifeline which would tempt them into some awful in-equitable share deal.

I think the only time Dragon's Den would work for a business is if their name was a web address - the marketing of the repeated web address would drive traffic, especially if it were a decent product.

I guess the most amazing thing is that people volunteer for these programmes!

1 comment:

Debs said...

"I think the only time Dragon's Den would work for a business is if their name was a web address - the marketing of the repeated web address would drive traffic, especially if it were a decent product."

Worked wonders for Ling Valentine (www.lingscars.com) - every time there's a repeat of her episode on Dave, her visitor numbers instantly explode.

Just thought I'd mention it :)