"Love Serving Love: London"
- December 7
Last time, a singout led to a stripdown for Jessica, as
she was also stripped out of contention for the ultimate
prize. Now the remaining nine remain in London for their
next challenge, which involves Virgin's main philosophy,
having a laugh and a smile while getting the job done.
Yep. It's time for the art of the publicity stunt,
something that Branson has had quite the hand in for a
while. "The key is to do it with panache, do it with
style, and make sure that what you're promoting actually
has substance as well."
Branson sets the teams
again, girls vs. guys, and the challenge: create a buzz
for a company connected to any one of your teammates to
see how much press you can generate over 36 hours.
The guys choose Shawn's
Lovesac Corporation and choose him as the leader. He
thinks that he can do faster, smarter, better on his
own. Michael calls his leadership "a logistics
nightmare".
Sara, on the other hand,
created footless pantyhose that she markets under the
Spanx brand name. Candida thinks it might be boring
doing something involving underwear. Candida suggests a
Married-by-America, having two complete strangers get
married. Enter the victim... err, leader: Erica. But is
it the spirit of what the challenge is to be? So asks
Candida. "We need to pitch an adequate business."
PUBLICITY STUNT: Marry
Erica. COMPANY: Erica.
The guys, on the other
hand, come up with a soccer (or as they call it in
London, football) game between local Jews and Muslims,
billing it as "The Lovesac Love Match: Peace in the
Middle East." "Dude, Beckham might come for something
like this." Key word: might.
PUBLICITY STUNT:
Jewish-Muslim soccer match. COMPANY: Lovesac.
The girls set up shop in
an internet cafe. Once again, since we're all about
interactivity here at the net, if you want to see the
site they made, click
here. To this end, they get a dress, a frock, and
shoes. Candida doesn't think that Erica's appreciative
AT ALL.
The guys also set up
shop as they try to find Jewish people and Muslim people
to come together to play soccer. They spend so much time
trying to find the players (emphasis on "trying") that
they fail to generate any press. The girls manage to
find the guy's listing on Craigslist.org (that site we
all love so much). "Frankly, I'm not impressed," Erica
says as she flags the message for miscategorization.
The guys are still
looking for a celebrity to referee. Steve calls in a
favor, going straight to the President...'s daughter.
The one who isn't a boozer. Steve tries it... and fails.
The girls get the dress
on time, and everything fits. The game ball goes to
Candida. But the game is still going for Steve and
company, as they try to contact every news outlet they
can. All the while recreating the Beatles' "Abbey Road"
cover.
Candida starts handing
out flyers to any bloke who will listen. One guy agrees
to show up for the 1pm nuptials.
Steve finally finds two
Jews to play in the match. From this, Shawn predicts
that nothing can do wrong. Little does he knows that in
London, it rains... a lot. And there is no press. And
there are only three players. "Disappointing, but not
surprising." They count their losses and decide to play
a Judeo-Arab team vs. the Americans. Shawn decides
to see it through, because "it's a good thing.
Definitely was not a grand event, but it was a sincere
event."
The girls have little
success on the front end. "There are more press than
there are suitors. In fact, there are ZERO suitors,"
says Candida. I guess finding a groom for a supermodel
is harder than she thought.... but not impossible, as
James volunteers for the anti-wedding that never was
that almost wasn't. ... I'm confused, too. So Candida
figures that they get press, and then they get press
pissed, because apparently the British have a thing
about marriage between two people who love each other.
But as Dr. Dre once
said, "Any press is good press." But will it fly over
Richard? Yep. Richard calls it a "fun hoax" that got
press to turn up. So now the guys have to go to
challenge to see who gets sent home. Shawn decides to
take Michael with him, as he says that he's got a better
chance to survive against him. "What a load of crap!"
So the two go with
Richard in an odd car. 1) It seats in the middle. 2)
It's quite cozy. 3) It drives on water... Oh, did we
forget to mention that? Michael thinks that Shawn may be
a bit stronger, while Shawn thinks that Mike is the best
team player, but a poor leader.
Now
to the challenge: the tallest building in Britain... and
a chance to get the word out about Lovesac... by
rappelling 700 feet down a building with flags with
letters, 12 or less letters. You have 90 seconds to
spell out your slogan. Just to so that it can be done,
Branson starts his descent. "Billionaire dangling from
the building." It's getting a bit windy. Pay attention.
Windier still. Michael and Shawn start their rappelling
and flag-hanging. Shawn has no problem with the flags.
They each get their flags up, and just when the clock
hits zero... all the flags are blown off.
The slogans, "BUY D LOVE
SAK" and "CHIX LOVE SAK", both incredibly wrong double
entendres, both scattered to the four winds. Fate is now
in Richard's hands. Erica thinks Michael isn't creative,
while Heather thinks Shawn is rubbing people the wrong
way. Now to the tarmac for the final judgment. Both are
commended on the physical stunt, but Shawn took a big
risk on assuming control. Michael was a big team player,
but got straight to the point on the flags. But now the
plane is fueled and the time has come. Who will Richard
keep on board?
Branson returns to the
open bar (a plane with open bar... nice)... with Shawn.
Everyone is sad to see Mike go, but you can't say that
it wasn't deserved. Too much of a stick in the mud.
He'll take with him the dealings with other people.
Next stop... "The Atlas
Mountains.... Marrakech... and Morocco!"
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